So excited to write this review as I absolutely loved this book! I feel it’s been quite a while since I have read a perfect historical fiction and this was just that.

All the voices that told this story worked so well, I really felt like I was there with them….but it was the voice of Birdie that I enjoyed the most, I was almost galloping along the pages to find her again. The scenes were set so beautifully I was constantly transported to all these different eras, houses etc.

I am pleased I read this on holiday and was able to immerse myself in my kindle, as I found the hopping between characters refreshing and the surprise changes mid page quite enthralling. I had I been reading in the evenings before bed, when tired, I wonder if I may have struggled to keep up with this.

I fully recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed previous Kate Morton books and I will certainly be recommending to all my reading buddies. Would be a perfect Book club read.

This is my fourth Kate Morton book, and just by reading the first chapter I could totally tell that this was a Kate Morton book. I took this to be a good thing at first, as I had loved her style in her previous works, but unfortunately it also meant that this was almost a carbon copy of her other stories: the themes, the structure, the writing itself… as I was reading The Clockmaker's Daughter I felt that I had already read this book before.

I had two major issues with the book: the pace and the multiple POVs. I don't mind reading 600 pages if all of them (or at least most of them) are relevant to the story, but I honestly think that this book could have been 300 pages long and nothing major would have changed. This obviously affected the pace massively, and I was frequently annoyed because every time things picked up the POV would change (usually with a time jump associated) and we were back to endless descriptions of the house where everything happens and its surroundings. This takes me to my second issue: here we have no less than 8 different POVs, and I'm sure I'm forgetting someone. All of them add to the clockmaker's daughter's story, but they all have their own secondary stories too, and rather than enrich the book they dragged it endlessly. Plus, most of them were underdeveloped, especially towards the end, which felt rather insulting because after reading about all these people for what felt like ages I wanted to know what had happened / was going to happen with them, but all their endings were rushed and most of them quite stretched so they would play their part in the main story regardless of how little sense they made.

The writing though was nearly flawless, rich and evocative. The characters were not very relatable, but they were still likeable for the most part. I should probably had been more shocked and saddened by the ending but at that point so many things had happened to the protagonist that I was kind of desensitized to her tragedies, and that definitely rested impact to the last part.

In summary, hardcore Kate Morton fans will probably love this, but if you're looking for a book to discover Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden still remains her best work in my opinion.

When I saw that there was a new ARC that could be requested of Kate Morton's, I jumped at the chance. This is a slightly different book than the previous ones that I have read,I was lucky to get a chance to read it.

First and foremost, usually there is a connection between two main women in the story and around them the story unfolds. In this case there are a lot more people, a lot more happenings all tied in a very simple way to the 'house'. The phrase 'chain of events' can be the most appropriate simplification of the description of this tale. The Clockmaker's Daughter spans two hundred years and many lives, . I shall begin with the quality of writing itself, mostly because the finesse involved in giving us the information in bits and pieces without making us feel insulted or impatient is something of a unique accomplishment. The style of narration makes reading this book a very delightful experience. That being said, too many people are involved in this saga, and it was hard for me to feel for every one of them equally, despite each having an equally heavy burden, a single person has only so much of attention to spare. 

The story is essentially of a house, an inanimate building brought to life by the lives of the many who have lived within its walls. In the present day, we meet Elodie at the precipice of starting a new life, finding something during her job as an archivist, things with a complicated secret history. She lives in the shadow of her mother but this story is actually of neither of those women.Neither is it of the man wandering the grounds of the house. During all this time the house waits and tells us with its voice the story we actually want to hear. The house passes through many hands each linked to the next by something. There is a factor of the paranormal in this story and it is very rich with people and events, the only reason it was not a five-star read for me was it felt too rich. I was torn between feeling sorry for one event, curious about another and angry at yet another. Do read it to figure out if any one emotion can dominate your time with this story.

Kate Morton as ever has given her readers a wonderful story based as many of her books center, in a country house that has secrets to reveal to its various occupants over a period of 250 years. Despite there being many characters involved they are all woven together and you read avidly on to find out how it all ties together. From early on you understand there is a presence in the house that provides a narration setting the scene often and brings the characters across the years together and while I’m not a fan of the ghostly presence aspect it did help link different periods. Overall an epic read that fans of Kate Morton will be delighted with this autumn. Many thanks to Netgalley and Pan MacMillan for the opportunity to review this book.

