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Book Review of The Distant Hours

The Distant Hours
The Distant Hours
Author: Kate Morton
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Romance
Book Type: Paperback
LaurieS avatar reviewed on + 504 more book reviews


My friend passed this across the table and promised a trio of spinsters, a creaky castle and long hidden family secrets. I probably should not have taken the book, seeing as it's roughly a million pages long and I read at a slugs pace, but I was sold anyway because I'm nosey and books with dark secrets cannot be turned away.

This book kept luring me in with tantalizing lead ins to secrets.

But then it delivered nothing but a whole lot of empty promises until about page 4 million and 80. Then the twists and turns come fast and furiously but for me it was a little too little and all far too late.

From here on out, I will never ignore my instincts to DNF.

So on to the good. For those with more patience for slow moving books than I, this story is very atmospheric and I have to admit that there was something about it that kept me reading. It starts off with a letter that leads a woman to delve into the past of her mom and her relationship to three sisters who live in a castle. She's nosey like me. I liked her. There's a smidge of romance and the promise of dastardly deeds and perhaps a murder. There were many points where I zombie read and had to flip back a few pages but it always managed to re-hook me. The characters are also a quirky bunch and I liked that.

So, I'd say this is a good choice for a gloomy rainy day (week, month?) if you like mysterious books where the castle is more of a character than many of the living, breathing characters within. But you must have endless patience and I clearly do not.