Only Time Will Tell: The Clifton Chronicles, Book 1

An absorbing tale of well developed characters who affect the protagonist, young Harry, in an unpredictable kaleidoscope of love, greed, rivalry, honor. So impressed by this first volume, that I, therefore, purchased the entire set of the Clifton Chronicles. Rather than buying the first volume as a barometer of gaging literary excellence, I strongly recommend purchasing the complete series for a better bargain. The author possesses an innate deft brilliance highlighted with a seamless eloquence enticing the reader to shut the world out of all distractions. Thoroughly enjoyable.

This is the first book in the series of the Clifton Chronicles of which I found out about when I heard about the last book of series, so I decided to start from the beginning of the story. We are introduced to Harry Clifton and his mother Maise Clifton who is a widow of Arthur Clifton. A little backstory occurs prior before birth of Harry from Maise's viewpoint. She had accompanied Arthur and her brother to place for a celebration but she took a side step trip meeting up a man with whom she had sex. In those days (1920's) very little methods were used to prevent pregnancy but she figured with her impending marriage to Arthur, it wouldn't make any difference if she got pregnant and she could actually enjoy the marriage bed considering the worse part was taken care of. Because of the close timing between her having sex for the first time and marriage,there was always a doubt about who the real father was. but Harry seemed to resemble Arthur. At the beginning of Harry's story, he is presented as a very intelligent child but bored with school so he is constantly playing truant and spending time with The Old Man who lives in a converted railcar in shipyard.Harry was told his father died in the Great War WWI. Harry likes to sing in the choir and the choir mistress when she hears his voice decides to get him a scholarship to good school with boarding included but he has to also pass regular grades besides choir. He gets unexpected aid from the Old Man and his teacher when he puts mind to study.. Harry received the scholarship and gets to go to the school where he meets his soon to be best friend Giles Barrington.. When he is invited to Giles home for a birthday party, he meets Emma, the sister and Elizabeth, the mother and the father Hugo Barrington. Both the sister and mother treat Harry with warmth but the father acts with noticed coldness. Another backstory kept hidden by all parties involved. Hugo was in charged of Barrington Industries on the night of Arthur Cliftom's disappearance and Maise's brother Stanley was his dock mate in working at job. Apparently the boat being worked on, had needed something done on space underneath the inner hull and Arthur had not left that area when the inner hull was sealed so he was trapped inside. Stanley tried to get Hugo to reopen that part because he was sure Arthur was trapped but Hugo only took 5 minutes of checking and refused to open hull because it would cause major delays. By the next morning both Stanley and Hugo knew Arthur had been trapped inside. Hugo bribed Stanley with 5 pound notes to keep quiet and then had him arrested for thief of that same money to get him out of area. Nothing was done for Arthur's widow Maise, in fact she was banned from coming on the premise.But Hugo never realized that the Old Man had seen and heard everything. Hugo realized who Maise is when she comes to see him after Arthur has been missing for almost a week. ( the one night stand). He also realizes that Harry could be his son when he meets him at Giles birthday based on birthdate and shared color-blindness trait, hence the coldness. (It effects who inherits the title and estate). Hugo is determined to undermine everything for Harry and his family instead of owning up to his indiscretion. Harry's mother's struggle to make a living despite all obstacles is amazing considering the time period (1929-1939). During this book, Harry learns about his father's death and the circumstances of his birth and the questions of whether or not Hugo Barrington is his father and he resolves to find out the answer.

The book was 4 short stories. I’ve read most of his novels and enjoyed the 4 short stories of this book.

It was a little slow for a thriller. I liked the point of view shifting among the characters. Decent read.

In my rating system, 4 stars (or higher) indicates that I will definitely read other books by the same author. 3-1/2 stars means I enjoyed the book enough to complete it, but probably won't read the author again. Anything under 3-1/2 stars places the author in the dustbin of my reading history - and ratings below 3 stars are rare, since I usually don't finish such selections. I mention this because I vacillated between 3-1/2 and 4 stars for this book. A couple of times, I almost stopped reading, but then there would be enough of interest to keep me going.In "Only Time Will Tell," all the characters are either totally flawless, without a single blemish on their personalities, or very, very evil. There's no mistaking which category people fall into, from the moment they are introduced. Normally this is a downer for me. But now and then, it's pleasant simply to relax into a comfort book, in which the reader can feel highly superior for being able to identify the good from the bad at the very beginning and predict the outcome of plot twists almost before they occur. In this book, the comfort aspect is not even gussied up (e.g., Gouda with pasta) but instead is presented as plain old mac 'n cheese. For example, the characters are either extremely rich or piteously poor. But it was rather nice relaxing with such upright characters as Maisie (who will do anything - anything! - for her son), and the son himself, Harry, who has a beautiful boy voice and a charming, naïve personality to match. Miss Monday, Deakins, and Old Jack Tarr are also 110% good guy/gals - and there are only two main characters (to remain nameless, so you'll have the joy of meeting them with no advance notice) who qualify for Darth Vader status.What's to like? The storyline, for example, flows nicely and gives the reader insightful vignettes into English life during the pre-World War II period. Also, one can believe that major events in the novel might very well have occurred in real life - no blatant coincidences or outlandish developments which could occur only in fantasy fiction. If only the characters could have had a bit more depth and a few more flaws."Only Time Will Tell" is the first of three in the Clifton Chronicles. And I can anticipate a time, when I'm in need of comfort, that I'll reach for CC II, despite CC I's shaky 4/star rating.

