Review | The Distant Hours

Title: The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

Date Published: July 12, 2011

Dates Read: March 2-9, 2021

Current Goodreads Rating: 3.88/5

Fun fact: I'm pretty sure I read this book ten years ago (also, holy shit, ten years ago?!). I remember my mom going through a Kate Morton phase. A friend had donated her copies of Morton's work to my mom, who had then given the books to me. There were several nights where I stayed up way too late trying to finish her books because I simply had to know the twist ending. Today, years later, I still get a thrill picking up a Kate Morton book because of that nostalgic feeling of uncovering a mystery in the middle of the night.

I read The Distant Hours before I had created my Goodreads profile so when I stumbled across the book in my local library with a brand new cover I assumed it was a Kate Morton book I had never read before. Within several chapters I realized that it was not the case, but I still had to continue reading it nevertheless. I couldn't quite remember the twist, but I had a general idea of where the story was going. Regardless, Morton's beautiful writing had me transfixed and I found myself transported back into my childhood bedroom, staying up too late because I just needed to read one more chapter.

Ok, what happens? Main character Edie's mother receives a letter that had been lost for decades. What is written in those old pages sends Edie on a trip into the English countryside to Milderhurst Castle where she meets three old women; twins Percy and Saffy, and their younger sister Juniper. The entire house is shrouded with age and mystery. Edie's mother had stayed in the castle during the years of the Blitz and, in that time, something had happened that had forever changed Juniper.

Told out of order in puzzle pieces that slowly fall together, The Distant Hours is told through Edie's eyes as well as through the lenses of history and, even when you think you've understood what's going on, there's always a new piece of the story that has you questioning what exactly happened in Milhurst Castle.

Ok, what did I think? I mean obviously I'm a fan. Some other reviews have said that this book is filled with unnecessary detail and doesn't measure up to some of Morton's other works. I have to say that I disagree. The Distant Hours has a lot of detail and beautiful language, but I don't think I would say any of it is unnecessary. Morton does a great job establishing a unique voice for every single one of her characters. Twins Percy and Saffy are so individually unique I could practically see them speaking in my mind's eye.

The build up to the twist - which I won't spoil for you here - is impeccably done. There are so many small, little scenes that have to be laid out first to really pack the punch that it does at the end. There's also a great scene of Romeo and Juliet proportions that just really leaves you, the reader, with the same amount of heartbreak that Juniper experiences. I had been thinking about this book and the other books in Morton's collection since I finished it for the first time over a decade ago and I'd say I think about it probably daily since I finished it recently. It is because of this book that I've decided to reread all of Morton's novels one library trip at a time. I highly recommend you read her other novels as well.

This is apparently Hever Castle, but it is very close to what I imagine Milderhurst to look like

Long Story Short:

• Re-reading can be just as fun as the first time

• All characters should have their own unique voice

• Kate Morton may, in fact, be a genius

My Rating: 5/5