[February] The Clockmaker's Daughter, by Kate Morton - Part One

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

For the dual timeline pick for the February book of the month, the group has selected The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton.

For more information about the Book of the Month, see the introduction post.

* Discussion will be divided according to each "Part" of the book (Parts One through Four).

1. What do you think of the book so far?
2. Are you connecting to any of the characters in particular?
3. Which timeline are you enjoying more? (i.e. 2017 with Elodie or the ghost in the manor)
4. Do you think the death at the beginning of the book was "Lilly Millington"/Birdie or Fanny (Edward's fiancé)?

Each discussion post will contain prompting questions. But please freely engage in discussion as much as you wish.

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

Discussion questions for this section have now been posted :)

[Milena]

I haven't finished Part One yet, but I am close. I figured I would post my lame attempts at answers so far (I am terrible at book discussions).

1. What do you think of the book so far?
I like it, it's keeping my interest.
2. Are you connecting to any of the characters in particular?
The 84 year old landlord (can't remember her name). I realize she's probably not an important character, but that's it so far.
3. Which timeline are you enjoying more? (i.e. 2017 with Elodie or the ghost in the manor)
Elodie is frustrating me. If you don't want to get married then don't get married. I like the parts about the past better so far, but that's not surprising I usually do in books like this.
4. Do you think the death at the beginning of the book was "Lilly Millington"/Birdie or Fanny (Edward's fiancé)?
I have no idea. I am terrible at guessing the solutions to mysteries.

[Kathy]

1. What do you think of the book so far?
I’m enjoying trying to figure out the connections between the past and present characters.

2. Are you connecting to any of the characters in particular?
Like Milena, I like the landlord. She seems to have a lot of sense. Elodie bothers me too. It’s like she can’t face the fact that she really doesn’t want to get married. It’s apparent to me!

3. Which timeline are you enjoying more? (i.e. 2017 with Elodie or the ghost in the manor)
I like the 2017 timeline best so far because Elodie is trying to solve the puzzle of the sketchbook and the photograph. I like Elodie when she’s working in the archives.

4. Do you think the death at the beginning of the book was "Lilly Millington"/Birdie or Fanny (Edward's fiancé)?
I think it’s Lilly/Birdie but I’m not sure.

[Marin]

1. What do you think of the book so far?
I am really wanting to know what happens -- as soon as I post this, I'm starting part 2.

2. Are you connecting to any of the characters in particular?
Same as everyone else with the landlord, since my husband and I have a similar dynamic to how she was with her husband. I'm also interested to learn more about James Stratton.

3. Which timeline are you enjoying more? (i.e. 2017 with Elodie or the ghost in the manor)
Right now I like the 2017 timeline (minus the marriage plot -- I feel like that could be cut out entirely because it's super obvious where it's going) because it feels like Elodie is finding out more answers than the ghost is giving.

4. Do you think the death at the beginning of the book was "Lilly Millington"/Birdie or Fanny (Edward's fiancé)?
I think it was Fanny because she mentions a gunshot, but I'm really not sure.

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

So I went to start part two and realized it had been too long since I read the book and I was a bit fuzzy in the timeline. I decided to go back and skim just to make sure I had all the characters down. One thing popped out at me when I did this. It’s not necessarily a spoiler since it’s just a guess/observation but I’m going to use spoiler tags since some might want to figure out things on their own.

(view spoiler)[I realized that Birdie had said her father called her Birdie and it doesn’t give her real name. It just says her real name was “beautiful... but it was the name of a grown up lady... you were named for your mother’s father.” So my guess is that Birdie is actually character we’re already aware of. I thought maybe Frances since that is often a man’s name but that wouldn’t explain why Elodie’s picture is of a woman other than Frances. Hm... (hide spoiler)]

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

What do you think of the book so far?
It was definitely slow going for this first part... I enjoyed it when I was reading, but it was hard to pick back up. I don't know if it's because I've been absolutely smashing everything I've read this year and this one is just naturally slower or if I'm finally hitting a hump... anyway, it took me much longer to finish part one than I thought it would.