If you enjoy stories that span different generations and that provide you with different perspectives of the same events, then I think you will enjoy 'Only Time Will Tell', the first novel in the Clifton Chronicles series. .The story spans the inter-war years of 1919-1939 and focuses predominantly on the lives of three generations of two families, the Cliftons and the Barringtons. Harry Clifton is the main character of this novel. He is a talented young boy who comes from a poor family and whose father died in the Great War, or at least, that is what he has been told.The three things I particularly like about the story are its plot, its historical setting and its descriptive prose. In the plot we see the same events unfurl from the viewpoint of different characters in the story. At first I found this a little confusing and seemingly repetitive, but once I realised what was happening, it actually increased my enjoyment of the story. In addition, there are a number of twists and turns in the plot, some of which caught me totally by surprise.Another aspect I enjoyed is that all the events occur in a period I can relate to; not through personal first-hand experience as I was born after the second world war, but through knowing people who had lived through the inter-war years and having heard them talk about it. Given some of the events that occur in the story, this 'personal connection' added a degree of relevance & realism for me.Finally I think Jeffrey Archer is a terrific story-teller and I found it extremely easy to visualise the places, people and events he describes in this sweeping saga.However, if you decide to read this story, be aware that it ends on a cliff-hanger, and you will need to read the next book in the series to see what happens next ... not that this bothered me as I was hooked from the opening pages and immediately downloaded all the other books in the series!

I don't do book reviews like you keep seeing, as I find that some give too much of the plot away and I personally hate that, as it makes the book not worth reading. I much prefer to take the authors back cover write up as a review as it can either intrigue you enough to read the book of provide you enough information to make you decide that the book is not for you.My review rules are: The more stars, the more I liked it.If there are too many typos or errors the less stars I giveIf the storyline or plot is poor or contains too many errors, the characters are too weak, the ending lacking something, then the less stars I give.Simple, uncomplicated and to the point without giving anything away.Some of the books I read have been given to me by the author as a pre-release copy and this does not bias my reviews in any way

I have only praise and worship for Jeffrey Archer, for this moving first volume of the Clifton Chronicles.As my all time favourite story-teller, Archer did not disappoint with volume one of the torrid life of Harry Clifton and his sordid beginnings, which we can already see leading to strife, anguish, heartache and betrayal as he grows up.Sitting down to read this book, it was almost like someone had wrapped a cosy blanket around me and given me a steaming mug of hot chocolate, such is the warm glow that Archer's stories always give me.This is a man who knows how to tell a tale, both epic and short. My preference is the endless epic, which I truly wish would never end.

A compelling story of a boy winning against all the odds through an educational system beyond his social level, but never beyond his abilities. And his hard-working, widowed mother, Maisie, is determined to give Harry the best of opportunities. But past encounters with an ex are never far away, and when Harry befriends Giles Barrington, his meddlesome, fraudulent father, Hugo, does his best to deny what happened between Harry’s mother and himself all those years ago.A slow start, but then the story began to really draw me in and the big question about Harry’s parentage ebbed and flowed beneath the surface until the build to the denouement – where everything falls apart beneath an avalanche of revelations. I wasn’t quite convinced that both Hugo Barrington and Maisie Clifton would have allowed matters between Emma and Harry to get quite as far as they did, not without some sort of intervention. Hugo perhaps, because he was such a cowardly toad but Maisie had a good handle on moral responsibility and lived for her son, so I’m not sure she would have simply stood by. Not only are there some unresolved threads in this book, but the story ends on the most terrific cliffhanger of a plot twist, so if you prefer everything to be tied-up with a ribbon by the last page, you might feel cheated.The writing itself is concise and to the point and without too much of a descriptive slant, but it’s a clever structure and the likeable characters combined with steadily building tension, kept me turning the pages. There are slightly overlapping timelines shared between the characters but I liked this structure as it allowed for a greater understanding, not only of the character viewpoints and motivations but in the way it brought to light more and more subtle information. This is a heart-warming story, an easy-read of a historical family-saga with a slightly soapy feel. The sort of fiction which doesn’t pretend to be anything else, and I really enjoyed it.

It’s a typical family saga beginning in the 1930s in Bristol with the interactions between the good old working class family and the not so nice gentry, all interspersed with snippets of historical events from the time. It’s written in a very simple style and tends to repeat itself a lot with the same incident being described from other people’s points of view. Although it’s pretty obvious what’s coming from the very beginning it seems rather drawn out with the story becoming more implausible as events take another turn towards the end. And the ending? Well, although I knew this was the first novel in a series I expected it also to be a stand alone story before going on to the next novel. I wasn’t expecting a cliffhanger scene demanding me to purchase the next instalment to find out what happens. Had the novel gripped me enough to do that? I don’t think so.