Only Time Will Tell Read-a-Long! discussion

The conclusion! In this thread I want to hear your thoughts on both the section and the entire book. Did you like the way it ended? Will you or have you already begun reading the next book in the series, THE SINS OF THE FATHER?

Already started and onto the last book of the series. It only gets better so keep reading!

This book was a better read than Kane and Abel. The characters and the story line I liked, because the people that I liked were everyday people with a few Lords and Ladies thrown in. Maisie's person could have been developed better, for instance, why she thought she had to lose her virginity and she didn't pursue finding her husband, since she seemed to be a determined young women. And what were her thoughts about becoming a waitress in a gentlemen's club. There might have been a few other loose ends for me, but those thoughts have left me at the moment. Overall, the book kept moving and I liked the transition from one character to the next, unraveling the mystery.

I'm not happy that Old Jack died, I would of like to see him figure into the next book and I'm not sure if he should have been the one to break the news to Harry and Emma, but the author must of his purpose.

There are a whole cast of characters (old and new) that have me wondering how their roles will mold the next chapter of Harry's life.

Deakin and Giles have interesting talents and I am wondering how they will be used to find Harry and be used in the bigger picture of WWII. How they will all figure into WWII scene for better or worse.

Oh, what is Emma going to do about her baby, will she keep it, try to abort, or will the child be adopted out and will that be another mystery, what happens to the child?

Because Old Jack died, my favorite character might be Giles, I think he has potential for being interesting and he is already likeable.

The ending makes me want to seek the answer to Harry's dilemma by purchasing the next book. :)

I thought this books was fantastic. Family sagas normally bore me. But I think this one didn't because of all the mysteries in this story and the way Archer had of slowly divulging the answers to these mysteries.

But it's been more than a year since I read this. (I read it as an ARC.)I know that I was anxious to read the next installment, but I haven't yet. Who has read or is reading this second installment? Will I catch onto the story and remember wnat I forgot? I think so. That's why I still plan to read the following books.

Debie wrote: "Already started and onto the last book of the series. It only gets better so keep reading!"

Glad you are enjoying the series! I've just started reading Sins of the Father. Love it so far!

I already read the first three books and will start Be Careful What You Wish For in the next few days!
The end of this first book is typical Jeffrey Archer's cliffhanger! I love them, but most of all I like the plot twists he throws at us every now and then.
But as much as the end is a cliffhanger it also is the start of a new story: Harry coming to America, so in a way it's really a gift to the reader to know more is coming up.

I am so glad to have won this book and to know that I won't be left on pins and needles waiting for the next one! The giveaway has been super successful in that regards! I'll be sharing my delight with my fellow literary friends, especially those who love historical fiction as much as I do!

I totally did NOT see the ending to this one coming - from the shipwreck to Harry's decision to switch identities and the consequences of that. I can hardly wait to read the rest of the series!

The complexity of the characters, the ability to see many different points of view, the themes of support, tenacity, survival, karma, etc. have all be so much fun! This is one of those books I'll be chewing on for a while, haunted by and want to just sit with for a bit before, anxiously, embarking on the next adventures coming for the characters.

Though Old Jack is dead, I have a feeling we haven't heard the last of his involvement in the lives of those he's left behind.

I plan on starting Sins of the Father right after the book I'm currently reading. Really enjoyed this book and love the cliffhanger at the end. Somehow I knew when he switched identities at the end that something like that would happen. There's just too much unknown to Tom's character. Looking forward to finding out what happens next. I have already passed on my copy to my Mom and told her about the read along group because I enjoyed both so much.

OMG! Love, love, love this book! I enjoyed it immensely! I'm going to get the second book. Gotta know what's going to happen next. Thank you Goodreads!

I knew once Harry decided to leave, things weren't going to turn out well. His charmed life was eventually going to end.

I just finished the first book-what a cliffhanger. I can't wait to start the 2nd book.

I enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to reading the second book in the series, can't wait to find out what happens to Harry next.

I meant to comment on the other sections as I went but I just couldn't stop reading! I am loving/hating the cliffhanger at the end. I had no knowledge of this book or series or author going in, but am extremely glad to have been introduced to all of it. The ending seems like something that Harry won't be able to keep up for the rest of the series. I am interested to see how the arrest works out. Surely somebody will recognize that he is not the man they are looking for. I also wonder how Emma's story will work out.