Are you connecting to any of the characters in particular?
I'm liking the minor characters, of course, like the landlady and Pippa. But I'm definitely connecting to Elodie more, and, despite some frustration about her lack of affections for Alister, I think that narrative is totally realistic and relatable... at least for me anyway haha! I do hope she breaks it off with him though (and sooner, rather than later).

Which timeline are you enjoying more? (i.e. 2017 with Elodie or the ghost in the manor)
Definitely Elodie's timeline... It is slow moving with the ghost's storyline, even though I typically enjoy first person narration better than third. I just feel like the narrator is holding back too much information.

Do you think the death at the beginning of the book was "Lilly Millington"/Birdie or Fanny (Edward's fiancé)?
Well.. since we know "Lily" died and is now a ghost, I'm going to go with her death. Although in the book it sounds more like Lily is hearing the gunshots rather than experiencing them so... I really have no idea.

Laura, I totally agree with your theory. I caught on immediately that we didn't have a real name for her, and it was reinforced when Birdie was talking to Lily at Mrs. Mack's. There's even a line that says, "Yet she is precious to me, Lily Millington, for she gave me her name: the most valuable thing she had to give." so we can confirm that Birdie became Lily, which became the ghost in the story. How she gets from point A to point B to point C is beyond me though... I guess we will find out why Birdie felt the need to become Lily, and then again how she became a ghost stuck at a manor.

(I'm not going to tag this as a spoiler, since it's direct quotes from Part 1.)

I am very curious about the very, very end of Part 1 and who BB is... guess I'll start on Part 2 now!

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Also, I have a theory...

(view spoiler)[The person that the ghost keeps watching is actually Gilbert (the author of the book Elodie is referencing). That would put this timeline at around 1928, between WWI and WWII, since the house was opened up to graduate students at that time. We don't actually know his name in that timeline, but that's my guess! (hide spoiler)]

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

I got the impression that Gilbert was at the manner earlier and that the current visitor is someone else. But I could be totally wrong, of course.

ETA: My theory is that BB is (view spoiler)[Birdie (hide spoiler)] and J is (view spoiler)[Jeremiah (hide spoiler)] since those are the only initials we know so far. But it's very possible that it could be an entirely new character.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Yea you are entirely correct about Gilbert... my theory was off base and cleared up by the second page of Part 2 lol. Just the fact that he had a digital camera and laptop should have told me.

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

I did wonder how Birdie knew it was called a laptop 🤔

I suppose she probably heard it when people were going through the house. But made me pause haha

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Me too! I was like... hmmmmm.... maybe ghosts are all knowing? Same thing with her reading his emails. How do you know what an email is, Birdie?!

[Deborah]

1. What do you think of the book so far?
I am liking it so far, though I was a little slow to get into it. I think the book moves at a little bit of a slower pace than some of the things I've been recently, though. I do want to continue on and see what happens next.

2. Are you connecting to any of the characters in particular?
Not especially so far. Like others have mentioned, I've been a bit frustrated with Elodie's feelings (or lack thereof) about getting married, but I do like her natural curiosity to dig into the mysteries at hand.

3. Which timeline are you enjoying more? (i.e. 2017 with Elodie or the ghost in the manor)
Probably the 2017 story just because I enjoy seeing Elodie dig into her resources to explore the mystery.

4. Do you think the death at the beginning of the book was "Lilly Millington"/Birdie or Fanny (Edward's fiancé)?
My initial impressions was that it was Birdie, but I do think that could be misdirection.

I had similar thoughts on the ghost's modern knowledge, but I guess if she is limited to the one location, she probably has had nothing to do but spy on visitors to the house and keep up with their modern conveniences.

[Geri]

1. What do you think of the book so far?

I am enjoying the book. The writing is good. I feel like I am immersed in the story.

2. Are you connecting to any of the characters in particular?

I like Elodie. Probably because she is the one discussed the most in part one.


3. Which timeline are you enjoying more? (i.e. 2017 with Elodie or the ghost in the manor)

They are both interesting. But 2017 is more interesting to me. I am enjoying the history, storytelling and mystery.


4. Do you think the death at the beginning of the book was "Lilly Millington"/Birdie or Fanny (Edward's fiancé)?

I think it is Lilly. She is Edward’s muse and they met at the theater.