I love Kate Morton's books. Every book I read of this author is an experience. Morton in fact at different levels, mainly emotional, is in grade to bring on surface incredible stories; her characters are waiting for you, for being adored, disliked, hated, immensely loved.
"Fluid" author, past, present are interconnected; reality becomes a continuous of stories, dramas, discoveries.
The message of Kate Morton is that existences are united by a light, but strong, invisible wire; there is not a real disconnection between past and present, but sometimes, past, more powerful because written, said and experienced, whispers again with objects, pictures, books, old houses, with a strength and fluidity that no one can arrest.
La Donna del Ritratto, The Clockmaker's Daughter in english tells a lot of story. Let's start with the one of Elodie.
Elodie is a girl working in London at the Stratton-Cardwell archive. She is an archivist more connected with the past than not our times.
Stratton was a philanthropist; he spent his life helping people in need and making the difference for their existence; he lived in the Victorian age.
One day a box left apart from decades and not yet put in order was taken in custody by Elodie.
Inside there was a superb shoulder belt, a notebook with some drawings, a silver frame with the portrait of a beauty girl. What shocked the most Elodie was that, opening the notebook of drawings she recognized immediately the house in that notebook. Possible? Her mother told her of that fairy-land sometimes. Of that house.
Elodie, closes to her marriage, stops by at the house of her dad asking for explanations. Her dad lives his existence in the past, remembering the beauty and talent of Mrs.Adler, as he loves to call her. He was a musician but Adler, a virtuoso of the cello, and she was acclaimed by everyone as the most wonderful musician of the time. Elodie was very little when her mother lost her existence in a terrible car incident with a violinist while she was returning home; she doesn't have special memories of her, apart this story she loved to tell her.
At first she agreed with her future husband Alaistar to add some of her mother's videos at their wedding's ceremony, although, later, she will change idea.
Edward Radcliffe is an impetuous, young painter. He is a wonderful promise in the sector; he is in his 20 in the 1860s, when he meets along his way Lily. This one is not the real name of this girl; Birdie was born in a normal family, but the death of her mother meant for her beloved dad a complete perdition. Her dad fixed clocks and he tried to invent a magnificent new clock, when the disgrace of the disappearance of her wife fell upon them in all its dramatic consequences.
Birdie, thanks to a common "family friend" let's use this expression, he was the opposite, will be taken in custody by Mrs Mack and her family. This family gave hospitality, previous payment of a certain amount of money to abandoned children. Sure, the life in that house is different; the second life of Birdie.
Birdie will learn pretty soon how to steal money with, also lucrative, and original inventions.
The meeting with Radcliffe is incredibly romantic.
Birdie understands that her life would have changed.
After that the first painting is realized, called Belle, and sold immediately, at the vernissage, the girl understands anyway the difference of environment and people with which she is invited to share her evening with escaping away, terrorized by herself, the environment where she grew up in and judges of all that rich people.
A vicious friend by Edward will try all his best, for buying some sex with her but without any success.
Edward becomes obsessed by Lily, and although officially he is in love with Fanny, he understands that his life is changing: he wants Birdie. Forever. And they will go away, starting a new existence together.
Birchwood Manor is a house lost in the rural British romantic countryside that the young painter Edward decides at a certain point of buying. His buen retiro, this house has a magical and special meaning to him as he shares once with his sister Lucy.
It happened something when he was little, because Edward loves stories of phantoms and magical creatures and that special place, with a romantic and little church and cemetery close to it, is magical, because saved him.
Metaphorically, Birchwood Manor's magical light is that candle, that light that we should always see for going on well in our life also during the obscurity of the night and the perdition of life. The house in itself represents the existence in all it's magic and tragicity.
Lucy, the sister of Edward is much more small than him and an avid reader of all possible genres. Because of the messes she committed, she won't never fall in love for anyone.