Loved the book and will definitely read the next book!

Harry, Harry, Harry! What were you thinking?
That said, I love this book too. When a book draws you in, and you come to feel like the characters are people you know, and your emotions bounce around with theirs..well you know you have read something special. I knew it couldn't go well when Harry thought he could just switch his identity with Tom. I have to blame it on the shipwreck...he must have been whacked in the head! What a cliff-hanger! I can't wait to read the second in the series!

So many things to commment on. I just finished the book and I have to say that I don't have a good opinion of Maisie anymore. I understand her wanting Harry to believe his father was Arthur Clifton and doing whatever she had to do to give Harry an education. BUT when she saw that Harry's relationship with Emma wasn't going to peter out, SHE SHOULD'VE SAID SOMETHING. These two could be half brother/sister and they almost got married. They've already created another life out of their relationship. This should've been stopped long ago! And Old Jack isn't totally blameless here but it really should've been one of the parents who spoke up! (I already blamed Hugo for being a weisel, my opinon of him hasn't changed at all.)

Now, as for Harry's atempt at changing his identity, THINK! There must've been a reason why Tom Bradshaw wouldn't talk about himself and hadn't been home to the US in so long. I knew he was walking into a disaster by trying this.

I could keep venting but in case anyone reading this hasn't finished it yet, I don't want to completely ruin the ending (more so than I already have).

Can't wait to pick up the next installment!

The ending didn't sit well with me for several reasons:

The sequence of events seems too unnatural and abrupt to me. Perhaps a little more narrative preparation might have made a difference.

Harry's actions likewise did not seem in character to me; perhaps I missed something, but for someone as much of a fighter as Harry is to have assumed someone's identity with such little information about the person didn't follow with his previous actions. Certainly it makes sense that it seemed to him a solution to so many problems, but again the narrative didn't go into the thought processes sufficiently to make it understandable.

And the final action would not work if this was a stand alone book rather than first in a series. End of a chapter, yes; end of a book, no. The conclusion was not a denouement it was a cliffhanger. Interesting but disappointing.

I finished it! Very entertaining. I liked it. It is not something I love, though. Here are my thoughts: (My review I posted.)

Master story teller Jeffrey Archer has constructed a very readable and intriguing beginning to his newest family saga The Clifton Chronicles. His spare writing style, while not beautiful or very deep, keeps the story moving at a fast pace with a multitude of scenarios interwoven and told through the viewpoints of the major players in this drama. I did feel some predictability, and that some of the characters where a little on the cardboard side. Hugo is always true to his villainous form, Harry is always honorable in his intentions, if not quite so in all of his actions. Over all I felt that this book was like a long introduction and set up for the rest of the series, but I don't consider that a fault. It ends with a huge cliff hanger, making me thirsty to read the next book. Skillfully done for this type of literature. Reads like it was written with an eye on a mini-series adaptation. And I would watch it.

I finished it also and have begun book 2. A nice enjoyable, light read. This discussion group has been fun too.

This was a good book. I have gone ahead and read the 2nd book in the series and soon plan to read the 3rd and 4th. I do have to say that I dont like this style of abrupt ending where we are made to wait for the next installment. I believe each book should have a logical conclusion. The next one can start where the previous one left, but I dont like how it ended with Harry getting arrested and nothing more.

I enjoyed the book (though I did have some reservations about how the characters of Maisie and Old Jack were handled as I mentioned in previous discussions). I will certainly read the next book in the series! This was an entertaining story.

Having read a Jeffrey Archer novel once before, I began to suspect how it would end long before we got there. When the author dropped that big "bomb" about Harry's funeral, at first I wondered if Harry really was going to die. I was thinking that maybe the second book would be about Harry's child that Emma hinted she was carrying. But then I remembered the other book I had read by Archer and began to wonder if maybe Harry might end up switching identities with someone else who died as had happened in that book. I liked this turn in the story! I think it is plausible that Harry would do this without a lot of forethought because he was not thinking clearly yet. It was a wild impulse that seemed like a good idea in the moment (because it solved several problems for him), so he embraced it before thinking it through. Once he had started down that road, he couldn't change his mind later.

