I was assigned to read this for the Readers' Advisory Roundtable that I attend and I really didn't think this was going to be anything that I would particularly enjoy, even though I love historical fiction. However, now that I've finished Only Time Will Tell I've got the second and third books in my car and am cursing Jeffrey Archer for not finishing the fourth book sooner.
Do you like Downton Abbey? This might be a good book to pick up if you do. No its not about the posh English aristocracy, but rather a family saga about a poor dock worker's son whose remarkable singing voice earns him a scholarship to a prestigious school where he rubs shoulders with the children of the rich.
Not that interested? But wait there's more! The boy, Harry Clifton, makes friends with the son of the man who runs the dock company his father worked for. The company his father mysteriously disappeared from. The company who caused his uncle to be arrested after bribing him not to say anything about his brother in law's disappearance. Harry is ignored, accused, and tormented by this man throughout his school years only to find out a terrible family secret...
I was hooked into this book after the first few chapters. Unlike most historical fiction this book is more like Run Lola Run. There are 5 narrators who all take turns filling in the initial story you get. All the narrators start from the same point but stop before the whole story is told. The next chapter starts way back at the beginning; adding and changing some of the facts you think you know. This way it builds the world that Harry lives in to become more than a young boys perspective of his life , his family, and his purpose. The first World War is looming and Harry will have to face some very difficult decisions before he's done.
In Only Time Will Tell, Jeffrey Archer creates a good story, not a great literary tome, but an entertaining, engaging story that keeps you on the edge of your chair waiting to find out what happens next, and then leaves you with a cliff hanger that has you aching for the sequel. Definitely a great book for someone who likes history, good characters, and a strong story.
