Kate Morton

"A rich, spellbinding new novel from the author of The Lake House - the story of a love affair and a mysterious murder that cast their shadows across generations, set in England from the 1860's until the present day"--

a novel

The clockmaker's daughter

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “An ambitious, compelling historical mystery with a fabulous cast of characters…Kate Morton at her very best.” —Kristin Hannah “An elaborate tapestry…Morton doesn’t disappoint.” —The Washington Post "Classic English country-house Goth at its finest." —New York Post In the depths of a 19th-century winter, a little girl is abandoned on the streets of Victorian London. She grows up to become in turn a thief, an artist’s muse, and a lover. In the summer of 1862, shortly after her eighteenth birthday, she travels with a group of artists to a beautiful house on a bend of the Upper Thames. Tensions simmer and one hot afternoon a gunshot rings out. A woman is killed, another disappears, and the truth of what happened slips through the cracks of time. It is not until over a century later, when another young woman is drawn to Birchwood Manor, that its secrets are finally revealed. Told by multiple voices across time, this is an intricately layered, richly atmospheric novel about art and passion, forgiveness and loss, that shows us that sometimes the way forward is through the past.

A Novel

The Clockmaker's Daughter

Charlie Semaan 

Ryan Mateyk

I really enjoyed it and thought the writing was fantastic and magical, but it felt so long and dragged a bit at some parts.

Heather Margaret

“The transfer of an idea? And, of course, a story is not a single idea; it is thousands of ideas, all working together in concert.” 
This book made me want to go outside, find a tree, and read this book completely under it. The atmosphere of this book will draw you in. The multiple stories all woven into one at the end was brilliant as I feel most books lack this ability. Kate Morton does a wonderful job of writing each of their stories justice without it getting confusing or boring. If you are into Historical stories you'll love it, and if you're not, I do think you should give this book a try.

From the bestselling author of The House at Riverton and The Secret Keeper, Kate Morton brings us her dazzling sixth novel, The Clockmaker's Daughter. My real name, no one remembers. The truth about that summer, no one else knows. In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists led by the passionate and talented Edward Radcliffe descends upon Birchwood Manor on the banks of the Upper Thames. Their plan: to spend a secluded summer month in a haze of inspiration and creativity. But by the time their stay is over, one woman has been shot dead while another has disappeared; a priceless heirloom is missing; and Edward Radcliffe's life is in ruins. Over one hundred and fifty years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel containing two seemingly unrelated items: a sepia photograph of an arresting-looking woman in Victorian clothing, and an artist's sketchbook containing the drawing of a twin-gabled house on the bend of a river. Why does Birchwood Manor feel so familiar to Elodie? And who is the beautiful woman in the photograph? Will she ever give up her secrets? Told by multiple voices across time, The Clockmaker's Daughter is a story of murder, mystery and thievery, of art, love and loss. And flowing through its pages like a river, is the voice of a woman who stands outside time, whose name has been forgotten by history, but who has watched it all unfold: Birdie Bell, the clockmaker's daughter.

Jacqueline Englund

This was my first book by Kate Morton and it will most definitely not be my last. This was such a well paced, atmospheric story. At times I felt like I was walking right beside Berdie. 

Love, secrets, murder....everything a good book needs!

Cheri McElroy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was pure Kate Morton. It’s the hauntingly beautiful story of Birdie Bell, The Clockmaker’s Daughter, and the people who have come to Birchwood Manor over a span of more than 150 years. I loved how it all came together and the ending was so satisfying.

Mary Rose Luksha

4.5 stars but I’m rounding up for my girl Kate 😉

Sam 🌙

I feel a bit sorry for my next book, it’s got big shoes to fill.... A charming book full of intrigue and interwoven stories. I particularly enjoyed the chapters set during WW2 and the depiction of the house throughout. It’s one that’s going to sit with me for a while I think.

Casey W. 

It felt like there were too many storylines and a lot of loose ends. Most of the book was pretty slow and I didn't particularly care for any of the characters. There were a few interesting topics or points.

Terra

This is the first book I've read by this author. I guess it was a bad choice. Very slow paced. I'm am someone who can read a book this length in a day. This took me a little over a week. It could not keep my attention. A good story but very entertwind. And only half a conclusion to my preference. Yes we figure out some things and how everything is connected but not some of the things you actually end up wanting to know. It feels like the ending was almost rushed which is a strange feeling to be left with when the book was so drawn out through the beginning.

