Today I am linking up to Book Beginnings hosted by Rose City Reader where readers share the first sentence of the current book they are reading.
"Last November I had a nightmare. It was 1924 and I was Riverton again. All the doors hung wide open, silk billowing in the summer breeze. An orchestra perched high on the hill beneath the ancient maple, violins lilting lazily in the warmth. The air rang with pealing laughter and crystal, and the sky was the kind of blue we'd all thought the war had destroyed forever. One of the footmen, smart in black and white, poured champagne into the top of a tower of glass flutes and everyone clapped, delighting in the splendid wastage."
Thoughts on Intro: The House at Riverton begins with the lovely description of a dream that leaves the reader with a sense that much reality lies behind the story. This is the first Morton novel that I have read and I am already planning on reading more. Her writing elegantly creates a world where the characters come to life and the reader is instantly hooked.
About the book (from amazon.com): The
House at Riverton is
a gorgeous debut novel set in England between the wars. Perfect for fans of Downton Abbey, 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.
About the Author (from wikipedia.com): Kate Morton
is an Australian author whose novels have been published in 38 countries and
sold three million copies."The House at Riverton was a Sunday
Times #1 bestseller in the UK in 2007 and a New York Times bestseller
in 2008. The House at Riverton won General Fiction Book of the Year
at the 2007 Australian Book Industry Awards, and The House at
Riverton was nominated for Most Popular Book at the British Book
Awards in 2008. Her second book,The Forgotten Garden, was a #1 bestseller
in Australia and a Sunday Times #1 bestseller in the UK in 2008. In 2010,
Morton's third novel, The Distant Hours, was released, followed by her
fourth, The Secret Keeper, in 2012.
Have you read Morton's novels? Which was your favorite?
Happy Reading,
Rebecca
