The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
Title: The Distant Hours
Author: Kate Morton
Published: November 9th 2010
Publisher: Atria
Pages: 562
ISBN: 1439152780
Synopsis:
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.
Morton once again enthralls readers with an atmospheric story featuring unforgettable characters beset by love and circumstance and haunted by memory, that reminds us of the rich power of storytelling.
My Review:
“My fingers positively itched to drift at length along their spines, to arrive at one whose lure I could not pass, to pluck it down, to inch it open, then to close my eyes and inhale the soul-sparking scent of old and literate dust.”
Kate Morton is becoming one of my favorite authors. I love her writing style and the Gothic mysteries she creates.
When a letter from 1941 arrives at its destination fifty years later, it has powerful effects for Edie Burchill, a young publisher in London. The story jumps between the present when Edie is learning more about what took place, and the past, the events as they are happening.
The Blythe’s are a literary family, each of the sisters, and Edie, Meredith, Lucy, and Rita were multidimensional characters. I enjoyed getting to know each one, each woman had a strength of her own, they were controlled by one man and his secrets, Raymond Blythe. He was the catalyst The Distant Hours.
This book has wonderful surprises and revelations that are delivered with gentleness and ease. Back and forth between the 1930s and the 1990s, and told from different characters’ perspectives, this is haunting and Gothic, through and through. The way the author goes back and forth with the dates and characters is also a refreshing touch. Her descriptions are so vivid that I feel like it has transported me to another time and place.
Summary:
Written skillfully, you won’t be able to take your hands off it and you’ll go looking for more pages even as the story ends. If you like Gothic novels with large estates, captivating scenery, and an intricate mystery, you’ll love The Distant Hours.
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