Reading The Forgotten Garden inspired me to hunt down its author’s earlier novel, The House at Riverton, which I’ve just finished.

Kate Morton is already a master of her chosen genre, writing about families and their secrets. She’s taken it a step further than the prolific Phyllis Whitney, of whose books I was once an avid reader so that I was disappointed when I could no longer find new ones.

The House at Riverton has a long cast of characters and it is a measure of Morton’s ability that the reader can keep tabs on all of them. (At least I could and I’m assuming I’m an average reader.) It also flits regularly between the present and the past, a technique that can be irritating but works well here. And it certainly engages your curiosity, building up a puzzle and fitting the last piece in place right at the end.

For me, though, her second book is the favourite. I believe she has learnt from the experience of the Riverton book, reducing the number of important characters and putting the narrative firmly in the third person, while taking us into different heads. The first book is written as a story told by one person, who was a servant and therefore an “invisible/insignificant” observer in the eyes of most of the other characters. When there is a section about an intimate love affair and scenes in which she was not present, she has to resort to explaining that the story had been told to her later. Although all this was very cleverly thought through and presented, it did sometimes seem a little awkward.

But there are many similarities between the two books. Although the second book begins in the author’s home country of Australia, both of them feature the grand home of an aristocratic English family and the degeneration of both the family and a building connected with it. The author also retained the family secrets theme, and takes the reader backwards and forwards in time, gradually unveiling the black secrets of this family.

I won’t reveal more because I recommend you read the books, if you haven’t already. But, if you can, read them the opposite way round, taking The House at Riverton first and then The Secret Garden. And then take a look at the website http://www.katemorton.com/

Happy reading.

Simon Whaley’s excellent book, Running a Writers’ Circle, takes the stress out of setting up and running a writers’ group. Using his considerable experience as chairman of a writers’ circle, Simon has set out everything a prospective group needs to consider.

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When I won a copy of Magdalena Ball's Sleep Before Evening as the prize for coming runner up in the writelink wet, wet, wet flash fiction contest, I was really worried I might not like it. The novel was written by not only a fellow writelinker but someone who had judged my own writing so highly. What would I say if I disliked it but was asked what I thought? As it turns out, I needn't have fussed, as the novel is addictive in more than just its subject matter.

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Life of Pi is a fantastic read - despite its initially daunting subject matter!

This review was highly commended in the writelink reviewing the situation contest in July 2007.

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As a poet, I owe a great deal to one particular book...This review also won me first prize in the writelink reviewing the situation contest in June 2007.

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A real treat for writelink newcomers and for those who may remember her work from the poetry arena is Close Distances by prize-winning writelinker Marilyn Jenkins (croescade).

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It's no exaggeration to say Catherine Smith's latest poetry collection has left me licking my lips, wanting more.

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I've been thinking recently about trying to sort through my poems and see what I have in the way of another pamphlet or a collection, so one particular 'how to' poetry book immediately caught my eye!

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Late as I am discovering Michael Symmons Roberts, the fact that his collection Corpus won the 2004 Whitbread Poetry Award probably says more than I can about its quality.

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Even I'm not arrogant enough to tell you how wonderful my latest novel is (well I am, but you'd probably report me and get me struck off or something) but I'll post you an overview of the book in the hope of tempting you to have a closer look, while leaving the reviewing to others at a later date.

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