I loved this story. The cultural and historical setting is well researched and makes a great backdrop to this story.

In The House at Riverton, the narrator, Caroline Lee, does an outstanding job of bringing the characters to life so well. The author, Kate Morton, captures the essence of the well-to-do Edwardian household magnificently, and the roaring twenties to a lesser degree. Her characters are great and well defined.

That being said, I felt she seemed to get bogged down and lose her way somewhat in the middle of the story, getting caught up in over-description and too many unnecessary details. And then she picked up momentum and rushed the last part leading up to the finale.

As with her outstanding five star novel, The Forgotten Garden, she does a wonderful job of keeping you guessing until the last minute of the story.

Were it possible, I'd have given it another half star. It is worth the read.

I am still trying to get into the book. It's one of the slowest reads/listens I've ever had. I'm just past part 1 and I don't want to listen anymore. I will go on to another book. I must be missing something after reading all the reviews. It's like watching paint dry....Oil based!

If you're looking for a page-turner, you may find this book too slow. But if you like rich, believable characters, a vivid portrayal of life in a different time, insights into what life was like for servants, and a little mystery thrown in, you'll love it.

Note: ignore the reviewer who commented on this being just a reading of a screenplay. That person apparently didn't get past the first five minutes.

Just finished listening to it, and it's still playing out in my mind, what a beautifully written and spoken book, I enjoyed it so very much. The characters were so real, during a party one can hear the music and the laughter. You can feel the pain of the people when they hit hard times, and then the ending, I hated for it to end. It's a wonderful history lesson too, about war, hard times, shell shock, just the difference from then to now.
Read the book, or shall I say listen to the book, you will come away with a beautiful experience I promise you. MJ

Sometimes, I am drawn to a book only because of the picture on the front of the book. That was my reason for choosing this book, but I got really lucky because it was so good. The story is told about an aristocratic British family from the point of view of the "lady's maid" at the end of her life. I was always intrigued how some "castled" families started to live a more shabby life. This book describes how the decline happened for many noble British families. But this book is so much more as you get caught up in the characters and their lives. Also, there are secrets and suspense. The ending was amazing. The actress read the book very well. I enjoyed her interpretation.

This book was excellent. The beginning seems a little rambling because you are being introduced to all of the players but you will quickly become engrossed. I only wish Ms. Morton had more than just these 2 books! I would have a hard time choosing a favorite between this and "The Forgotten Garden".
However, the title change to "The Shifting Fog" was very confusing.

It took a while to grab my atention, but after was a pleasure to listen - and I couldn't guess the mistery to the end, what is very rare.

When I first listened to this book the name was "The Shifting Fog". Has the story been revised since the name has changed? I will listen to it again on the chance there are changes.

When I saw the title, "The House at Riverton" I totally wanted another great story-within-a-story by Kate Morton. The pace of this story is not like "The Forgotten Garden", one of my FAVORITE books ever. This story did not grab my attention as strongly as "The Forgotten Garden'.
But it is a good read, just a different place in time and era.
I am glad I purchased through Audible. I anxiously await the next book by Kate Morton!

This is a well written book , researched thoroughly lots of period detail but it's just slow. guess i thought more would happen based on summary but it was slow paced throughout but still an enjoyable if not exciting listen. one note: narrator is excellent to listen to