The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton (10/9/18 Atria; free copy from publisher) swept me away and made me exclaim "this is why I love books!"
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My Summary:
In the summer of 1862, young artist Edward Radcliffe invites his friends to spend a month at his newly acquired and utterly enchanting home, Birchwood Manor. The painters, photographers, muses, lovers, and friends plan to spend the time creating and inspiring one another. Unfortunately, their idyllic stay is cut short by one woman's murder, while another woman (and a priceless family heirloom) have disappeared. Over 150 years later, London archivist Elodie Winslow uncovers a leather satchel containing a photograph of a woman in Victorian clothing and an artist’s sketchbook containing a drawing of Birchwood Manor. When Elodie sees the sketch of the house it feels familiar--but why?
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My Review:
Spanning over 150 years and combining multiple storylines, Kate Morton had me invested in every character and totally immersed in every setting. This is one of the best books I've read this year and while it is the first book I've read by Kate Morton, it will not be my last!

The Clockmaker’s Daughter opens with a brief prologue that introduces its central mystery. There’s a vague, hazy notion of some people in a house, a gunshot and the implication that a death has occurred. The book then skips around in time with various narrators and points of view, from 1860 to present day, in order to tell the story of what happened at Birchwood Manor such a long time ago.

I requested this book because I like mysteries and historical fiction, had heard of the author and the premise sounded fairly creative — beyond that I didn’t know what to expect.

Unfortunately, in the end, I really struggled through this book. I had a hard time getting interested in the book once I realized that the initial mystery hadn't grabbed my attention. The opening scenes and section — a gunshot in a house, and a woman later finding a satchel with a photo and sketchbook — didn't present a compelling mystery for me.

Even once the clues start slowly feeling revealed, I found the writing to be ill suited for my tastes. While there were definitely parts with quite lovely imagery and vivid prose, I think there was just too much detail and tone-wise the drama felt forced and overwrought. I felt like I was constantly being bombarded with backstory while being drip-fed clues and things to move the plot forward.

Perhaps I was not the right reader for this book, as I think some of the things that made it difficult for me to enjoy this book are a question of taste. For example, I like mysteries that are quick on their feet, and this is not really that kind of book. Thank you to the publishing for allowing me to give this book a shot.

An old house, an old sketch book, an old murder, an old photograph, and a lot of mysteries. Who doesn’t love all of those?



THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER has it all. 



THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER goes back and forth in time looking for clues to connect Elodie’s present-day questions and findings to the time when her mother was alive and how a country manor and other mysteries seem to have a connection to her mother. She KNOWS there is some connection with everything she finds circling around Birchwood Manor.



Ms. Morton definitely makes you “work” for the clues. Her writing is beautiful as always, but the story line was difficult to follow.

Each chapter began without the identification of the person talking so the reader has to figure out who has appeared on the scene now. 



I always enjoy Ms. Morton's book because of the gothic atmosphere and marvelous connection between the characters and story line, but THE CLOCKMAKER'S DAUGHTER had me confused most of the time. Finding the connections was similar to solving a difficult math problem.



Once the chapter got started and you became interested in the story line, it was over and another thought and character appeared.



I can't say I didn't like the book. THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER had a skillfully constructed story line, but it wasn't an easy read.

Once you were connected, though, it all started to come together in her marvelous Kate Morton style with a brilliant ending.

I LOVE her books, her beautiful writing, and her involved story lines so I kept reading because I wanted to find out how it all fit together and what the ending would reveal. The revelations were marvelous as always.

Anyone who loves Kate Morton, who likes to unravel a book's story line, and who can wait until it all comes together will not want to miss reading THE CLOCKMAKER'S DAUGHTER. 4/5

This book was given to me as an ARC. All opinions are my own.

Kate Morton fans: the wait is almost over! I felt lucky to nab an eARC of this novel thanks to Netgalley.

First: the plot spans events from 1860 to the present day. The heart of the mystery surrounds a painter, his muse and lover, a priceless diamond, a ghost, and a murder. We bounce between time periods as the story—and the connection between the characters—is slowly revealed. .

Second: this is a long, looooong book with a leisurely pace. I enjoy that as long as the writing is good—and folks, the writing is excellent. Like a really good, expensive ice cream made with the best ingredients—delicious, the perfect taste and texture, but it slides down oh-so-easily. It reminded me of classic novels from bygone eras when readers had perhaps more patience and appreciated the slow unfurling of story and character. .

