Review: The House at Riverton

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I’m rating this book low not because it’s not good, but because it’s not the kind of book I enjoy. It’s actually quite well done for a first novel, but I definitely like Morton's later books better. I enjoyed the Downton Abbey-esque atmosphere of the servant’s point of view before it all starts going to hell (which is worth giving it an extra star I suppose).

What I didn’t like about it is the pervasive sense of impending doom. You know that disaster is its way, just not exactly how it comes about, and it takes its time getting there (I was impatient with the pacing at times). You see the lives of all the characters disintegrating, you know nothing can be changed and want to make different decisions for them, and finally you find that no one gets a happy ending, not even Grace, the maid who is now telling the story in her old age. It’s a story of hopelessness and being trapped in roles dictated by society that end up ruining everyone’s lives. Not my cuppa tea.

I was especially frustrated with Grace in the past. She is completely unable to go outside of the mindset that she’s not to get personal with her employers, even when she’s explicitly invited to do so. She longs to be seen as a friend by her mistress, but doesn’t return any of Hannah's confidences.

***Spoilers follow***

In fact, she hides silly things like the fact that she isn’t learning to read shorthand - was merely smuggling a fiction book into the house, a much lesser crime. She allows Hannah to think she is her friend and confidant while holding back from her. This ends up having a huge impact on the outcome, and I just want to go back and tell her not to be so stupid.

***End of spoilers***

It was just too bleak for me, and I hated how it ended even though I knew some kind of terrible doom was coming. I did not relish the feeling I had at the end when I learned the twist, and felt like I needed to wash the bitter taste out of my mouth. I haven’t felt like that about a book since reading Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles, the quintessential tragic train wreck of a story. The difference here is, there were so many small tragedies all the way through that added up to one big tragedy, while Tess was only tragic towards the end.

But because it wasn’t for me doesn’t mean others won’t enjoy it. If you like a good gothic tragedy and historical fiction set around World War I, you might like this.


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