- The House at Riverton switches between scenes with the older Grace in the late 1990s and the younger Grace's life around World War I. Do you think this was a good way for Morton to tell the story? What does this structure bring to the story that would be lacking in a linear telling? Or, do you think a linear structure would have been more appropriate?
- Why do you think Grace chose to tell her secret to Marcus?
- Why do you think Ruth seems ashamed of her mother's years of service? What is Grace's attitude toward her position at Riverton?
- Why do you think Grace was so loyal to Hannah? Did you believe that she would choose service over Alfred?
- Do you think Teddy changed after he married Hannah? How was their marriage different than she expected?
- What do you think attracted Hannah to Robbie?
- Do you think Hannah and Robbie's relationship would have survived if Grace had not brought Emmeline to the lake?
- Was the ending believable?
- What did you think of the way the minor characters -- Alfred, Ursula, Marcus -- become connected to Grace's story in the end?
- Did you learn anything new about World War I?
- Rate The House at Riverton on a scale of 1 to 5.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
'The House at Riverton" by Kate Morton: Some questions to consider
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I enjoyed it except it was too long
ReplyDeleteThe book club members seemed to generally like this novel, ratings varied between 2 & 4 out of 5. The lively discussions covered the ideas of why Grace wanted to honestly reveal the past, if the grandson Marcus would realise the truth of her story, the harshness & unfairness of life for young women during the early part of the 20th century & the ramifications of war. Graces' over-riding loyalty to Hannah was questioned as it did not seem to be equally reciprocated. Not everyone liked the frequent segue from the present to the past whilst others thought it was done very well. It was generally decided that the author had a fairly good grasp of the foibles of the ageing & showed, yet again, the divisions in society at the time. Whether another Kate Morton book would be read brought a mixed response from the group, but all the talk was enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI thought the story too slow in parts. I could see, in her innocence, how Grace knew there was a story behind her mothers strong link to the house & her own birth, but was so slow to realise it. It would have been typical for the times to cover up the 'adventures of the sons' of the house, whilst leaving the innocent young women to barely scratch an existence & suffer for the rest of their, & their childrens', lives. It was clever how the author linked the characters all together at the end - but it took too long to get there.
ReplyDeleteTook me a while to get an interest in this book,it took from the first few pages until the last few pages to reveal "the secret", rather a long time span I thought, however I must admit I did not guess "the secret"
ReplyDeleteThe author was able to thread her way through her characters in a reasonably seamless way, not just the primary characters,but the minor ones as well. Not sure if I will follow up on her next book. On a scale of 1:5, it would be a 3 from me
Can anybody explain to me what happened to Marcus and his wife? I didn´t understand it, even though I read it in my mother tongue (Spanish). Thanks.
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