Book Review: The Clockmaker's Daughter

I've had every intention of taking part in The Deliberate Reader's on-line book club, but somehow have never jumped in with both feet. This year, I vowed to be different. Almost all the books selected look appealing. The February selection is a book I intended to read all along: Kate Morton's The Clockmaker's Daughter.

I struggle with Morton's style. She builds dual story lines across time and peoples the landscape with numerous characters. Still, I've always thought her stories worth the trouble. One book club participant even suggested making a time-line and character chart to keep things straight. While I didn't go to that extent, and I struggled in the beginning third of the book, I figured it out eventually and I'm glad I persevered.

The story begins, in current days, with Elodie Winslow, a young archivist. She encounters a new piece for the collection (an old leather satchel containing a sketchbook and a photograph) and one sketch feels familiar. The image is reminiscent of a particular house her deceased mother used to describe in a bedtime story. When she shows the sketch and the photograph to her mother's uncle, Tip, the old man tries to hide his initial recognition. He will only admit it is the house he shared with his mother during the years of the war.

As this story unfolds, the timeline shifts back to the summer of 1862 when a young artist and his friends inhabited the house. The summer comes to an abrupt halt when the artist's fiance is murdered during a burglary. The artist's female model - his muse - and his priceless necklace both disappear on the same night. Then the story shifts to the years when Tip lived there and conversed with an imaginary friend. Further shifts happen when the characters of Jack and Leonard appear. Oh, reader, stick with it, even when it feels hard to keep things straight.

I loved the author's description of the artist as storyteller: "It is no easy feat to invent a whole world, but Edward could do that. A setting, a narrative, characters who live and breathe - he was able to make the story come to life in someone else's mind. Have you ever considered the logistics of that, Mr. Gilbert? The transfer of an idea? And, of course, a story is not a single idea; it is thousands of ideas, all working together in concert."

I also loved Tip's description of his mother, a journalist who wrote articles during the war. He said, "She was a fierce correspondent, always writing and receiving letters. That's how I think of her now, sitting at her writing desk, scribbling away." I'd love to have one of my sons remember me in just such terms.

Overall, despite its intricacy, it is a delightful tale. Eventually, when all the strands of the story come together, it is like viewing a tapestry after watching various portions crafted over time. The big picture answers the questions lingering in the reader's mind and builds to a satisfying conclusion. If you are a Kate Morton fan, what is your favorite book? and do you struggle, too, with mastering the shifting timelines and extensive characters?