A review by asourceoffiction
The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was my second Kate Morton, and she clearly has a knack for weaving a complex web of mysteries with a beautiful and intrinsically British location at their centre. I did find this a slower pace than The Lake House and I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it as much as a result. It also brings in a lot more story strands and at times there was a risk of overwhelming me with characters and timelines.
The story relies on some big coincidences, and connections to Birchwood that just happen to bring two disparate stories together. But Morton really seems to excel at making this sort of thing entirely believable; there is an implication throughout that the house is almost helping to bring together these seemingly random strands. And by the end, I found some of the coincidences really heartwarming.
From about half way through there were so many layers of mystery that I didn't think the book could possibly resolve every question that arose; and I wrote them all down to keep track! But it managed to do all that and more. It even ties up some of the details that I'd forgotten while not paying enough attention. While The Clockmaker's Daughter was incredibly complicated at times, it was also really evocative and so emotional. I had so much love for so many of the characters, and in the end I loved it just as much as The Lake House.
The story relies on some big coincidences, and connections to Birchwood that just happen to bring two disparate stories together. But Morton really seems to excel at making this sort of thing entirely believable; there is an implication throughout that the house is almost helping to bring together these seemingly random strands. And by the end, I found some of the coincidences really heartwarming.
From about half way through there were so many layers of mystery that I didn't think the book could possibly resolve every question that arose; and I wrote them all down to keep track! But it managed to do all that and more. It even ties up some of the details that I'd forgotten while not paying enough attention. While The Clockmaker's Daughter was incredibly complicated at times, it was also really evocative and so emotional. I had so much love for so many of the characters, and in the end I loved it just as much as The Lake House.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Child death
Moderate: Death and Abandonment