Next: Kate Morton made a name for herself not only with her gorgeous writing, meticulously researched historical details, and unique structure, but also with her Big Twists. Readers of this new novel will be pleased to see all the elements they expect, but may be disappointed by the lack of a huge surprising reveal at the end. For my part, I didn’t miss that. The “unbelievable twist” trend has had its day, in my opinion, and I’d rather read a solidly-plotted mystery than any sort of twist just to be gimmicky. The plot is well-paced, if slow, and toward the end I found myself unable to do anything but flip to the next page. .
If I have any complaints, it’s that the scope of the story is so broad (with multiple point of view characters spread across over 150 years) that it felt like as soon as I settled in with one character, we jumped to another. The title character, the clockmaker’s daughter, is the thread that holds it all together, and I found her a fascinating character.

Highly recommended for readers who enjoy slow-burn, character-driven historical mysteries with beautiful writing. Releases October 9!

A remarkable novel that tells the story of Lily Millington, an unlikely heroine who’s life (and death) influences many lives frim Birchwood Manor.

A chance meeting between an up-and-coming artist (Edward) and a reluctant con artist (Lily) lead to a consuming love affair with disasterous consequences. Told from Lily’s perspective, the reader meets many short-term inhabitants’ of Birchwood Manor and the connection they feel to the home and to Lily unfolds in the last gripping chapters of the book.

Told with exquisite detail, this story relies on well-developed characters and a complicated plot. The ending is masterful.

Kate Morton has long been a favorite, even amongst my top authors. As I have said before, her novels are masterpieces of narrative fiction. They are intricate and executed with aplomb. I know an author is highly-prized to me when my reaction to their work is anything less than five-stars because it feels like both a surprise and just intrinsically wrong, somehow. But I have to admit that while The Clockmaker's Daughter contains nearly all the classic Morton hallmarks of a great read, this particular set of interwoven stories didn't resonate with me as much as almost all of her previous novels did. I still fell into her intricate style of storytelling eventually, but it wasn't as complete of an immersion; for once, this is a Morton that could stand to use a bit of editing down. In a six hundred page book, especially one so dependent on the slow reveal of authorial sleight of hand, the underdeveloped aspects of the story stand out in retrospect.

The tale of Birdie and Leonard and Elodie and Tip and all the others connected to the manor at Birchwood is by no means a "bad" book -- Morton isn't even capable of that with her weakest effort to date, 2015's The Lake House -- but the beginning of this lags, one of the POVs is rather dull and underdeveloped each time it's visited, and the addition of the supernatural elements detracted from the novel's other various strongpoints. Dense and slow-moving as is the author's usual style, the plot to The Clockmaker's Daughter takes a long time to engage the reader and even Kate's undeniable and present talents for atmosphere and mystery can't entirely compensate for it.

The cast is a myriad of characters with tangential connections to one another across time and distance. Their slowly revealed relationships make the pages spent interesting for the most part; Morton's quite adept at uncovering the hidden facets of people, this time those related to the mysterious photograph whose discovery incited all the ensuing revelations. Leonard is the exception to the rule; his chapters have emotional resonance but his voice is dull and the events he narrated aren't the most pivotal. Despite his relevance to both plot and other characters, he is a charisma void on the page. The supernatural additions of <spoiler>the 'Night of the Following' (maybe??) and even Birdie herself, charming as she was</spoiler> didn't work and also felt unnecessary. One could have been excised completely and the other could have featured in a more mundane sense. They felt like a rare misfire from an experienced author.

The Clockmaker's Daughter is the author's sixth to be so centered on dual timelines across history and connected to a mysterious house/manor/castle and each is unique gothic tale of secrets, family, and how the past lives on in the present.Though not the complete Morton experience possible and not without a few missteps in its hundreds of pages and several rotating POVs, The Clockmaker's Daughter is still a solidly good novel and with well-rendered characters, an enveloping atmosphere, a intriguing set of mysteries, and creative plotting tying it all together. It's a decent idea of what this author is capable of doing even if it left me craving a reread for the more polished The Distant Hours and The House at Riverton.

While I don’t always like books that travel back and forth in time, I can make an exception here. “The Clockmaker’s Daughter” held my interest from the get-go.
Elodie Winslow is an archivist working in London in 2017, and when she discovers a photo and sketch book in an old bag of artist Edward Radcliffe’s things, she becomes intrigued when she realizes that she has a personal connection with Birchwood, Edward’s home.
Birchwood is now occupied by Lily, the ghost who is the daughter of a clockmaker. She has been there for many years, watches everything that happens and once in a while interferes if she feels it’s needed. Currently, her “housemate” is Jack, a photo journalist.
We visit several different times over the course of more than 150 years, learning about many of the inhabitants of the house and what and why certain events happened.

