The House at Riverton – Food For Thought & Sat. Blog Showcase

This is the third Food for Thought meme I'm joining,
the brainchild of the very talented Jain from Once in Blue Moon and of Food With Style.

My book club is reading a trilogy of "help" books.

The House at Riverton being the second in the series.

Rating: ****

The Help by Kathryn Stockett was first.

Last will be The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

It is hard to believe The House at Riverton was the debut novel for Kate Morton!

She immerses readers in the dramas of the prominent British Ashbury family,

at their crumbling English country estate known as Riverton.

In the years surrounding World War I, an age when aristocratic privilege &

civility unravel into the roaring Twenties,

Ms. Morton recreates the period with a deft hand & beautifully crafted prose.

What could be more British than afternoon tea & scones

to reflect the era of this book?

BLUEBERRY scones!

(recipe courtesy of Lori at All That Splatters Thanks, Lori!)

Blueberry Scones

2-1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter
3/4 cup blueberries, frozen
1 scant cup cream
Additional cream & sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 450 F. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut butter into flour mixture with pastry blender until it resembles coarse meal. Add cream and frozen blueberries to dry ingredients. Mix lightly with fork until mixture forms a stiff dough. Knead on floured board just to incorporate all flour; try not to damage berries.

Roll into 7-inch round and cut into 6 or 8 wedges. Place 1 inch apart on greased baking sheet; brush tops with additional cream and sprinkle with sugar if desired. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes.

I think I rolled them too thin but they taste delicious!

Made with Frozen BLUEBERRIES from my parent’s

(now my sister’s) own bushes.

Thanks Sis for doing the picking!

Sprinkled with vanilla sugar

prior to baking.

Thanks for the inspiration to use this, Gypsy Chef.

Topped with homemade grape-walnut jam from the same family GRAPE arbor.

The era in which the book takes place & the family it featured are very formal.

They had serving pieces for many different dishes…

fish forks, olive forks, tomato servers.

The round flat spoon, above is known as a jam spoon & was popular at that time.

Clotted cream would have also been a traditional topping

but since I'm trying to do low fat cooking lately,

I didn't make any.

The story is told in flashback by one of the family's parlor maids,

Grace Bradley, now a retired archeologist.

When she first began to work at Riverton, she was the same age as Hannah,

who visits her uncle & aunt, Lord & Lady Ashbury,

at Riverton House with her siblings Emmeline & David.

At the age of 98 & living out her last days in a nursing home,

Grace is contacted by a filmmaker

who is doing a movie about the family.

It seemed like Grace & the rest of the servants at Riverton were constantly serving tea to someone.

In England, the traditional time for afternoon tea was

four or five o'clock &

no one stayed after seven o'clock.

It consisted of tea, with either milk or lemon, bread, butter and cakes.

Sometimes tiny sandwiches or savories were included.

Through Grace’s eyes we follow a riveting plot &

a touching but tense love story with a haunting ending.

We are treated to tantalizing secrets & dramas as Morton methodically

reveals how passion & fate transpired the night of a lavish soirée

by the lake at Riverton.

Entertaining right up to the very end, the climactic revelation,

had me rushing to turn the pages fast enough.

The frequent flashbacks towards the end of the book frustrated

me & were the only reason I didn't give this

book 5 stars.

Morton's characters are very evocative of the period with beautiful descriptions

rendering a view into a fascinating time in history.

It clearly depicted the contrasting social rankings of

the British aristocracy against the working class.

In the book, sugared nuts were mentioned as a treat for the children at Christmas time.

I've put mine in my sugar skuttle but they used

paper cones like these.

Anyone who enjoys historical fiction will find this is a moving, emotional &

extremely memorable story that will stay with you long after

you've closed the book & put it away.

I prefer my tea with a wee bit of milk,

beside a nice warm fireplace.

Won't you join me?

Strawberry mousse in chocolate cups,

topped with fresh raspberries.

(I'm saving these for tomorrow's Valentines Day dessert)

Did you know the Australian edition of the book was published under a different name?

It was called The Shifting Fog, after the poem that Robbie wrote & read for Hanna.

Kate Morton is a native Australian, holds degrees in dramatic art &

English literature & is working on her doctorate at the University of Queensland.

She lives with her family in Brisbane, Australia,

which is near where my step-son & his wife also reside.

I look forward to reading her second offering, The Forgotten Garden.

Thank you, Jain, for hosting this fun meme every other Saturday.

I must have placed at least 10 sticky notes throughout the book

as I read, marking the mentioning of food!!

I'm also participating in the Saturday Blog Showcase

co-hosted by Lori at

All that Splatters

and Ann at
Thibeault's Table
It is Lori's turn to host the Blog Showcase this week.
Try a new recipe each week that another blogger has shared.
Prepare the recipe during the week then link your post to Saturday Blog Showcase.
Include the recipe in the body of your post
(if it is not a copyright violation to do so)
and a link back to the recipe on the originating blog.