Elodie understands with great clarity, we are back in our times, that Tip her uncle, not only lived in the house painted in the notebook she discovered in her office, but that he also knows the name of the girl in the silver frame.
There are chapters dedicated to Juliet the mother of Tip, and Tip when little and his two siblings, when they stayed in Birchwood Manor. Juliet was a journalist and one day Tip donates to Elodie the articles written during the war.
Elodie discovers more about the girl in the silver frame thanks to a piece written by Juliet and thanks to a letter signed B.B. discovered hidden somewhere else.
Joe the Pale Boy is a new friend of Birdie. One day she run away from a police man on the roofs of London for avoiding to be captured. She enters in the bedroom of this still very young, astonished boy from his bedroom's window. At that time Joe the Pale Boy was sick, and without a lot of appetite, so he invited the girl at eating some of the food they brought him. Food from the Mayfair, he specified, a place Birdie knew but that to her was just a dream because an exclusive place for very rich people.
From there, the two became very good friends per years, because Joe the Pale Boy wanted to receive visits from her and loved Birdie's world although so different from his one; Birdie was more than welcomed in the unhappy existence of this boy who, apparently had to be more happy than he was.
Joe would have become so beautiful and elegant, tells Birdie and Joe would have guided Birdie to his immense house, donating her, sometimes precious pieces and little objects that his dad bought somewhere in his many trips in the world for being re-sold by Birdie later.
Joe didn't love richness in that sense: accumulation. A different philosophy of life if compared to the one of his dad...
Then, one day, Birdie told him that she fell in love for Edward, the painter. Joe also would have told her that he fell in love for a girl... Their contacts lost after the events of 1862.
Jack is a troubled but beauty man at Birchwood Manor in our times for a story of money and something precious to discover. He tries with all himself to sort out some old problems with his ex partner. He is a solitary man connected with the world thanks to pictures, smartphone and his notebook. Oh: and the phantom of Birchwood Manor. But, this story is clear, isn't it? He will meet Elodie at some point...
Leonard lived his youth at the beginning of the XX century.
He studied at Oxford attracted by Futurists. His brother Tom decided to join the army on 1914 and so they both became soldiers. What it makes sense before a war, is completely senseless after a war, because of the horrors a soldier or a person sees, departures, death, destruction. Because people change.
And if there was a great excitement and joy in the post-war, Leonard could not feel it, remaining anchored in the past. He lost Tom, his beloved brother, with which he was so united; he had lost one of the main reasons for going on. Then, one day, he discovered Edward Radcliffe and his paintings and he decided to visit Birchwood Manor, writing down a book about this unlucky painter, gone too soon in every sense. His story is precious. I found extremely tender and touching the part when Leonard returned to the house of his parents after a moment of perdition; he went out one day and he didn't return per a lot of time. He just "walked" he said to his mother once back home; his mother cleaned this grown-up son as if he would have been little. Tom was gone but Leonard still with her. They both cried for the same, big pain and reason.
I start to tell you that the characters I loved the most were the one of Edward Radcliffe, the painter, because he is like a wild wind and I love wild, romantic winds, the one of Joe the Pale Boy, because he is a wonderful person, and I loved how he interacted with that police man when Lily found refugees in his bedroom in that way. Incredible.
I love so badly the character of Elodie and the one of Tip, because he communicates with special entities.
I love the one of Birdie/Lily and for once I didn't find completely disgusting the troublemaker of all this story although the resolution of the case left me a great sadness and again contradictory feelings caused cages, prisons and graves for people.
As the reader will see it was a series of unfortunate events that brought at the sad conclusions of this story including a strong jealousy.
Houses are frequently the best places in grade to whisper the past in particular when they are old and when a lot of facts, energies, love, hate, friendship, life has been "lived" there.
It will be impossible for you to leave Birchwood Manor, after this book...
Highly recommended.
I warmly thank the Italian Sperling&Kupfer/Mondadori for the physical copy of this book.
Anna Maria Polidori
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