Book Review: The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication date: November 2010
Pages: 576
Source: Library
For: Book Group

Summary (from goodreads):

A long lost letter arrives in the post and Edie Burchill finds herself on a journey to Milderhurst Castle, a great but moldering old house, where the Blythe spinsters live and where her mother was billeted 50 years before as a 13 year old child during WWII. The elder Blythe sisters are twins and have spent most of their lives looking after the third and youngest sister, Juniper, who hasn’t been the same since her fiance jilted her in 1941.

Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in ‘the distant hours’ of the past has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.

Things I Liked:
Yes! I loved this deep and twisty and complicated story about family and secrets and what really happened and all that history stuff.  This was very well plotted and written and I couldn't put it down.  I first thought I had things figured out and then I changed my mind (three or four times).  Really, it kept me guessing right down to the final chapters.  I really enjoyed it.

Things I Didn't Like:
I have to admit, the ending, despite being quite surprising was a little bit too much.  Stretched a bit too far?  It felt very different from the rest of the book, in that it was a bit unbelievable, if quite a good fit for the story.  Still, I enjoyed it very much and need to get myself more Kate Morton right away!

Read-alikes:
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !@
a few

mrg-factor: none
on page, anyway

v-factor: ->
some kind of implied

Overall rating: ****

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