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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.92
EAN num: 9781416550518
ISBN number: 1416550518
Label: Atria
Manufacturer: Atria
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 480
Printing Date: 2008-04
Publishing house: Atria
Sale Popularity Level: 4452
Studio: Atria
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
The House at Riverton is a gorgeous debut novel set in England between the wars. It is the story of an aristocratic family, a house, a mysterious death and a way of life that vanished forever, told in flashback by a woman who witnessed it all and kept a secret for decades.
Grace Bradley went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline.
In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the house, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline and only they -- and Grace -- know the truth.
In 1999, when Grace is ninety-eight years old and living out her last days in a nursing home, she is visited by a young director who is making a film about the events of that summer. She takes Grace back to Riverton House and reawakens her memories. Told in flashback, this is the story of Grace's youth during the last days of Edwardian aristocratic privilege shattered by war, of the vibrant twenties and the changes she witnessed as an entire way of life vanished forever.
The novel is full of secrets -- some revealed, others hidden forever, reminiscent of the romantic suspense of Daphne du Maurier. It is also a meditation on memory, the devastation of war and a beautifully rendered window into a fascinating time in history.
Originally published to critical acclaim in Australia, already sold in ten countries and a #1 bestseller in England, The House at Riverton is a vivid, page-turning novel of suspense and passion, with characters -- and an ending -- the reader won't soon forget.
Amazon.com Review:
Amazon Best of the Month, April 2008: In her cinematic debut novel, Kate Morton immerses readers in the dramas of the Ashbury family at their crumbling English country estate in the years surrounding World War I, an age when Edwardian civility, shaken by war, unravels into the roaring Twenties. Grace came to serve in the house as a girl. She left as a young woman, after the presumed suicide of a famous young poet at the property's lake. Though she has dutifully kept the family's secrets for decades, memories flood back in the twilight of her life when a young filmmaker comes calling with questions about how the poet really died--and why the Ashbury sisters never again spoke to each other afterward. With beautifully crafted prose, Morton methodically reveals how passion and fate transpired that night at the lake, with truly shocking results. Her final revelation at the story's close packs a satisfying (and not overly sentimental) emotional punch. --Mari Malcolm
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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The House at Riverton reminded me in some ways of a Rebecca DuMaurier novel in its setting and atmosphere--an old house, a wealthy family, long-kept secrets. Where it differs is in the main character, not a member of the family but a long-time servant who observes the interactions of the family members and their guests in their gilded environment but is outside of it. The story is a fascinating glimpse into the time that young poor girls went "into service" and became full time members of great households, who took the notion of duty to that family seriously, and kept their secrets carefully. The story is told in flashbacks from the current day, as a modern day researcher carefully pries the truth about a mysterious death and the role of the two daughters of the house in that event. This adds the dimension of the narrator herself remembering what seems to be an impossibly distant world, having lived through the latter 20th century life of Britain as well, and yet she had been a part of it, and no one thought to ask her her thoughts on it and memories of it until it was almost too late. I found the main story suspenseful and the framing story to be touching and interesting, but most of all I came away from this book feeling like I had soaked in the atmosphere and reality of a world long gone from the scene. Very enjoyable.
Rated by buyers -
This IS a great book but head's up. The same story, same author is on AUdible.com as The Shifting Fog. It is actually the same. Aside from that bit of confussion, I LOVED this story. I had to rush out and get her subsequent book 'The Forgotten Garden' and loved it too! Go for both of them and you'll be happy.
Rated by buyers -
I loved this book!! Morton told a great story and I felt transported to another time and place. I have always enjoyed this genre of fiction and Morton does not disappoint. I couldn't put it down. Some of the plot twists were predictable but some were not. I also read the Thirteenth Tale that this has been to compared to.... I liked this equally as much if not more. I can't wait to see what Morton is working on next! Great Book!
Rated by buyers 
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The House at Riverton started promising enough, but went downhill fast. I didn't like any of the characters, except for Grace and the story didn't hold my interest.
Rated by buyers -
Ms. Morton is a gifted storyteller. This is a gently paced, softly told story which takes place primarily in the decades surrounding the very first world war. In this story a ninety eight year old grandmother, Grace, recollects the events of her youth. She tapes these recollections as a gift for her missing grandson. As the story begins, we are on the cusp of the very first world war. Grace enters into service at the great house, Riverton, where her mother was in service years before. (Grace has been assured by her mother that the family will accept her.) As the story progresses Grace becomes enthralled with the family, becoming particularly enamored with the eldest daughter of the Hartford family, Hannah.
On one level this story is a mystery, early in the story we are told that one night, in the midst of a family celebration, a young poet took his life in front of the two daughters of the home. One daughter was the poet's fiancee, the other his alleged lover. To this day no one knows exactly what happened to cause this tragedy, only that it destroyed the family forever.
On another level this is a story about the end of the Edwardian era of aristocratic privilege. This was a time when the role of women expanded, the class system came under attack and foundation of English society shifted.
The author deftly tells Grace's and England's story and what a wonderful story it is.
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