There is one loose thread I had almost forgotten about that I wonder if the author will pick up in the next book. When Emma went to speak with Maisie (when Harry sent her to find out if Maisie saw him at the nightclub), Maisie told Emma she had something to tell her, but this was never mentioned again. I don't think she meant to tell Emma about Harry's father. It would make more sense for her to tell Harry about that rather than Emma. So, I wonder what else she might have been referring to?

What a ride! Loved the mysteries and the plot twists. I thought it was interesting that people always seem to want to help Harry. From the Captain of the Devonian to his rescuers on the Kansas Star. I wonder if that theme will continue.

I think having people think he is dead and taking on another identity was consistent with Harry's character. It solves a lot of problems for a number of people he cares about. He even lets his mom know that he is OK.

It was disappointing to have Old Jack Tar die. I wonder whether his presence and his works will surface in the next book?

Poor Emma. What will happen to the child? At least her family has resources, unlike Maisie.

Maybe having Harry incarcerated during WWII will have positive outcomes. Only Time Will Tell.

Vonette wrote: "I enjoyed the book (though I did have some reservations about how the characters of Maisie and Old Jack were handled as I mentioned in previous discussions). I will certainly read the next book in..."

I loved the book as well and do wonder what Maiase wanted to tell Emma. The other thing I wonder about is if Harry ever tells Maiase about finding her in the nightclub. And, now there's the added twist with Richard Bradshaw's involvement in a murder? Murder of his family, perhaps?

This is a good series and I will read the next book in the series as well.

I so did not see that ending coming! The switched identities make me wonder if book 2 will go back to the original characters or follow this new story line, waiting until book 3 to bring them together? Guess I'll have to read and find out. A fun read.

I really liked this book. I love the way it was written and really care about the characters, except Hugo. I love to hate HUgo. I will continue reading the series. I agree with the above post and did not see that ending coming. Poor Harry really got himselves in a bind by trying to make things easier on the Barringtons. Glad he told he's mom he's alive, but poor Emma. This will be another big blow to her. Good thing she is strong. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

I wasn't totally convinced that I was "into" this story enough to keep reading the series - until I got to the last 40 pages! I think I'm hooked now.

It seems like while I've read Archer before, I haven't read his more mainstream titles. My first Archer book was Sons of Fortune and then I read Prisoner of Birth.

I'm dying to find out whether Emma was actually pregnant!

Something I didn't care for at first was that the periods of time narrators covered overlapped. I was confused at times whether something was happening again or if it was a new situation I was encountering for the first time.

*reads the last page*....I'm not even mad,that's just amazing.

Although I'm pretty disappointed with Harry. After all the effort everyone put in to give him a better life he just throws away his identity and with it his only chance of returning to Oxford after the war. Bad Harry! This book is definitely in my top 100. LOVED reading this.

Oh Harry! Who leaves without telling their mother!?!?! After everything she's sacrificed for you! What a selfish, thoughtless thing to do. I'm loving the giant cliffhanger at the end; oh the imaginings I've gone through overnight! I will definitely be reading the next books!

I'm so sad for Emma - single parenthood without the man you love, knowing you probably can't see him again, seeing his face in your baby every day, gosh how painful! I really hope they reunite in later books.

What has happened to Hugo?? Karma better come and bite his butt! Losing one's family isn't enough punishment for his cowardice.

Dear Old Jack. It's so sad he and Harry didn't manage a final goodbye but I'm glad he died where he was comfortable, with his hard-won medal on.

I found the whole book was fantastic and I'm really glad to have won the opportunity to read it. Thanks again!

Harry runs into bad luck again. Poor guy cannot seem to shake it off.

I am curious what is going to happen to Harry's Friends and family.

Old Jack and his wisdom will be missed.

I loved the ending of this book. It sure leaves an opening for the next one which I absolutely want to read.

Loved the book. A little disappointed that Harry won't be on the Resolution because I have a beautiful 3ft scratch built model of the Resolution built into the wall of my office. Liked the way the book ended. Just got the sequel from the library and looking forward to starting it.