It may be because I'm a librarian, but I cannot resist a book with a main character who is a "modern day archivist." This one does not disappoint! Our archivist discovers a satchel of documents which leads her on a quest to discover their origins. We go back and forth through different time periods, learning much along the way. Always intriguing -- Kate Morton is a great author.

I'm a big fan of Kate Morton, so I'm not sure what happened to with this book! I didn't care for the writing style, the characters, the plot, none of it! Everything about this should've been right up my reading alley, but I didn't care for any of it.

<i>The Clockmaker's Daughter</i> is centered as much on place as on characters. A modern-day archivist discovers an unknown photograph and sketchbook tucked away in the archives where she works, and is drawn into discovering the identity of the beautiful woman and the place sketched by an artist many decades before. From there, we learn the history of Birchwood Manor and it's inhabitants - first the group of artists and models in the 1860s, the mysterious presence that lives there still. Through the sections and chapters the house is filled with a girls school, houses a family who fled London during the blitz, has a a connection to the archivist herself, and shields multiple mysterious disapperances of people and jewels, as well as a few deaths. The threads more or less come together, but each era is well crafted and the characters and evnts are beautifully wrought.

Highly recommend for fans of Kate Morton, of dramatic historical fiction with a mystery twist, and authors Beatiz Williams, Kristin Hannah, and Julian Barnes.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Atria Books.

Kate Morton is one of my favorite authors, and when The Clockmaker's Daughter came out this year, I was one of the first to jump on NetGalley to get a copy. I was so excited to be awarded the book and added it to my August reading queue. It made for a good alternate style given I'm also running a children's book readathon this month! Although not my favorite of all her novels, it's an enchanting story and covers a lot of beautiful generations within a couple of families.

What I loved the most about this book was how you never quite knew who was speaking in the beginning of a chapter. It took a few paragraphs or a page or two before it became obvious. Some might be bothered by this approach, but it added to mystery and ambiance for me. The Radcliffe family was quite peculiar, and I wondered whether it would turn out to be accidental death or murder for one or two characters. As the story unfolds and we learned about Elodie in 2017/8 discovering the past, everything comes flooding forward. There are memorable characters in this book and I recommend it for that reason alone. On the flip side, there are over 30 main characters, so it gets a tad difficult to keep focused if you have to put the book down for more than a day at a time. Don't read it with anything else like I did.

Morton is the queen of lyrical words and astounding settings. The plot is strong, and the twist at the end is great. Along the path, it's much lighter tho... less about the mystery and more about hearing what happened to people over a century. I found myself eager for more action than present in the book. But it still captured my heart and attention. A solid 4 stars.

Elodie Winslow, an archivist in London in 2017, discovered a long lost satchel that contained drawings from the 1860s by a little known artist, Edward Radcliffe. When she started to investigate why Radcliff’s work was in the satchel of aristocratic social reformer, she was led to Birchwood Manor, a country home in Oxfordshire that Edward Radcliffe purchased in the 1860s. The home was now a museum but had many uses after Edward abandoned it in 1862.
The story goes back and forth from the 1850s to the end of the 19th century to WW II to the 1990s to 2017. Birchwood Manor is the location of most of the action in the story. The narration is shared by various characters throughout the story. The clockmaker’s daughter, Birdie Bell, who disappeared along with a priceless piece of heirloom jewelry after Edward’s fiancé was shot, is a central character and her presence continues through the 150 years of the tale.
I enjoyed the story as it flowed seamlessly back and forth through the 160 year span. One criticism was that I found the names of two characters,, Lily and Lucy, confusing.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley.

Kate Morton does it again!!!!!! Gah!!!! I love her writing! I loved how all the plots ended up together at the end. I loved the characters, even if it was super confusing at the beginning. I loved the setting, it felt as if I could go somewhere and see this house. I want to see the paintings she describes in this book. A great read!! If you haven’t read a Kate Morton, I’d recommend this one, I feel it’s one of her strongest novels.

