The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

[Kate]

If you have read Kate Morton's previous two novels you will be familiar with the way her writing gradually sucks you in until you are totally wrapped in the slow burning mystery of whatever grand old family story she chooses. Her latest, the Distant Hours, focusses on the intrigue surrounding the lives of three elderly sisters who inhabit an increasingly delapidated old castle in the English countryside.

The story follows a young publisher who is entranced by the mysteries of the family and the castle, and the famous writer who lived and worked there. The writing is very evocative and she creates a very real and persistent image of the castle and surrounds. The story takes many twists and turns, but ultimately is a really good read.

It took a while for me to get in to this one as the build up to the resoultion of the mystery takes a long time to develop, but by the end I was still hooked!

[Jane B]

I was looking forward to reading this as I'd enjoyed The House at Riverton and on the whole it didn't disappoint. It had lots to recommend it - 3 elderly sisters, twins, Percy and Saffy and baby sister Juniper tied to their crumbling family castle, Milderhurst, a young publisher looking for answers as to why her mother reacts so emotionally to letter from Juniper and post marked 50 years before and the disappearance of Juniper's lover during the war who is expected at Milderhurst for dinner to meet the twins.

This is not a fast paced book by any means. it is a slow unravelling and given the length of the book, there were for me, many unanswered questions I was left wondering about at the end. However, I do enjoy Kate Morton's storytelling as she is very good at evoking a sense of time and place.