Liz Carpenter

Before I started this, I realized that although I own several of Kate Morton's books, I've really only read one - The Forgotten Garden, her debut. It was quite good, and moody and atmospheric, but what I remember most is how this feeling of foreboding just pervaded the entire story, to the point that I wasn't sure if I actually wanted to get to the end. I think that's what's held me back a bit from diving into subsequent books (this girl likes her happily-ever-afters, thank you).

As it turns out, The Clockmaker's Daughter is LEAPS beyond The Forgotten Garden. While there are tragedies large and small woven throughout, the tone is very different. There are multiple story lines strung through the course of the book, but they're all drawn together beautifully in the last two sections. I adored the master narrator, and so many of the souls she bumped up against throughout her own and the house's history. The little hints of the (extra) supernatural were an enjoyable bonus, and I'd totally read a separate book just based on that backstory. I had some mixed feelings about the last couple of chapters - I would have loved for a few things to be expanded upon, but Morton at least gave us enough information to draw our own conclusions. This was a solid four stars for me, and one of my favorite reads this year.

Karen Shimek

megan

i wish we heard more about elodie at the end considering how important she seemed to be at the beginning of the novel, but i was really impressed by how morton wove together all of the different people and stories

Sahi K

I am not much of a reader of Historical fiction, especially mysteries, so this book is very much out of my comfort zone. But my friend Ana was going to start it and I decided buddy reading it with with her would be a great experience and good way to try the genre. However, I really have very mixed feelings about this one, so be prepared for an incoherent mess of a review.

This is my first Kate Morton book, so I had no idea what I was getting into, but it was definitely a surprise. The author has a magical way with words – the writing is beautiful, evocative and haunting, the imagery so vivid that I really could visualize it. The story is centred mostly around the English countryside, especially Birchwood Manor, and the setting is truly brought to life. We also get to see the passage of time through the condition of the manor itself and I think that was brilliantly done. However, it’s also the same writing that I had my main gripe with. It’s too descriptive (which is not my thing at all) and that felt quite boring after a while and I skim read a lot towards the end. But that’s probably just my issue and not the book.

I’m usually a fan of multiple timelines and POVs but here it was all a bit too much. The timelines shift back and forth between 1860-70s, WWI, WWII and the present day and it did get tough to keep track of what time period we were in. There are also too many narrators and characters. Just when I thought I was getting to know one character better, their storyline would stop abruptly and they wouldn’t show up again for a long time. This really prevented me from getting invested in anyone.

The one prescient narrator who is the main source of the mystery confused me a lot in the beginning but I got used to it as the book went on. Our present day narrator Elodie was definitely one I didn’t like at all – she just seemed so disinterested in her own wedding and not quite prudent about the protocols at her work, it ruined my perception about her. And then she uses the mystery as an excuse to not deal with her problems. Despite the many characters, most of their arcs are resolved towards the end, but not all. The reveal of the mystery was very very surprising and unexpected, but also slightly anticlimactic after spending almost 500 pages trying to figure it out. We also never get any character development for Elodie which was disappointing.

All in all, I have to say that I was both pleasantly surprised and bored while reading this book. I obviously didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to, but that’s on me. If you are a Kate Morton fan, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it better than I did.

Judy McClure

Always enjoy the character's and their stories that weave through Kate Morton's books.

Scott Taylor

I felt very conflicted when I finished this book. At first I felt cheated, like Lilly Millington. It wasn't till I dwelled on it for awhile that I realized the beauty of Kate Morton's writing. In life, not everything needs to be unexplained regardless of how badly we want closure. I found myself constantly underlining wonderful phrases, even setting down this book to sit and ponder on my own life. Over all, this book requires an attentive reader to truly see the beauty - much like a rustic house. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a complex story about a house and the complexity of life through the ages. 

Amanda Wells

An engrossing tale spanning more than a century - I was initially drawn in by the two cover illustrations I've seen of the book, and was really pleased that the interior was as good as it's covers. I think actually Morton may have written this book for me... a book featuring art, history, books, old houses, heirlooms, and little bit of the supernatural as well - definitely up my alley. 

