Can I start off by saying that I loved this book? The House at Riverton introduces us to Grace, a 98 year old former servant, who used to work at the infamous House of Riverton. The house is infamous because of its' previous occupants and the mystery that surrounds the death of a famous poet who shot himself at the house during a dinner party. The book begins with Grace being visited by a film director who is basing her next movie on that dinner party and what might have happened. It leads Grace into reminisces of the past and the reader gets to experience Grace's memories firsthand. This book was a real treat to read. Not only does the reader get to delve into Grace's memories of working at Riverton but we also get to know Grace and her life after Riverton. The book is told in two parts: Grace's current life and then also it goes back into her memories of living and working at Riverton. She tells the stories of Hannah and Emmeline who lived at Riverton and whom she was the maid for. I'm going to admit to loving all of it. Grace was a great main character and her story itself was interesting enough to read about. Add to it that she is also telling the story of Hannah and Emmeline and leading into the answers surrounding the mystery of the poet's death and I was hooked. I instantly was caught up in the story and the lives of all of the characters, plus I loved the historical aspects of this novel. We got to experience how the war affected living at Riverton as well as the family that lived there. I just let the author take me for a ride while reading this book and I enjoyed every second of it. The ending was perfect in my opinion and took me by suprise as I thought I had the mystery figured out.
All in all, this was an amazing read for me and I cannot wait to read more by this author. Anyone who enjoys historical fiction will enjoy this novel as well as someone who just enjoys a good story. As for me I can't recommend this book enough!
Disclaimer: I checked this book out at the library! Love my library :)
*I read this for multiple challenges including:
New Author Challenge
Historical Fiction Challenge
100+ Books Challenge 2010
Support Your Library Challenge
"M" Author for A-Z challenge (personal)
