Books

The House at Riverton
By Kate Morton, Knopf, 2008, 352 pp.

Kate Morton's gothic-overtoned The House at Riverton has been a bestseller in England and we in the States are now getting to see what the fuss was all about. Sure enough, it lives up to the across-the-pond hype.

Grace Bradley is a 98-year-old woman with a lot of history. Some of it is known, and some crucial bits she has kept under wraps. A filmmaker's inquiry into her viewpoint on mysterious, long-gone events at the nearby estate of Riverton sets her to thinking on a tragedy she'd rather not remember.

While Grace doesn't tell the filmmaker much more than personal reminiscences about the inhabitants of the estate, she does decide finally to unload the secrets that have burdened her for so long — to her grandson, Marcus, a novelist who is suffering from his own tragic loss. She buys a Dictaphone and makes a series of tapes relating the tale to Marcus, and to the reader.

Just 14 when she went to Riverton to be a servant, Grace was reminded time and again that she must remember "her place" in the household. She did well and served dutifully but did get involved with the Hartford family more than was good for her.

Secrets surrounded her — her mother's, a former servant in the household; those of the noble family. And the secrets inevitably changed the course of her life and those of the family she served.

We read about David, Hannah and Emmeline — the children of the second son of the lord of the manor, Frederick. They're around Grace's age, and when they visit, they immediately attract her attention and awe. She has no way of knowing then how closely linked they are, and what she will witness years later that will become such a heavily shrouded secret.

Morton uses all of the details she slips into the story. The significance of the times, of the distinct separation of the classes, of the effect that the first World War had on those who fought in it and those who were left behind all figure into the plot.

The personalities and relationships of the two sons of Lord Ashbury and the relationships of Frederick's children are all vital to the arc of the tale. Nothing is wasted, as the reader can see at the very end, when the details of that seminal tragedy are at last filled in.

For the reader knows all along that the fabricated tale that has served as "truth" for so long is indeed a lie — that dark fact is repeated time and again. The unknown truth is an uneasy shadow that darkly hovers over the book's proceedings.

However, it is the only real "surprise" — Morton makes other "secrets" fairly clear throughout the novel, giving easy hints for the reader to figure out before the characters do. Therefore, readers who like to be completely surprised by very clever twists and turns might be just a tad disappointed.

But those who like a well-spun story populated by nuanced, fleshed-out characters will find that the knowledge of "the truth" on the very last page hits like a ton of bricks, not for its shock value but for its human repercussions. A little time and reflection serve to reinforce just how devastating, how heartbreaking, the act was.

The House at Riverton is a very satisfying read for fans of gothic suspense and period pieces. Let us hope that debut novelist Kate Morton has more ideas swirling in her imagination to share in the future.