4.5*

Cheryl Hedlund

Rounded up from 3.5. This book has a lot of characters and a lot of stories woven together around Birchwood Manor. It has a lot of themes - how place and story connect people across time, storytelling, art, family, grief/loss. The atmosphere and prose are delicious. It is arguable how well it all hangs together. The central story is set in Victorian era and feels very Dickensian. That story was the most gripping for me and I wanted answers urgently. Sometimes the other stories felt a bit like a drag and it was not easy to keep characters and times and their connections straight. I put this down and picked it up again several times because my interest would wander and other books were holding my attention better. The good thing is that once I was far enough in, I was able to come back a month or two later and relatively easily get oriented again. I think that the author does enough repetition or reminding to help that along. I don't know how it would be to just read it more consistently all the way through. I feel like I might have missed some things that I possibly forgot. Not all the questions or stories are wrapped up in the end. I think that thematically works OK, but can also be unsatisfying. Only the central story gets a conclusion. I think this might stand up better on a reread and I would like to do that sometime, but not soon.

Elizabeth Raines

The Clockmaker's Daughter is hard to summarize, it is so complex, I LOVE it! We start out with Elodie Winslow, who works as an archivist in London. She has been going through a satchel that dates back to Victorian England. Throughout this, she feels somehow connected to the items within the bag, therefore she digs deeper into her research. Throughout the book we go through many different timelines and characters and see how they all intertwine with one another's storyline. 
 The plot line of this story was so interesting, I have never read anything like it, that I can think of. Some may find so many characters and timelines to be confusing, though. The Clockmaker's Daughter really gets your mind going, and piecing together bits of information, I recommend not being distracted while reading this. I have said this before but I will say it again, I love the English setting. I will read anything set in England from the times before Caesar to the modern era. Morton really has a way of making these characters and scenery appear in your mind, I could see Birchwood Manor in my mind. As someone who loves history and small details, I highly recommend this book, it is very historical accurate and you can tell that the author did her research! My only reason for not giving this book a five star rating is that it did feel slow and boring at times, dragged out. There were some details about a character's day that I felt were not necessary for the plot. Overall, The Clockmaker's Daughter is one of my favorite books that I have read this year.

Tyler Rodrigues

2.5 stars 
This was my first Morton and maybe I should have started somewhere else....
I liked the Possession by A.S.Byatt vibes but this moved wayyyyyy too slow for me. 
I only finished because it was a book club pick and I switched for the audiobook, otherwise I think I would have DNF'd. I liked the story  ish  the ending left me with mixed feelings.

Loren Botica

A historical fiction that has the perfect blend of fantasy and period style. The flashbacks and ghostly subtleties had me hooked. This book took me away from my usual environment, which is exactly what I needed. 

From the bestselling author of The House at Riverton and The Secret Keeper, Kate Morton brings us her trademark mix of secrets, lies, and intricately layered mysteries in her sixth novel, The Clockmaker's Daughter. My real name, no one remembers. The truth about that summer, no one else knows. In the depths of a nineteenth-century winter, a little girl is abandoned in the narrow streets of London. Adopted by a mysterious stranger, she becomes in turn a thief, a friend, a muse, and a lover. Then, in the summer of 1862, shortly after her eighteenth birthday, she retreats with a group of artists to a beautiful house on a quiet bend of the Upper Thames . . . Tensions simmer and one hot afternoon a gun-shot rings out. A woman is killed, another disappears, and the truth of what happened slips through the cracks of time. Over the next century and beyond, Birchwood Manor welcomes many newcomers but guards its secret closely - until another young woman is drawn to visit the house because of a family secret of her own . . . As the mystery of The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton begins to unravel, we discover the stories of those who have passed through Birchwood Manor since that fateful day in 1862. Intricately layered and richly atmospheric, it shows that, sometimes, the only way forward is through the past.

Vida Koster

Wow. What a book. I love Kate Morton's writing, she always manages to surprise me. I love how many characters there are and how she manages to tie it all together in the end. The plot twists are always unexpected and sad. I wish there was one more chapter with Elodie at the very end because I think the book only hints at what the ending of the whole story will be, but you never actually get to see it happen, it's a bit of a cliffhanger, which I don't like. Other than that it's a great read.

Megan Rose

|| 3.5 stars || Some parts of this book moved more slowly than others and there were some places where I found it hard to follow all the new storylines being woven in, but once all the pieces started to fall into place, I almost felt like like Kate Morton was mirroring Edward’s artistry. Like Edward and his paintings, each chapter added more depth and understanding to the whole picture. And similar to what an actual piece of art might do, I think I felt every range of emotion reading this book, from sadness to joy to love to frustration and everything in between. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I landed on 3.5 stars because I had a really hard time continuing on after the first 50ish pages (this sat on my nightstand for about a month before I picked it up again). However, I’m so glad I did pick it up again because I did enjoy how real Morton made all the characters (ugh, still clenching my fists when I think of Thurston) and the magical image she painted of Birchwood.