A historical novels which scans 3 centuries and is a must read for Kate Morton fans interesting story going back in time after Elodie makes a discovery which leads to interesting stories finding out about the past a little bit drawn out for me but a good read

The latest book by Kate Morton is probably her best yet. A fairly slow start builds into a book that is hard to put down. The story jumps between 1862, 1928, 1940 and 2017, with the gradual revelation of links between the many characters. Much is narrated by an unknown voice (the identity of which becomes clear partway through the book). Elodie, an archivist in 2017, finds a box and the contents lead her to unravelling a family history of which she had no prior knowledge. Morton crafts the story, intertwining the many threads, so that you are compelled to read on to resolve the mystery.
A really satisfying read!

Another great book by Kate Morton ... but not quite as good as previous ones. Too many threads in this one made it hard to keep track of who was who and when was when! A real gut wrenching ending for the titular character though which I didn't see coming at all.
Will definitely need to read it again to ensure all the right threads are tied together.

I love Kate Morton’s books so I’ve been waiting to get my hands on this since she mentioned she was working on a new book. It really does not disappoint. It has all the elements of a fantastic book – complex characters, a beautiful setting and a fantastic plot. I loved every page.

I loved the characters and how the stories weaved through one another. I admit I didn’t really anticipate how the story was going to go or figure out what happened – which is surely a good sign that the author is a master story teller.

I’m so sad that I’ve finished the book. I always feel a little bereft when I’ve finished a book by Kate Morton as they swallow me up whilst I’m reading them. Don’t let that stop you from picking up The Clockmaker’s Daughter though. It’s a fantastic read which will stay with me for a long time.

As a fan of Kate Morton I always get excited when she publishes a new book. The Clockmakers Daughter again did not disappoint. The book jumps from past to present so it’s important to read and absorb the plot. I loved the book and would like to thank netgalley, Kate Morton and her publisher for this ARC. Highly recommend this book.

It seems everyone has a daughter book these days, but this was the first one i picked up. A ghostly romantic revelation that spans time and emotions.
The characters after amazingly believable, that you find yourself hoping and crying right along with them. The story is told through the eyes of a presence in the house which allows the story to flit between time periods without feeling disjointed.
The ending is incredibly well woven tying all the stories together and finishing it off in a way that was unmissable. The ending if a real revelation you wont want to miss.
Make time to read this book because you wont be able to put it down.

So I finally finished this. I usually like Kate Morton's books but, unfortunately, I found this one a great struggle. The main reason for this is that the story has so many characters it becomes fragmented and disjointed at times. For me, the most frustrating was that when I started to get into a character's story it got cut off and only resumed much later somewhere in the book if you managed to connect all the dots. It's a good story and it's well-written but has some passages that are too long and a structure I, personally, don't like. You need to have lots of time to read this in one go if you want to enjoy it.

THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER by KATE MORTON

I have always loved Kate Morton’s books from the time I read the House at Riverton. She is a real story teller and she really paints a picture with words so that you feel as if you are actually there. Her characters are larger than life and she writes with real empathy for the people she writes about. I have always loved the way her stories weave about from one period in time to another. However, although I enjoyed the Clockmaker’s Daughter I felt she had almost gone too far with this. In many ways this book is very confusing. I was particularly puzzled when Leonard was introduced to the story half way through the book and it took me ages to work out where he fitted in. There is also the name change of Birdy and so working out who was who was tricky. There are so many different periods of time in the book from present day to World War 1, World War 2 and beyond, that it was difficult to keep track of who was who and what period of time it was. It was a very long book which is what she tends to write and it took me a few weeks to read as I have not had much spare time for reading lately. I think it would have been better to have been able to read it quickly as it would have been easier to keep up with the story. Overall it was a pleasing story with lots of intrigue but not my favourite by this author.

I have read 2 other books by Kate Morton, thoroughly enjoyed them, and really looked forward to starting this one. I am so disappointed. I found that it was nowhere as riveting as the other books, in fact I found it hard to follow the story threads. Sorry this one is just not for me.

