Excellent Reads: The Distant Hours

A letter posted in 1941 finally reaches its destination in 1992 with powerful repercussions for Edie Burchill, a London book editor, in this enthralling romantic thriller from Australian author Morton (The Forgotten Garden). At crumbling Milderhurst Castle live elderly twins Persephone and Seraphina and their younger half-sister, Juniper, the three eccentric spinster daughters of the late Raymond Blythe, author of The True History of the Mud Man, a children's classic Edie adores. Juniper addressed the letter to Meredith, Edie's mother, then a young teen evacuated to Milderhurst during the Blitz. Edie, who's later invited to write an introduction to a reprint of Raymond's masterpiece, visits the seedily alluring castle in search of answers. Why was her mother so shattered by the contents of a letter sent 51 years earlier? And what happened to soldier Thomas Cavill, Juniper's long-missing fiancé and Meredith's former teacher? Despite the many competing narratives, the answers will stun readers. ---Publishers Weekly review at Amazon.com

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

Kate Morton is by far my favorite author of all time. I devoured her second work, The Forgotten Garden, and have since read it several times since. Each time I love it even more.  It's my number one favorite book I've ever read.

So I was eagerly awaiting Ms. Morton's third work for the better part of a year. I ordered it and paid extra for shipping the day it came out! A castle, World War II, a longlost letter and a mysterious tale of tragedy among a set of sisters...who could resist?

I was NOT disappointed in this work. One of the best parts of Ms. Morton's works is how she makes her stories unfold: at over 500 pages each, it is a slow and achingly beautiful awakening to the real story every time. While I don't want to rush through the book I really, really want to know the end! And now that I can put it all together, I can't wait to read this again so I can "get" all the foreshadowings and intersections of characters and plot devices.

Ms. Morton is extremely talented not only at creating hauntingly beautiful stories, often achingly tragic, but she is also an extremely articulate writer. Her prose is stunning. Her word combinations are beautiful. I love, love, LOVE to read her writing. I hope she will have another book out soon! Until then I will be reading this one again. I can't recommend it highly enough (although I do still prefer The Forgotten Garden over this one). A must-read!