Erin 

I don't know if I have ever - ever - read a more intricately wound, compelling, fascinating story in my life. The Clockmaker's Daughter, a book that I've had a much overdue ARC for for over two years, is far more intertwining, nuanced, and mysterious than I ever expected to give it credit for. I thought I was signing up for a cozy little (although at over 500 pages, not really that little) historical mystery novel in which a girl in the modern day tries to solve a conundrum that took place over one hundred and fifty years ago. Inevitably, I thought her own story would quietly overlap with the mystery, and she'd likely unearth a buried family secret, leading to a reexamination of her own identity. Well, I wouldn't have necessarily been wrong to assume that, but that description is like saying a mountain is just a big hill. It's technically right, but also feels very, very wrong.

The majority of complaints that I can see about this novel revolve around the complexity of the plot and the excessive number of characters and timelines that we visit in order to complete the story. While I completely understand where these ideas are coming from, and have my own thoughts on how it probably could have been reorganised to assist the reader in keeping things straight, it wasn't really a complaint of my own. Yes, there are many characters, and it certainly wasn't easy keeping them (and their timelines) all straight. But sometimes I get to a point while reading a book where the attempt becomes too overwhelming, I give up even trying to keep characters apart - only for them to neatly unwind themselves later and all make perfect sense. This is the experience I had with this one. My main struggle in this regard wasn't necessarily about timelines, those were easy enough, but several character names share the same first letter, and I often found myself having to remind myself which person I was inhabiting. And yet, I never once thought that I wished it were any other way, somehow knowing that eventually, it would all make sense. 

One thing I would suggest, however, is reading this book rather steadily. I've actually picked it up before, and while I found myself enjoying the story, I also found that it does not lend itself well to sporadic reading. Even this second time, there were a few days between readings in which I was otherwise occupied, I came back to it forgetting some of the details, only to make the connections later on in the story, farther on than it was intended. Slow and steady, although once you reach the end, I imagine that you, like I, will likely find yourself unwilling to put it down when answers are nearly within reach. I also found that I did not mind that the various timelines were not chronological - we start the story with Elodie, then jump back to Edward, then forward to Jack and Birdie, then back to Birdie, and so on. It's such an interesting way to tell the story, and I for one was thoroughly fascinated.

Maybe it's my own inexperience with general thriller/mystery novels outside of Agatha Christie (although I wouldn't really classify this book as a thriller, but what do I know), but I thought this book did a really great job with how long I was able to go without putting all the pieces together. I found that with each new detail revealed, it was just enough to yearn for more, but not quite enough to really have that many aha! moments. Maybe it's because the details are already revealed at the beginning - we know Fanny is dead, Lily has gone AWOL, so has the diamond, and someone's keeping a secret. None of this really changes, and instead of finding out WHO the murderer was, we are searching for how exactly the events transpire, and also how all the timelines loop together. While I admit that not everything was absolutely perfect - I find myself still wondering how James Strattan fits into the whole deal, as well as (I think) the final location of the diamond - I think that Kate Morton did a beautiful job of revealing all the pieces in such a way that lightbulbs clicked on as the grand image was slowly revealed. I also really liked how not every single story was a large part of the puzzle. Rather, some pieces were large, while others were small. Jack, for example, is a rather small piece of the story. Lucy, while a background character at first glance, holds the central secret and ties the whole mystery together. 

While this is my first Kate Morton novel, it certainly won't be the last. I was a little skeptical at first, and had my own reservations about how the book would turn out. Suffice to say, I have rarely been so wrong. I never expected to love this book this much, and I rarely read a book already looking forward to when I can read it again. I spent several whole days on it, and would happily do so again, without regrets. My only regret now is that it has been sitting on my shelf for over two years, neglected, and I've spent that time having not already read it. It has everything I've ever loved, all wrapped in one of those intricate little bows that you can't think a human could have possibly made, but somehow they did. It's a story about love and about art, about family and about lust, written with only the most beautiful of words in the most stunning of arrangements. Perhaps when I reread this one day I will laugh at how passionate I am in describing it, but for now, I am happy to remain in this state of bliss. 

I received an advanced (once upon a time) copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Les Reynolds

I loved the writing; the way her words flowed, and the beautiful ideas her characters presented. And I was enraptured by the story.

The clockmaker's daughter a novel

Reviews

Highlights