Book Review: Only Time Will Tell

I discovered this audio book through the recent acquisitions at our library.  I have long been a fan of Jeffrey Archer's short stories. He has a real gift for turning the end of the tale with a twist.  I had never attempted one of his novels and didn't really realize when biting at this one that I would be getting myself into a five book series.  And, with Archer's skill, I am certainly hooked for the whole shebang.

Only Time Will Tell, is the first book in a five book series, "The Clifton Chronicles," covering the life of the main character, Harry Clifton.  Told from seven different perspectives (the seven primary characters in the story) it spans the 1920's to the early 1940's.  Harry has been told that his father was killed in the war, but knows this cannot be true, given the date of his birth.  He is convinced that he will go on to lead a similar life to his father and uncle, working on the docks in Bristol, England.  However, he discovers a new life opening up for him when he is recognized for his stupendous singing abilities.  Entrance to the choir leads to a scholarship to attend St. Bede's, where he meets his two best friends, Deacons and Giles Barrington.

Harry Clifton's hard-working mother does all she can to keep him in attendance at the finest schools, with the goal of his eventual attendance at Oxford University.  Old Jack Tarr does all he can to assist in Harry's education and encourages him to stick with school, despite the typical harrassment Harry faces from one cruel prefect.  As the story progresses, the actual events of his father's death come to light but bring forth further questions as to his parentage and his place in the world, even possibly shattering his chances at love.

This book held me riveted chapter by chapter.  I enjoyed the use of a variety of perspectives.  I marvelled at Archer's ability to carefully weave the story so that bit by bit the full picture emerges and sucks the reader into a maelstrom of character conflicts and plot shifts.  Archer is, indeed, a master storyteller.  I knew that the ending would hold some unexpected twist and that it would compell me to search out the second in this five-part-series. 

I raced to the library this morning to pick up the second installment (also in audio form - because I delight in listening to the marvelous accents), The Sins of the Father.  I'm expecting this second book to be as appealing as the first and cannot wait for Archer to complete all five books in this lengthy journey, which will, as the back cover proclaims, "bring to life one hundred years of recent history to reveal a family story that neither the listener nor Harry Clifton could have ever imagined."

You can visit the Macmillan website for the books to listen to an audio snippet from this first novel in The Clifton Chronicles.