New Book, New Adventure - "Distant Hours" By Kate Morton

So, I love to read, and the other day I ordered a new book - "Distant Hours" - By Kate Morton.

Now, I may be a bookworm, but I still haven't finished it thhhaattt quickly - I'm only about  a third through it. Even so, I have to admit, it's ffaab.

The story revolves around the secretive "Blythe" family, and in particular, three sisters. It's set in the mysterious location of Milderhurst Castle, in which the family live in. The novel is narrated through perspectives that switch, mainly changing from the 1990s as "present day" and WW2.

I love period dramas and novels which circles around family secrets, so this book is perfect for me, and anyone else who enjoys this genre. Kate Morton is also one of my favourite authors - I literally jumped off the sofa when I saw WHSmiths advertise her new book!- and this new addition is just as good as her previous stories.

What I love most about her, and in this novel too, is her remarkable talent and attention to detail; her descriptions of the setting, characters and emotion literally transports you into the story. It feels like you can experience all the textures, and this multi-sensory technique is really effective; you can practically smell the fire, and touch the silk dresses, and this skill still surprises me. Her use of enigmas and suspense is also fascinating, and makes the book a hard one to put down.

This book, and Morton's previous novels, oddly makes me feel nostalgic - I miss some of that old fashioned secrecy. Now it's all CSI and Bones, which I like too, but they lack that vintage mysteriousness. Growing up in WW2 and around that era is such a huge difference to life now, and -because I'm weird - part of me would love to experience the mystery of that era. Now, don't get me wrong, living during WW2 was obviously one of hardest things anyone could go through, but something about that period of time, and also the late 20th Century, that makes me long for some of that forgotten mystery that seems to surround it.

Hmm, I think I've been watching too much Poirot and Miss Marple. (Yes, I watch those programmes ok! Even though they are aimed at an ollldderrrrrr audience - they're just so intriguing!).

Wow, I sound like a right geek.

Despite only being a third through the book, I've already found a quote I love, and I think it would be a nice way to end this rather swotty-boffy-geeky blog entry:

"Before her eyes, he changes. She sees through the layers of mud, through the generations of darkness and rage and sorrow, to the human face beneath. A young man's face. A forgotten face. A face of such longing and sadness and beauty; she reaches, unthinking, to unlock the window. To bring him in from the rain".



(Kate Morton's official site -http://www.katemorton.com/)