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The Distant Hours

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The Distant Hours

By: Kate Morton
Narrated by: Caroline Lee
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Edie Burchill and her mother have never been close, but when a long lost letter arrives with the return address of Milderhurst Castle, Kent, printed on its envelope, Edie begins to suspect that her mother’s emotional distance masks an old secret. Evacuated from London as a 13-year-old girl, Edie’s mother is chosen by the mysterious Juniper Blythe, and taken to live at Milderhurst Castle with the Blythe family.

Fifty years later, Edie too is drawn to Milderhurst and the eccentric Sisters Blythe. Old ladies now, the three still live together, the twins nursing Juniper, whose abandonment by her fiancé in 1941 plunged her into madness. Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst Castle, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in the distant hours has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.

©2010 Kate Morton (P)2010 Kate Morton 20th Century Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction
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couldn't stop listening,great story,kept me wanting more.....Loved how the story was set indifferent time periods,I love history so found it fascinating and how it linked to the present....This is my second of Kate's books .....Can't wait to download the next.Highly recommend!

loved it!

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This is my least favourite of Kate Morton’s books, not sure why I don’t like it as much as her other books ☹️
I did like the narrator however, it’s just the story I didn’t feel inspired by.

Disappointing

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this book held my attention throughout. the twist and turns of various time lines was so clever. I thoroughly recommend it.

beautifully tragic.

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Kate Morton is nothing if not predictable, in a good way, like a warm fire and a glass of sherry on a snowy afternoon. Comfort food for the ears and soul.

Typical Kate Morton: A good story, well read

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In general, I like Kate Morton, and I like this narrator. But having meandered through 14 hours of listening, I am tempted to look up the ending and move on. The premise is intriguing, and I like the characters, but this feels very drawn out and overdone. kate Morton's more recent work is fabulous..But I can hear, in this novel, her preoccupation with being a good writer rather than telling the story. She could have written the same story with about 2/3rd of the pages, and not lost very much in terms of plot and character. The narrator is a favourite of mine but she is Australian, and this novel doesn't have any Australian characters or settings....?! All in all, an effort to finish.

this reads like a first and overcomplicated novel, of a future novelist

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