The Clockmaker's Daughter

By: Kate Morton

Narrated by: Joanne Froggatt

Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Prepare to lose yourself in the enchanting new novel from Kate Morton.

'My father called me Birdie; he said I was his little bird. Others knew me as his child, the clockmaker’s daughter. Edward called me his muse, his destiny. I am remembered as a thief, an imposter, a girl who rose above her station, who was not chaste. My real name, no one remembers. The truth about that summer, no one else knows.'

In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists led by the passionate and talented Edward Radcliffe descends upon Birchwood Manor in rural Oxfordshire. Their plan: to spend a secluded summer month in a haze of inspiration and creativity. But by the time their stay is over, one woman has been shot dead while another has disappeared; a priceless heirloom is missing; and Edward Radcliffe’s life is in ruins.

Over 150 years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel containing two seemingly unrelated items: a sepia photograph of an arresting-looking woman in Victorian clothing, and an artist’s sketchbook containing the drawing of a twin-gabled house on the bend of a river.

Why does Birchwood Manor feel so familiar to Elodie? And who is the beautiful woman in the photograph? Will she ever give up her secrets?

Told by multiple voices across time, The Clockmaker's Daughter is a story of murder, mystery and thievery, of art, love and loss. And flowing through it like a river is the voice of a woman who stands outside time, whose name has been forgotten by history but who has watched it all unfold: Birdie Bell, the clockmaker’s daughter.

©2018 Kate Morton (P)2018 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"Joanne Froggatt, of 'Downton Abbey,' skillfully narrates this sweeping story of art, beauty, love, and murder.... Froggatt's precise diction makes listening a pleasure. She excels at inhabiting accents and personalities from each era in the layered narrative, both men and women from an array of backgrounds. Froggatt keeps the pace of this long novel moving and helps build suspense as the pieces of the puzzle start to fit together." (AudioFile)