The Distant Hours

Kate MORTON

562 pages

Published by Atria in 2010

Softcover received from Santa!

This book counts for the following Reading Challenge:

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK

There was one book by Kate Morton I had not read yet, and Santa had the great idea to offer it to me! Now I’m not sure really which Morton’s book is my favorite. Maybe the first one I read, The Forgotten Garden.

I loved The Distant Hours very much though. I loved especially the ambiance: from the story of the mudman to the current castle and its sometimes spooky old ladies, you have all the Gothic elements you would wish for. I also enjoyed the different layers, going back and forth between the present time and a mysterious past; how the narrator related to her mother, as she discovers progressively what her life has been; and the unexpected turns!

As I love books within books, it was a pleasure to have that element, to the point of being tempted and check if that book ever existed. This is something also present in The Forgotten Garden, but Morton has the knack for using same things in different innovative ways, so that not 2 of her books are alike, although they all contain very similar features.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

A long lost letter arrives in the post and Edie Burchill finds herself on a journey to Milderhurst Castle, a great but moldering old house, where the Blythe spinsters live and where her mother was billeted 50 years before as a 13 year old child during WWII. The elder Blythe sisters are twins and have spent most of their lives looking after the third and youngest sister, Juniper, who hasn’t been the same since her fiance jilted her in 1941.

Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in ‘the distant hours’ of the past has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.

Morton once again enthralls readers with an atmospheric story featuring unforgettable characters beset by love and circumstance and haunted by memory, that reminds us of the rich power of storytelling. [Goodreads]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kate Morton grew up in the mountains of southeast Queensland, Australia. She has degrees in Dramatic Art and English Literature and is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Queensland. Kate lives with her husband and two young sons in Brisbane.
Kate Morton’s books have been published in 31 countries. The House at Riverton was a Sunday Times #1 bestseller in the UK in 2007 and a New York Times bestseller in 2008. The Shifting Fog (know The House of Riverton) won General Fiction Book of the Year at the 2007 Australian Book Industry Awards. Was nominated for Most Popular Book at the British Book Awards in 2008. Her second book, The Forgotten Garden, was a #1 bestseller in Australia and a Sunday Times #1 bestseller in the UK in 2008