I think I've made it clear that I love Kate Morton's books. So when Words and Peace decided to host a read-along of one of her books that I hadn't read, The House at Riverton, I just had to join in. She posted a list of questions for everyone to answer. So here are both the questions and my answers. There might be some spoilers of Part 1.
On Part 1: from 'Ghosts Stir' to 'Until We Meet Again'
Please share your favorite lines:
“I was not a rebel – indeed, back then I had a fierce sense of duty – but to live without Holmes and Watson was unthinkable.”
“…for home is a magnet that lures back even its most abstracted children.”
“It is an uncanny feeling, that rare occasion when one catches a glimpse of oneself in repose. An unguarded moment, stripped of artifice, when one forgets to fool even oneself.”
Ghosts Stir:
What effect do the first 2 sentences have on you, as a reader?
It immediately reminded me of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.
Does this chapter draw you in? How does the author manage to do this?
Yes, it sets up the secrets and the mystery. I wanted to know how the main character’s life is woven in with the Hartford sisters.
The Nursery:
If you mentioned the title of another book in question #1, do you find here more things in common with that book?
Yes, a new person being introduced into a home, but this book is told from a servant’s POV instead of the lady of the house’s POV.
Waiting for the recital:
What’s your feeling toward the Game?
It sounds like child’s play, but there’s some serious foreboding as well.
All Good Things:
Merriam-Webster describes “suspense” as “pleasant excitement as to a decision or outcome” of a novel. How does the author create the suspense here?
She shows Hannah attempting to push the boundaries with her father and the war starts.
Morton often integrates the themes of memory, relationships between generations, secret, in her novels. How has she worked them, and other themes you may have identified, in this story?
The story is all about Grace’s secret, her relationship with her own mother and relationship with her daughter. That theme echoes all of Morton’s other books.
In The West:
What do you like most in this chapter?
I loved meeting Robbie and learning about his history; his mother the Spanish maid and his father, a wealthy Lord.
Until We Meet Again:
How would you define what a Gothic novel is? Does your definition apply to the first chapter of this book? Why or why not?
Gothic novels are defined as “a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance.” I think this book definitely fits into this category because it combines multiple romances (Alfred, Teddy, etc.) with mysteries. It’s also very atmospheric, set in a huge English manor with the memory of a death hanging over everyone.
*** *** ***
Next up are the following sections. I'll be following everyone else's posts on Nov. 12 and 19, but I will save my thoughts for a final post on Nov. 26. I finished the book and I don't want to confuse the sections in earlier posts. Happy reading!
November 12: Part 2 – from 'The Twelfth of July' to 'The Ball And After'
November 19: Part 3 – from 'Catching Butterflies' to 'The Choice'
November 26: Part 4 – from 'Hannah's Story' to the end
On Part 1: from 'Ghosts Stir' to 'Until We Meet Again'
Please share your favorite lines:
“I was not a rebel – indeed, back then I had a fierce sense of duty – but to live without Holmes and Watson was unthinkable.”
“…for home is a magnet that lures back even its most abstracted children.”
“It is an uncanny feeling, that rare occasion when one catches a glimpse of oneself in repose. An unguarded moment, stripped of artifice, when one forgets to fool even oneself.”
Ghosts Stir:
What effect do the first 2 sentences have on you, as a reader?
It immediately reminded me of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.
Does this chapter draw you in? How does the author manage to do this?
Yes, it sets up the secrets and the mystery. I wanted to know how the main character’s life is woven in with the Hartford sisters.
The Nursery:
If you mentioned the title of another book in question #1, do you find here more things in common with that book?
Yes, a new person being introduced into a home, but this book is told from a servant’s POV instead of the lady of the house’s POV.
Waiting for the recital:
What’s your feeling toward the Game?
It sounds like child’s play, but there’s some serious foreboding as well.
All Good Things:
Merriam-Webster describes “suspense” as “pleasant excitement as to a decision or outcome” of a novel. How does the author create the suspense here?
She shows Hannah attempting to push the boundaries with her father and the war starts.
Morton often integrates the themes of memory, relationships between generations, secret, in her novels. How has she worked them, and other themes you may have identified, in this story?
The story is all about Grace’s secret, her relationship with her own mother and relationship with her daughter. That theme echoes all of Morton’s other books.
In The West:
What do you like most in this chapter?
I loved meeting Robbie and learning about his history; his mother the Spanish maid and his father, a wealthy Lord.
Until We Meet Again:
How would you define what a Gothic novel is? Does your definition apply to the first chapter of this book? Why or why not?
Gothic novels are defined as “a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance.” I think this book definitely fits into this category because it combines multiple romances (Alfred, Teddy, etc.) with mysteries. It’s also very atmospheric, set in a huge English manor with the memory of a death hanging over everyone.
*** *** ***
Next up are the following sections. I'll be following everyone else's posts on Nov. 12 and 19, but I will save my thoughts for a final post on Nov. 26. I finished the book and I don't want to confuse the sections in earlier posts. Happy reading!
November 12: Part 2 – from 'The Twelfth of July' to 'The Ball And After'
November 19: Part 3 – from 'Catching Butterflies' to 'The Choice'
November 26: Part 4 – from 'Hannah's Story' to the end
