"All that matters to me are people and experience.
Connection--that's the thing.
That flicker of electricity between people, the invisible tie."
Connection--that's the thing.
That flicker of electricity between people, the invisible tie."
--Kate Morton, The Lake House
Genre: Adult Contemporary & Historical Fiction
Genre: Adult Contemporary & Historical Fiction
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 493
Publication Date: October 10th, 2015
Source: Gift from Hannah--thanks, love!
Previous Books By This Author: The House at Riverton, The Forgotten Garden, The Distant Hours, The Secret Keeper
Find on: Goodreads | Amazon
My Thoughts
The Belle
Find on: Goodreads | Amazon
My Thoughts
The Belle
I have read and loved Kate Morton's books for years. Each book has a familiar yet unique feel to it and you know that you can always count on a mystery that will leave your head spinning until the final moment. This book is no exception.
The Writing
Kate Morton's writing never ceases to blow me away. It is vibrant and vivid and the setting comes to life right before your eyes. I am not a fan, personally, of verbose and unnecessary emphasis on setting detail, but Morton is my exception. The house at Cornwall is old and crumbling yet still majestic in itself. The city of Cornwall in its small seaside elegance is another component that makes you feel like you're right inside the story. AND THEN we also get to see Cornwall in all its glory in the 1930s and it is everything you would imagine while reading about a grand house in the height of aristocracy. Ok, well 'height' is a stretch because we all know those rules of etiquette were not the norm for much longer but still, they were in place and as ridiculous as the social class divide is to me, there's something magical about reading books that take place in it. There's always some sort of tryst or attraction going on, we get this with young Alice and the handsome gardener. It's just enticing and I loved it but that's the plot so let's move on to that.
The Story
As with her previous books, the brilliance that Morton brings to her stories are always on another level. She weaves in so many characters and subplots and secrets that she will actually have you guessing until she finally graces us with the answer, She is the queen of misdirection and the literary Sigfreud and Roy. Just when you think you have it figured out, she throws you for a loop. I love this. I love reading between the lines of every detail and I have to say I was able to call two secret plot points and that doesn't seem like much, but trust me it is! I was so excited!
Back to the story. The Lake House tells the story of Alice Edevane and her family in 1933 when her 11-month brother went missing and was never found. In present day Cornwall, a detective stumbles upon the house and the mystery and cannot let it go, she has to solve it. The back and forth between what really happened n 1933 and what clues are discovered in 2011. I love this. I love seeing the pieces come together and how it all fits and how all the crazy elements and seemingly insignificant details fall into place. It is nothing short of brilliant.
The Love
Another constant in all of Morton's stories is love. It can be tragic and heartbreaking and uplifting and ...it can make you do impossible things. One of my favorite parts of this story was Anthony and Eleanor's love. We get to see how they meet and fall in love. It's so beautiful. Their marriage and devotion to one another isn't always easy but they are amazing. I cannot say too much about this because I don't want to give away plot points but my heart just ached with how much I loved them and their love for one another.
The Magic
As I said above, there is something magical that happens to me when I read a Kate Morton book. I am transported into her world. I feel cocooned by the writing and just want to crawl up into and watch it unfold. This book is no exception. I found myself really taking my time and spending a lot longer reading it than I normally would have but I loved it. I read all her other books before I started this blog and always read it indulgently. I did the same with this one and I loved every second. If you haven't read a Kate Morton book yet, you are really missing out on a phenomenal author!
The Writing
Kate Morton's writing never ceases to blow me away. It is vibrant and vivid and the setting comes to life right before your eyes. I am not a fan, personally, of verbose and unnecessary emphasis on setting detail, but Morton is my exception. The house at Cornwall is old and crumbling yet still majestic in itself. The city of Cornwall in its small seaside elegance is another component that makes you feel like you're right inside the story. AND THEN we also get to see Cornwall in all its glory in the 1930s and it is everything you would imagine while reading about a grand house in the height of aristocracy. Ok, well 'height' is a stretch because we all know those rules of etiquette were not the norm for much longer but still, they were in place and as ridiculous as the social class divide is to me, there's something magical about reading books that take place in it. There's always some sort of tryst or attraction going on, we get this with young Alice and the handsome gardener. It's just enticing and I loved it but that's the plot so let's move on to that.
The Story
As with her previous books, the brilliance that Morton brings to her stories are always on another level. She weaves in so many characters and subplots and secrets that she will actually have you guessing until she finally graces us with the answer, She is the queen of misdirection and the literary Sigfreud and Roy. Just when you think you have it figured out, she throws you for a loop. I love this. I love reading between the lines of every detail and I have to say I was able to call two secret plot points and that doesn't seem like much, but trust me it is! I was so excited!
Back to the story. The Lake House tells the story of Alice Edevane and her family in 1933 when her 11-month brother went missing and was never found. In present day Cornwall, a detective stumbles upon the house and the mystery and cannot let it go, she has to solve it. The back and forth between what really happened n 1933 and what clues are discovered in 2011. I love this. I love seeing the pieces come together and how it all fits and how all the crazy elements and seemingly insignificant details fall into place. It is nothing short of brilliant.
The Love
Another constant in all of Morton's stories is love. It can be tragic and heartbreaking and uplifting and ...it can make you do impossible things. One of my favorite parts of this story was Anthony and Eleanor's love. We get to see how they meet and fall in love. It's so beautiful. Their marriage and devotion to one another isn't always easy but they are amazing. I cannot say too much about this because I don't want to give away plot points but my heart just ached with how much I loved them and their love for one another.
The Magic
As I said above, there is something magical that happens to me when I read a Kate Morton book. I am transported into her world. I feel cocooned by the writing and just want to crawl up into and watch it unfold. This book is no exception. I found myself really taking my time and spending a lot longer reading it than I normally would have but I loved it. I read all her other books before I started this blog and always read it indulgently. I did the same with this one and I loved every second. If you haven't read a Kate Morton book yet, you are really missing out on a phenomenal author!
Backstage Pass
If you love complex plots, family secrets, and small, vivid English towns...this book is for you.
If you love complex plots, family secrets, and small, vivid English towns...this book is for you.
I love this review so much, you've really captured what makes a Kate Morton book special! There's just something about her writing that gets me and I love knowing what I'm getting with each book like you said; familiar but unique and oh so twisty! She threw me for lots of loops this time around, I almost never guessed correctly. Which I like :) This wasn't my favorite of her books but even your least-favorite KM is miles above so many others. Indulgent reading is the only way to go. Someday I'd love to reread them but I'm not sure I could take the emotions again! She is magical and so is your review :)
ReplyDeleteAh, thank you so, so, so much, Morgan!! Her books are hard to reread for sure, they're so agonizingly emotional! Once sometimes is enough, haha
DeleteI have yet to read a Kate Morton novel, which I think is an absolute travesty considering how much you love her stuff (and how you've been telling me about her books for a while now). I loved hearing about all the things that make her novels magical to you; they make them sound even more appealing to me than they already are!
ReplyDeleteI think you would love her!!! Any of her books is a good starting place to be honest, they're all amazing for different reasons in a different way!
Delete