I usually shy away from books about ghosts, especially one that begins in the voice of the ghost. That being said, having read other books by this author, I persevered, and I’m really glad I did. It takes a talented writer to write in a number of different voices, and then to span over 150 years, but the author is able to pull it off, and she does it beautifully. There are so many elements to this story that I wondered at times why a particular story was included, but she pulls all the elements together, and not just at the end, but throughout. The feeling, or mood, changed, depending on the voice and the time period,so I had a good feel for what was going on at the time the Speaker was talking about. I was sure I knew the Who, and possibly the why, so I was quite surprised to find I was totally wrong, another good thing. Nothing worse than getting halfway through a book, knowing ‘who dun it’ and having to read the rest to find out I’m right. Each story within the story held my interest and had a purpose, although it wasn’t always revealed until much later why that particular vignette was included. Didn’t want to put it down, but then I did want to, just to think about what I’d just read and how it was all going to fit. I didn’t race to the end, but savored it and really didnt want to finish it. Wanted to stay in Great Britain for a while longer. But I also wanted to know what the secret was. Great book and great writer. I highly recommend it.

Fascinating historical fiction mystery! Following the mystery of who was the muse of Edward Ratcliffe and what does the house mean in Elodie’s family story? Stories are woven together to trace the history of an old house and the painter Edward Ratcliffe, and tied to the present storyline of Elodie’s mother’s death. At times it was challenging to follow the multiple storylines which didn’t always have dates labeled on them. I think a date would help follow the multiple narratives.

Kate Morton has such a beautiful way with words. They sing on paper, creating a historical tale that weaves between the past and present. However, that said, the innumerable characters and frequent time switches interfered with my complete enjoyment of the novel. In the Victorian setting, an accomplished artist resides in an old manor in the woods. This scenery is contrasted with the present day when a young archivist happens upon an old well preserved satchel with a photograph of a young woman. Why does this seem so familiar to her? How are all the different characters connected? The answer is truly the mystery and magic of Kate Morton.

I usually love Kate Morton’s books, but this one I abandoned. I found the story hard to follow. I was disappointed. I got lost in which time frame each chapter was pursuing. I read half the book when I felt as if I wasn’t enjoying the book as I should.

I know Kate Morton likes to go in and out of the past to the present. I found this one a bit too confusing that I wasn’t fully invested in the characters. I may pick it up again, but when it takes me this long to try to read a book and I’m not running to read what’s next... I have to move on.

Brilliant! I absolutely love every book Kate Morton has written. Can't wait to see what she has in store next.

This book felt slighter than Morton's previous novels but I'm still feeling haunted by it. I love books about bohemian Victorian artists and idyllic English summer days and this novel had that in spades! Filled with evocative, descriptions and strong voices, I was drawn into the book from the first page. Slowly, slowly (you must be patient!) the threads of the multi-narrators are pulled together and the mysteries of the story are revealed. One of the main themes of the book is this idea that a place can call you to it and leave it's imprint on you as surely as if it was a living, breathing being. I realized that this is a theme in every Morton novel. Every book has a house, a home that pulls characters to it and leaves an indelible hold on them that they can never shake. It's memories, it's mysteries stay with the characters and the readers. Like a dream, the clouds part and I can recall the settings of her novels whether it be a cottage in Cornwall or as in this one, a hidden, country manor in the Cotswolds. It is a special writer that can transport a reader so thoroughly back in time. My one complaint is that I wish the present day story was stronger. In her other books, those stories always provide a solid touch stone to guide the reader through the story but this one left me wanting more. Even so, the ending is sure to haunt me for a very long time. I don't want to say anymore, in case I spoil anything. Really, this book should be revealed slowly like a present.

I have read all the books written by this best-selling Australian writer and she has yet to disappoint me. Once again, she has created a story full of historical tidbits, gothic ghosts, and page-turning mystery. The nexus of this story is a house, Birchwood Manor, built on the bend of the river, protected by a Fairie Queen and an ancient promise. Through this house marches a plethora of complex characters: the Magenta brotherhood, fans of the Romantic Age, lovers of beautiful women, painting, and intrigue; Elodie, the daughter of a famous cellist, an archivist due to marry soon but who is pulled into the mystery surrounding the manor; James, a detective looking for a diamond, with heartbreak in his past; Leonard, a former WWI soldier suffering from PTSD, whose research adds to the mystery surrounding a murder; Lucy, the young girl who defies convention and is obsessed with the science of the world; Tip, a young boy whose family escapes the London Blitz; and most important, Birdie, the clockmaker's daughter whose life and stories binds them all together. Be forewarned: this author always writes very long books, but they are un-put-downable.