Edward Radcliffe is an artist, his muse and lover Lily Millington, a girl with a blemished past. Birchwood Manor is also a muse of sorts - it pulls at Edward's memories and he purchases it. Then follows a summer of tragedy and mystery - the shooting of Edward's fiancée Fanny, and the disappearance of Lily alongside that of a valuable diamond, the Radcliffe Blue.

Years later, an archivist, Elodie Winslow, arrives at the Manor and slowly the house reveals its secrets.

A lot of characters, and narrative that flips back and forth through time, but a great read - stick with it, I found the second half much more compelling and gripping than the first.

I have read a number of Kate Morton books in the past and enjoyed them so was looking forward to reading this one.

Unfortunately for me this is not one of her better ones. This for me was three stories that loosely tied together, but it was a bit of a push.

In fact, one stories was so flimsy I was left wondering why it was included as for me it added nothing extra to the novel.

The ghost theme did not gain enough momentum, and all in all I felt that this was a damp squib. To long and with too many threads.

The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton is about a murder in the summer of 1862 and in present day a young lady trying to make sense of of the mystery. I enjoy reading this author's books but this story was a little slow for me and didn't have the charm of her previous books.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Pan McMillan for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another beautifully told story by Kate Morton. This book as always has been really well thought out and really cleverly put together. My only gripe is that I found it to be a bit long in places.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Kate Morton is one of my absolute favourites. I found the start of this book difficult to get into - I'll be honest. But once I persevered the strands started to come together. Lovely descriptive passages and writing. Not a speedy or easy read but a very interesting one. Looking forward to the next book from this clever writer. .

Kate Morton is one of those writers that i've always felt convinced I'd love, so have two of her previous novels on my shelves waiting to be read. She also seems to be one of those writers that I never got around to reading, perhaps because her books are so flipping big! Very happy to report that this was as pleasant a read as I'd hoped for.
I'll get my only real gripe out of the way first, and as it seemed to irk a few other reviewers I don;t think it'll come as a surprise, but wow, there are a lot of characters to keep track of! I really admire the way that Morton weaves together all of their stories, and it felt satisfying witnessing her pulling all of the different threads together, but at times, as a reader, it could feel quite cumbersome and a tiny bit of a slog, and it can't help but remove you from the flow of a story when you have to pause to try and remember who this person was, or why that person did that. That being said, the characters did pop out of the page, they were so realistic, and I was happy to spend time with them. The thing that really helped keep it all together for me though was the location - Birchwood Manor. This place was like a character of it's own, and it was fantastic. I want to buy it and live there. I felt invested in the people, I wanted them to find their way in their lives, and I really enjoyed meeting people at different points in their lives and seeing the effects of previous actions.
Birchwood Manor is a magical, haunted place, so I can fully appreciate this will be a popular read upon it's release in a few months as the nights start drawing in, but i'm so pleased I got the chance to read it now, as the descriptions of the house and it's setting felt so fresh and bright that it felt right to read it during these hot summer days we've been having.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for my copy in return for an honest review.

Elodie works as an archivist in London when she stumbles upon a sketchbook that unlocks a mystery at a house and a complex love triangle. To Elodie, the house represents her childhood and she is convinced she recognises the house.

I was so excited to start this, finally another book by Morton that I relished getting stuck into. However, I could not get stuck into this, disappointingly I did not develop a connection to the plot or the characters really and I fought to keep up with it. This has quite a slow start which may have contributed to the problem, for me it never really got going and I was bored at multiple times throughout. 

Morton does have a skill at depicting beautiful houses and landscapes and this is no different, I was transported to the house Elodie discovers. Morton also seamlessly entwines the past with the present, mixing the two together, until there is an overlap. 

The characters in this are good and certainly interesting but again I struggled to connect with them and to care about what was happening. In this instance, the past was superior to the present and Elodie is almost left for large portions of the book. Eventually I was connected to the plot and characters, the last fifty odd pages were gripping and I enjoyed seeing how it all tied up, but that is about it. 

'The Clockmaker's Daughter' is okay but not as good as Morton's other reads. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy.