My First RIP Read

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

Hardcover: 480 pages
Publisher: Atria (April 2008)
ISBN-10: 1416550518

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. This debut page-turner from Australian Morton recounts the crumbling of a prominent British family as seen through the eyes of one of its servants. At 14, Grace Reeves leaves home to work for her mother's former employers at Riverton House. She is the same age as Hannah, the headstrong middle child who visits her uncle, Lord Ashbury, at Riverton House with her siblings Emmeline and David. Fascinated, Grace observes their comings and goings and, as an invisible maid, is privy to the secrets she will spend a lifetime pretending to forget. But when a filmmaker working on a movie about the family contacts a 98-year-old Grace to fact-check particulars, the memories come swirling back. The plot largely revolves around sisters Hannah and Emmeline, who were present when a family friend,the young poet R.S. Hunter, allegedly committed suicide at Riverton. Grace hints throughout the narrative that no one knows the real story, and as she chronicles Hannah's schemes to have her own life and the curdling of younger Emmeline's jealousy, the truth about the poet's death is revealed. Morton triumphs with a riveting plot, a touching but tense love story and a haunting ending. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

This is book one of four for the RIP Challenge..

When I sent for this book I think I expected more from it than I should have. I thought it would hold more secrets and more intrigue than it did.

The book started off slow. I thought it was going to build suspense and would soon begin to reveal the awful truths. As I read on, it didn't seem to pick up speed or unearth any shattering events from the house or the inhabitants... I read on.

What I found was that in 480 pages there was only one secret! One mystery to be solved... but to be honest it was written in such a way that you figured it would be told to you sooner or later and therefore never really tried to figure anything out... it was written so that Grace , told her story of being a maid to the family at Riverton. Her memories were sparked when a filmmaker approaches her for information about the family at Riverton. And so we see her past life unfold from the recesses of her mind.

It was a disappointment. The writing was good. I think the problem was that there just weren't enough mystery or suspenseful secrets going on to make this book a riveting read.

But I will say that it was an "ok read".. it wasn't horrible, and I did manage to read the whole book without setting it aside....it just isn't a book that I would say I'd ever read again. But in all fairness, I do believe I had high anticipation for this book and maybe that kept me from enjoying it's simplicity more than I did.

For my next Peril's read I think I will reread The Thirteenth Tale. I read it last year and couldn't say enough good about it, so I think I need to reread it and find out if I still think that the book is indeed as good as I said it was last year!