The Shifting Fog

I was tearing through a steady diet of domestic thrillers this month when I had a sudden craving for something different. Something that Kate Morton might write, thought I. I half-heartedly perused online, which did not lack for suggestions. “For fans of Kate Morton” is an enticing promise on many a historical novel. But none could tempt so I just decided to read the original, one-and-only. The House of Riverton is the one that made me a Kate Morton fan and upon revisiting it, I fell in love once again with this haunting story. Current summaries compare this novel to Downton Abbey but The House of Riverton was written years before — and did it much better. The upstairs-downstairs dynamic. The glimpse of English gentry just before and then after World War I, class uprising and suffrage changed everything. Secrets, terrible mistakes, doomed love affairs – it’s all here, irresistibly unfolding before my captive eyes and beguiling me anew as if I had not read it all twice before. The journey and the ending are no less devastating.

First off, I\’m a fan of this author, but not necessarily this book. The plot centers around an elderly lady Grace, who tells her life story to a movie director – what\’s so special about her story are the secrets that took place at the House at Riverton, her family heritage, and the loves / lives that lived during that time in the 1920\’s. The story-line follows this family thru years during the War and the events that impact them and their self-centered lives. This book almost seems like it was written by 2 different people – the beginning by a novice want-to-be writer, then a Pro writer who comes in and \”cleans\” everything up, ties it together adds a twist or two and voila the book is completed. Like so many other reviewers stated before me, the first part of the book is hard to follow, does not flow smoothly but then somewhere in the middle it takes a turn and true to this author\’s reputation it\’s a great read with a few twists I didn\’t see coming. My reason for not giving it more than 3 stars is the beginning, even up to the first half , you will find that you are fighting with yourself to continue to read this book, to get thru the dull for-no-reason- beginning , the confusing dialogue and the \”what did I miss\” paragraphs where you sometimes feel like you have to go back and re- read it to completely understand it. I found the going back and forth from present to past was not smooth and at times hard to follow now having said that, once you get thru that part, the book does become a fast riveting read, it\’s just too bad that entire book was not like that. I say it\’s ok not her best, save your money if the book\’s over 5.99.

Just finished this. It\’s the story of Grace, a young woman who begins serving (at 14) as a housemaid in a grand house very similar to Downton Abbey. Although it\’s her story, and told primarily from her point of view in a series of (to me, confusing) flashbacks and flashforwards, its glamour and glitz come from the emotionally chaotic lives of the two daughters of the house, Hannah and Emmeline. They, like hundreds of other aristocratic families, suffer the changes wrought on the British nobility with the outcomes of WWI and the rise of the labor class. Its similarities to Downton Abbey were almost overwhelming — there is even a matriarch named Violet and a chef who is very similar to Downton\’s Mrs. Patmore. Katie the scullery maid = Daisy. I found the writing compelling but also a little bit desultory, meandering its way along. The story could have been a lot tighter. I began skimming about 3/4 of the way through, eager to be done.

It\’s such an engrossing story told by Grace, who is now 98, about her young life as a maid for the Count and Countess of Riverton during WW 1. The characters are very well evolved and intriguing, the details of the \”upstairs, downstairs\” life fascinating and well researched, the mystery looms throughout, but it was the brilliance of the writing that just got to me. Loved it, or did I already say that? Tid Bits: I have surprised myself. While moths have torn holes in my recent memories, I find the distant past is sharp and clear. They come often, those ghosts from the past, and I am surprised to find I don\’t much mind them. I am crying. After all these years I have begun crying for them. Warm tears seep from my eyes, following the lines of my face until the air dries them, sticky and cool against my skin. Sylvia is with me again. She has brought a tissue and uses it to mop cheerfully at my face. To her these tears are a simple matter of faulty plumbing. Yet another inevitable, innocuous sign of my great age. \”I\’m sure she doesn\’t need relieving. It\’s special, grandparents and grandchildren So much simpler.\” Is it always so, I wonder? I think perhaps it is. While one\’s child takes a part of one\’s heart to use and misuse as they please, a grandchild is different. Gone are the bonds of guilt and responsibility that burden the maternal relationship. The way to love is free.

I quite enjoyed reading this book. The pace of the book was rather slow and sluggish at the beginning and also the middle section which I found quite boring to read at times, but then the pace quickens when the plot starts unfolding itself and I found myself getting immersed into the storyline and eager to find out how it all ends. SPOILER ALERT: I\’m confused as to why Hannah chose to write to Grace in short-hand in the letter she left her on the bed as she knew that Grace doesn\’t know how to read short-hand. What was the intention? It made me think that Hannah wasn\’t 100% committed to the plan of eloping with Robbie because she had earlier expressed her hesitations when Robbie asked her to run away with him and start a new life. Back in those days, it would have been a scandal. It was unthinkable for her get a divorce – it was frowned upon by the society back then. This made me think that Hannah actually wanted Grace to discover her plan – she wanted to be stopped. She knew Grace too well, knew that she would open and read her letter to Emmeline, which prompted Grace to fetch for help and stop Hannah and Robbie\’s getaway plan. A good story. I\’m interested in reading other books by this author. The story would have been better, in my opinion, if it also focused on how Grace and Alfred got together in the end – it would have been an interesting and more romantic storyline. Tragedy is the main theme in this story. I felt sorry for Grace when she decided to give up on the love of her life in order to stay with Hannah – she chose loyalty above going for her own happiness. Was it worth it in the end? Hannah never knew the things Grace gave up on for her. It seemed she blamed Grace for ruining her plan.

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