I wanted to like this book, having read previous books by Kate Morton. But for me, there were too many characters, the story was too slow and for me, spanned too many time shifts . I even started keeping notes, so I could remember who did what, when and why. I just didn't feel it was up to usual standards. Disappointing.

I love reading books by Kate Morton, I've enjoyed all her other books. Her stories are always compelling and written with an amazing style that brings the scenes alive. There's usually two stories that are connected somehow and there's always a mystery to unravel and I love them.

This book was similar, the style is faultless as ever. I was intrigued from the first page and quickly grew to like the characters of Elodie and Birdie.

I've always enjoyed how the author tells us multiple stories from different viewpoints but I think there were more viewpoints than usual. And I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd enjoyed the previous books by Kate Morton, I'm sad to say. There were too many characters given a voice and I found it hard to remember who they were, some of their stories were engaging and all  were connected in some way but they sometimes repeated the same information and I did wonder if the stories were neccessary to the plot. 

In the end I did not feel that Elodie's story was continued, although her future was implied and I did not feel like I'd spent enough time with her. 

I think I would've enjoyed this more if it was only in the viewpoint of Elodie and Birdie rather than various other characters' story being told. Despite my thoughts on this book I will still read more by Kate Morton in the future. 

This is of course my opinion and I do wonder whether my enjoyment of this book was affected by my busyness of late and maybe I wasn't in the mood for this type of book. :(

I have been a huge Kate Morton fan for many years, with The Secret Keeper being my favourite of her books, and so I was thrilled to receive an e-arc of The Clockmaker's Daughter for review.

The book is a saga told from the viewpoint of quite a few characters and over many timeframes where, at the end of the book, the individual stories link together to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. It is over 600 pages long and took me quite a long time to read it, as it is heavy reading and a fairly complex story. It is a beautifully written story, however, unfortunately I did find it hard for the story to keep my interest and I did struggle to finish it .

My thanks to the publisher, Ms Morton and NetGalley for an advance copy of The Clockmaker's Daughter in exchange for my honest review.

The clockmaker's daughter is a story of secrets, of love, of mystery. It ranges from the mid 1800s to 2017. It is a saga, it is the story of a house, of its colourful inhabitants through the years and the lynchpin is the fascinating, beautiful, flawed Lily (or Birdie), the clockmaker's daughter.
There is a second protagonist, the young archivist, Elodie Winston whose role is to unlock the secret of Birchwood Manor. She felt a jolt of familiarity as she looked at a sketch found in an antique satchel depicting a story from her childhood and so started research which would change her own life and would unravel a fascinating and heart-rending story.
Kate Morton's prose is of the highest order. She brings life to the page and once you go on this journey with her, you cannot stop. The story will remain with me for some time now that I have closed the last page. I highly recommend this superb tale. It will be an ideal Book Group read.

(I had the privilege of reading a pre copy on Kindle and felt sure that the later editions will carry a Chronology which will be of great benefit to readers).

Beautifully written book that sweeps around through time using a rich tapestry of characters. The mix of periods could make this novel confusing, but happily, this is not the case. I wasn't sure if I wanted to devour it in one sitting, or allow myself a few chapters a day to make it last. Lovely read.

An intriguing and ultimately satisfying read.

A story told through multiple voices risks confusing the reader, but (apart from one moment of puzzlement) this wasn't to happen in my reading of this very clever novel.

We know from the start that a death has occurred, but we don't know how or why right till the very end - which is exactly how it should be. The life (and death) of a beautiful Victorian girl, muse to artist Edward Radcliffe makes for a fascinating read - from her earliest days to her last hours, she is a multi-faceted heroine one believes capable of almost anything, except that which she has been accused of for 150 years - theft and deception.

Weaving this story into the stories of women in later generations, and leaving the reader to make connections and discoveries of their own, is a clever device I applaud wholeheartedly.

More please Ms Morton!

The Clockmaker's Daughter is a typical Kate Morton book that takes you on a journey through time to discover who the Clockmaker’s daughter was, and how her story links the past to the present. We are taken through time from the viewpoint of several characters, each with their own colourful story and each linking past to present to uncover what happened to the Clockmaker’s Daughter… and the mysterious Radcliffe Blue.

On a slow summer afternoon Elodie, an archivist, finds time to investigate the contents of a box which has lain forgotten at the bottom of a stack in the office for years. And so begins the story of Birchwood Manor and the mysteries surrounding it over the last 150 years.
The Clockmaker’s Daughter is entertaining from the start to the cleverly wrought conclusion of its 600 pages. There are many, many characters and almost as many plots, all linked but spanning the whole period, so application is required, as is a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief on occasion. But the descriptive writing is a pleasure. 5 stars for my inability to put it down, and my smiles as we raced hand and hand towards the ending.
With thanks to NetGalley and PanMacmillan Mantle

I have read a couple of Mate Moreton's books and enjoyed them so was looking forward to this one. I wasn't disappointed although t did take a little while to get into but then I was hooked. I loved trying to work out how everyone was connected and I love books which cover different eras. I am not going to go through the story but needless to day love was at the heart of it. The ending was a surprise but Birdie/Lily lives on and seems very content! Well worth a read.

