The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

The Distant Hours: A Novel by Kate Morton was a wonderful escape! The hardcover came out on Nov. 9, 2010 and the paperback edition will be released in July 2011.

The blurb:

A long lost letter arrives in the post and Edie Burchill finds herself on a journey to Milderhurst Castle, a great but moldering old estate, where the Blythe spinsters live and where her mother was billeted fifty years before as a thirteen-year-old girl during WWII. The elder Blythe sisters are twins and have spent most of their lives looking after the third and youngest sister, Juniper, who hasn’t been the same since her fiance jilted her in 1941.

Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past.  But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected.  The truth of what happened in “the distant hours” of the past has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.

Morton once again enthralls readers with an atmospheric story featuring characters beset by circumstance and haunted by memory.  The Distant Hours is an homage to the great classics of gothic literature and to the power of storytelling.

Review:

In her third and latest novel, The Distant Hours, Kate Morton delivers an unforgettable tale that takes us to a great home in England around the time of World War II.  

It opens with the delivery of a long lost letter which drives young Edie Burchill to investigate Milderhurst Castle, a once grand estate in England, where her mother had once been billeted as a thirteen-year-old girl during World War II. Edie is drawn to Milderhurst and its owners, the three Blythe sisters.  The elder Blythe sisters are twins and have spent most of their lives protecting their youngest sister Juniper who hasn’t been the same since a fateful night in 1941.  As Edie unravels the mystery of her mother’s stay at Milderhurst, she uncovers the truth behind the mysterious tragedies that have haunted the Blythe family for decades.

The Distant Hours is an engrossing read full of family secrets and betrayal- equal parts mystery and historical fiction.

ISBN-10: 1439152799 - Paperback

Publisher: Washington Square Press (July 12, 2011), 576 pages.

Review copy provided by the publisher. 

About the Author:

Kate Morton, a native Australian, holds degrees in dramatic art and English literature, and is the author of The House at Riverton and The Forgotten Garden.  She lives with her family in Brisbane, Australia.  Learn more about her at KateMorton.com