The House at Riverton by Kate Morton: A Review

“‘That’s why nobody talks about it,’ he said. ‘They know that if they do, people will see them for what they really are. Members of the devil’s party moving amid the regular people as though they still belong. As if they’re not monsters returned from a murderous rampage.'” – Kate Morton, The House at Riverton

The House at Riverton spans two eras; Grace, the main character, is aging and near death. In her last months, she records a series of audio cassettes for her beloved grandson that tell the tale of her youth as a maid and the terrible secret she has kept for her former mistress all her life. Grace’s recollections bring the reader back to 1914, just before the outbreak of the First World War. Set in Riverton, an English country manor, the novel follows the lives of Grace, and Hannah and Emmeline, the two daughters of the house. Despite coming from such different words, the lives of the girls, especially those of Grace and Hannah, who are the same age, often mirror each other as they struggle to understand their roles in society, which often conflict with their sense of self.

If you like historical fiction, this is a book worth reading. Morton’s novel is incredibly well researched. She examines class privilege in Edwardian England, the limits imposed on women at the time, and the impact the war had on so many returning soldiers, and the impact on families whose sons and husbands never came home. Morton also plays with tropes of the Victorian Gothic: a house haunted both literally and metaphorically, characters driven to madness, doppelgängers and ultimately, a tragedy that destroys the family.

Without spilling any secrets of The House at Riverton, I should say what a pivotal role they play in the novel. As secret after secret is revealed, they drive the characters’ thoughts and actions to a breath-taking conclusion but Morton also explores the way secrets can drive people apart or bond them together. For  Grace, who has no status or wealth of her own, her ability to keep a secret is what allows her to show her devotion to Hannah, who never truly understands Grace as an individual in her own right. At the end of her life, Grace unburdens her long-held secrets to her grandson, and in so doing, gives him an opportunity to pursue a new path.

There is a lot to recommend about The House at Riverton. The characters are beautifully written and the settings in Riverton and London almost become characters themselves. I often found it troubling how seldom those of higher status ever saw Grace as more than a competent servant (let alone considered her a person own hopes and dreams), but Morton’s choice to set the novel across two time periods allows the reader to see that after Riverton, Grace is able to follow her own dreams and even recapture some that eluded her in her youth. Morton’s writing is compelling and, despite borrowing from Gothics, it is not predictable. Right up until the end, I thought I had the angles all figured out and then she would surprise me again. And despite Grace and Hannah and Emmeline coming from very different worlds, Morton is effective in showing how class and gender roles of the early twentieth century narrowly defined their lives, making all three women sympathetic. When the final secret is revealed in the conclusion, my heart broke for all three of them.

Have you ever read any of Kate Morton’s novels? Drop me a line and let me know! Until next week, happy reading!