Review | The House at Riverton

Title: The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

Date Published: June 15, 2007

Dates Read: June 2-12, 2021

Current Goodreads Rating: 3.93/5

This is another one of the Kate Morton books I had previously read at least a decade ago, but the book itself was just as good as it had been when I originally read it. Though I knew the twist was coming, the build up was still just as agonizing as it had been the first time. If you take nothing else from this review - or my other Kate Morton reviews - know that Morton weaves stories that last through several re-reads.

Ok, what happens? Grace is dying. She's lived a long and lustrous life first as a handmaid for a rich family and later a well known archaeologist, but her time is growing short and she's got one last secret she's finally ready to share. Decades ago she witnessed a tragic event that has since been twisted by the present day. Her past melds together with her present as she slowly uncovers the story of how a tortured young poet tragically died on the banks of the lake at Riverton Manor. History says that he killed himself, but Grace knows better and now she's ready to say exactly what happened all those years ago.

Ok, so what did I think? This book gives me so much Downton Abbey vibes. It takes place in roughly the same era of Downton and so perfectly shows the differences between the upstairs elite and the downstairs working class as well as the unrest the downstairs crew feels as England's societal dynamics shift. Grace moves through present day (which in this book is the late 1990s) and the past in such a fluid and graceful way. Morton could have easily tangled up the timelines, but I don't think there was a single time I was reading where I couldn't tell if I was looking through the eyes of 14 year old Grace starting her first job at Riverton in the 1910s or 90-some year old Grace reliving old memories in a retirement home.

While the story has so many moving parts - the relationships Grace forms with the other downstairs staff, the relationships she forms with the Hartford children, and the relationships the Hartfords (Hannah in particular, but Emmeline is very close second) and their ever evolving world as England is pulled into and recovers from the first world war - the plot itself is incredibly straightforward. It's one of those stories that has you pulling your hair out at times - if they would just COMMUNICATE all of this drama would be resolved - but I think that's what makes it so good. The drama of this book largely takes place during a time where familiarity between the working class and the upper elite simply just doesn't exist. When Hannah incorrectly assumes that Grace has been taking shorthand lessons Grace is unable to correct her simply because she's used to being ignored. That begins the falling dominoes that result in the death at the edge of the lake so many years later.

Though I knew things wouldn't work out both in part because I had read the book before and also from the fact that Grace is still dealing with the guilt of that night years later, I still hoped that things would work out differently. I hoped that the men physically and mentally torn apart by the horrors of war would come home safe and sound. I hoped that Hannah would find love and happiness in the world abroad. I hoped that Grace would be able to find her place with those downstairs and those upstairs. Even though those things don't come to pass the let down was still so beautifully written that, even though my heart ached, I couldn't put the book down and walk away until I had reached the bitter end.

There was one thing that somewhat bothered me from this story - SPOILERS AHEAD - a somewhat major point in this story was the question of Grace's father. To me it was pretty obvious that Grace and the Hartford children were half-siblings based on the visceral reaction Hannah's father had when he first laid eyes on Grace and the constant questions from Grace's mother about if he had remarried or if he was happy. I assumed there would be a dramatic revealing where Grace's life would suddenly be thrown into chaos because she was now too good for the downstairs folk, but not good enough for the upstairs elite (which you could argue she battles that exact issue the entire book just in general), but when the twist was revealed...nothing. Both Grace's mother and father took the secret with her to the grave and Grace figured out the scandal on her own. While the knowledge of this does make Grace feel obligated to stay with Hannah and the rest of the Hartford family I was a little disappointed that her lineage wasn't more of a plot device. I think it would have been great to have a scene where the stuck up characters who believed themselves better had to come to terms with the fact that the woman serving them was on the same level, but I was a fan of Downton Abbey and I'm all about that drama.

Long Story Short:

• I'm a sucker for historical mysteries - did you know that?

• GIVE ME ALL THE DRAMA

• Do sad endings hurt me? Yes. Do I enjoy it in a masochistic way? Absolutely.

My Rating: 5/5