House at Riverton : A Novel

The House at Riverton
Bok av Kate Morton
From the #1 internationally bestselling author of The Forgotten Garden comes a gorgeous novel set in England between World War I and World war II. Perfect for fans of Downton Abbey, it is the story of an aristocratic family, a house, a mysterious death and a way of life that vanished forever, told in flashback by a woman who witnessed it all and kept a secret for decades.Grace Bradley went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline. In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the house, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline and only theyand Graceknow the truth. In 1999, when Grace is ninety-eight years old and living out her last days in a nursing home, she is visited by a young director who is making a film about the events of that summer. She takes Grace back to Riverton House and reawakens her memories. Told in flashback, this is the story of Grace's youth during the last days of Edwardian aristocratic privilege shattered by war, of the vibrant twenties and the changes she witnessed as an entire way of life vanished forever. The novel is full of secretssome revealed, others hidden forever, reminiscent of the romantic suspense of Daphne du Maurier. It is also a meditation on memory, the devastation of war and a beautifully rendered window into a fascinating time in history. Kate Morton's first novel, originally published to critical acclaim in Australia, and quickly becoming a #1 bestseller in England, The House at Riverton is a vivid, page-turning novel of suspense and passion, with charactersand an endingreaders won't soon forget.
Vi får följa Grace Bradley från det att hon börjar som tjänsteflicka på Riverton Manor som 14-åring 1914. Sommaren 1924 tar poeten Robbie Hunter sitt liv mitt under ett pågående societetsparty på Riverton Manor.

De båda systrarna Hannah och Emmeline Hartford, tillsammans med Grace, blir vittne till händelsen. Det här blir en hemlighet som Grace bevarar hela sitt liv. Vad hände egentligen där vi sjön?

Vintern 1999. En amerikansk regissör kontaktar den nu snart 99-åriga Grace. Hon ska göra en film om tragedin och Grace kanske hjälpa henne med information.

Det här är en storstilad roman, litet i Downton Abbey-stil, om herrskap och tjänstefolk, hemligheter, kärlek, svartsjuka och lögner.

Den pendlar tidsmässigt mellan nutid och dåtid och den är skriven så att jag hela tiden vill läsa mer, för jag vill verkligen veta vad det egentligen var som hände vid sjön. Snudd på 400 sidor är inget hinder. Tvärtom.