This book is exactly why Kate Morton is the reigning queen of dual time fiction. An utterly mesmerising mystery. I loved Birdie Bell. I loved Ada and Lucy. I loved them all. Fantastic, brilliant book.

I was very disappointed by this latest offering of Kate Morton. I have read many of her other books and have always we joyed them, which is why I was looking forward to reading this book. I had two attempts at reading it , I gave up on my first attempt and left it whilst I read other books. I returned to it last week and I really had to force myself to both read it and to finish it. I only did this because I had promised NetGalley a reveiw. The story was too convoluted jumping from one set of charcters to another with no obvious links until the end . It took me back over fifty years to sitting at school being bored by long winded authors and being made to analyse the text for GCSE literature rather than the first objective being to enjoy the book that we were reading.

It really seemed as if the book had been written with a hope that it would be selected as a set text for examination analysis. The emphasis was on boring long winded descriptions using words that would only be readily recognised by English scholars and teachers.

Will have to think carefully before reading her next book. It was too much hard work and not enough enjoyment!

Wish I had started this book on a holiday, as I didn’t want to put it down and work kept getting in the way. At the heart of this novel is the love story of Edward and Birdie, which seems to time travel effortlessly across the pages. There are various narratives which weave seamlessly throughout, but it always comes back to Birdie and Edward and that fateful night, and the story revolves around the twist, that I didn’t see coming.
The characters all have their own integral part to play and seem to dance off the page. I wanted to shake Elodie at times, but she eventually realised what we all knew early on in the book. Her relationship seems superfluous to the story and I think her journey alone would be enough.
Thank you #Netgalley, I will be re-reading this book, and am off to find some more of Morton’s books.

Kate Morton books have been on my mental reading list for quite some time, but this was the first I've actually got round to reading (too many books, too little time!) I was drawn by the fact that the narrative covers a long period of time, starting in the Victorian era (a favourite of mine) and coming right up to date. There are several main characters that all fit with the history of a house on a river, plus a kind of spirit voice as well. All of the stories overlap, although it isn't revealed until the end quite how it all fits together.

Some of the stories were quite engaging, especially the one that triggers the whole narrative, the love story between an artist and his model. Some characters were memorable, such as the beautiful Lily Millington, while others seemed to blend into the background and I had to keep reminding myself who they were. This, and the fact that the narrative was so very slow in places, meant that I found this book a struggle in places. I did quite enjoy it, but had to work hard to keep reading.

Overall, I'd recommend this if you enjoy complex narratives with lots of intertwining stories. It's certainly cleverly plotted and well written, but just a bit meandering for me.

Well written as with all of Kate Morton's books with a great sense of place but the modern day sections didn't quite work for me

Kate Moreton’s novel really pulled me in from the start but sadly it seemed to lose its magic and I lost interest. It was more me then you. Sorry.

I am a big fan of Kate Morton's books. I have read them all and recommend them time and again. It feels like it has been a long wait for this latest book, and I can see why. The research that went into The Clockmaker's Daughter must have been immense.
Set over about 15o years, including 2 World Wars, it is basically the story of a house and it's inhabitants, including a consistent voice who is always there. It is not until near the end that all the different stories and pieces come together, in the marvellous way Kate Morton has of revealing the links.
I must confess it took me a while to get into it. This is partly due to being so busy at the moment and not having large chunks of time to set aside, and being so exhausted. Once I was in however, it had me. I wish I had chosen to read it on holiday to give it the attention it required. It is very much worth persevering however, and I highly recommend it.
It would make a very good book club book too - as I was dying to discuss it with someone when I turned the final page.
Thank you #NetGalley for the opportunity to review #TheClockmaker'sDaughter

Really love Kate Morton so was excited to read this book, and it didn't disappoint! I did find the first few chapters a bit hard going, but I think that's just where the characters are being established. I thought this was an original story and I really enjoyed it

I loved this book. I have read some of Kate Morton's books before and was looking forward to reading this one. I expected a generational story-line with a little mystic mystery and I got that, but I was overwhelmed by how good this was. The writing was beautiful and each character finely drawn. Each tale was absorbing and they linked together very cleverly. The story is about a house and the people who occupied it: an artist's muse, a modern day archivist, the pupils and teachers of a school for young ladies, the beneficiaries of a museum trust, an evacuated family, a historian. Each of them linked to the others through the house. It is a wonderful book. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

This was my first Kate Morton book, I have a few of her books on my to read list, however I was able to to read this book through NetGalley. I rated this book four stars but to be fair it wasn't until I got past the 70% mark. I found the first part of this book hard to follow, the book had a lot of characters and time periods to keep up with. Towards the end though the story did start to make sense and I was back on track and fully enjoyed the ending. I will be picking up some of her other books to read.

The Clockmaker’s Daughter
Usually a great fan of Kate Morton but found this novel heavy reading. I loved some of the story and couldn’t put it down. It really grabbed my interest but then other sections just felt long and tedious. It took me a long time to finish book.