The Distant Hours

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

Hardcover: 576 pages
Publisher: Atria (November 9, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1439152780

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A letter posted in 1941 finally reaches its destination in 1992 with powerful repercussions for Edie Burchill, a London book editor, in this enthralling romantic thriller from Australian author Morton (The Forgotten Garden). At crumbling Milderhurst Castle live elderly twins Persephone and Seraphina and their younger half-sister, Juniper, the three eccentric spinster daughters of the late Raymond Blythe, author of The True History of the Mud Man, a children's classic Edie adores. Juniper addressed the letter to Meredith, Edie's mother, then a young teen evacuated to Milderhurst during the Blitz. Edie, who's later invited to write an introduction to a reprint of Raymond's masterpiece, visits the seedily alluring castle in search of answers. Why was her mother so shattered by the contents of a letter sent 51 years earlier? And what happened to soldier Thomas Cavill, Juniper's long-missing fiancé and Meredith's former teacher? Despite the many competing narratives, the answers will stun readers.

This makes the third book I've read by Kate Morton.  The first book, House at Riverton I don't think I was overly thrilled with..but I also think my expectations were way high for that type of books since I had read The Thirteenth Tale, and it didn't live up to that book.  I think I am going to have to read the House at Riverton again.

Anyway.. when the Forgotten Garden came out the review read well, and I didn't remember that it was the same author and I bought the book and enjoyed it very much.

... and then came The Distant Hours.

...Kate Morton has made leaps and bounds with her writing with each book she puts out... I can't imagine what her next book will be like!

Very enjoyable.. and for much of the book it was one of those that the book wasn't set down for very long before picking it up to "read one more chapter".

This book is a case of discovering all the secrets to the lives of a number of people.  The three sisters of Milderhurst castle, and even her own mother! I can't begin to tell you how this book makes me want to find out about my own mother and father of which I know nothing about my father at all.

This is not a book that you will have all figured out.  Oh no! It is a book of many surprises, so if you like mysteries about family secrets to solve you will enjoy this book!

The castle gives the whole gothic feel to the book and makes you want to find castles and then discover the mysteries of those castles too!

I have to say that this book is a keeper to be read again at some date and time.  And yes, I would certainly recommend this book to those who like gothic style mysteries.  It may be 576 pages long but it will go fast!

And now I am anxious to find out what her next book will be about!

Fingersmith

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Paperback: 582 pages
Publisher: Riverhead Trade (October 1, 2002)
ISBN-10: 1573229725

Amazon.com Review

Fingersmith is the third slice of engrossing lesbian Victoriana from Sarah Waters. Although lighter and more melodramatic in tone than its predecessor, Affinity, this hypnotic suspense novel is awash with all manner of gloomy Dickensian leitmotifs: pickpockets, orphans, grim prisons, lunatic asylums, "laughing villains," and, of course, "stolen fortunes and girls made out to be mad." Divided into three parts, the tale is narrated by two orphaned girls whose lives are inextricably linked. Waters's penchant for byzantine plotting can get a bit exhausting, but even at its densest moments--and remember, this is smoggy London circa 1862--it remains mesmerizing. A damning critique of Victorian moral and sexual hypocrisy, a gripping melodrama, and a love story to boot, this book ingeniously reworks some truly classic themes.

Wow!  I wasn't sure when I started reading this book if I would like it or not.. but.. sheesh and holy cow!  I never read so many twists and turns in a book before!!!  It would be impossible for you to see them coming!

A very gripping and excellent read!

In the Amazon review it mentions "gloomy Dickensian"..  some of that would be in "nut house" i'm sure!!!    Of course the descriptions of the "lower part of London where thieves live" fit quite well into that category also!

Now I have read two of Sarah Waters books and I guess I will have to check out the others!  If the reviews sound anything like this or The Little Stranger I am sure they will find their way to my wish list! (groan)

I have not read nearly as many books this year as I did other years but I do believe that more of them are chunkier! 

If you have not read this book and like Victorian plots and mysteries you would certainly enjoy this book!

The Gargoyle

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

Hardcover: 480 pages
Publisher: Doubleday (August 5, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0385524943

 

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. At the start of Davidson's powerful debut, the unnamed narrator, a coke-addled pornographer, drives his car off a mountain road in a part of the country that's never specified. During his painful recovery from horrific burns suffered in the crash, the narrator plots to end his life after his release from the hospital. When a schizophrenic fellow patient, Marianne Engel, begins to visit him and describe her memories of their love affair in medieval Germany, the narrator is at first skeptical, but grows less so. Eventually, he abandons his elaborate suicide plan and envisions a life with Engel, a sculptress specializing in gargoyles. Davidson, in addition to making his flawed protagonist fully sympathetic, blends convincing historical detail with deeply felt emotion in both Engel's recollections of her past life with the narrator and her moving accounts of tragic love. Once launched into this intense tale of unconventional romance, few readers will want to put it down.

Well now.. yes, indeed I finished yet another gothic story!

The Gargoyle is was quite different from any I've read and I have to say, it held my interest. This is a great surprise to me because much of it talks about "old religion" and I'm not fond of books that put a lot of religion in them . (kinda feel that's a private thing)..anyway... this one had it but still maintained my interest constantly picking up the book to read more and more.  I guess that means it was a good read!

I don't want to say much about it.  The Amazon review does a good job of telling about the book.  I will say that both the lead characters,  were beautifully written.  If someone told me I'd like a coke head guy and a schizophrenic gargoyle carving female I'd have laughed pretty hard at them!.. somehow Davidson managed to make them both likeable!  That alone is worth the read!

The Gargoyle would have bode well for RIP and it was there among my choices..as usually I was not quite fast enough, but that's ok.. cause I still am reading more gothic "stuff"!

And so, I bid farewell to The Gargoyle ..and hello to Fingersmith.