Only Time Will Tell

Jeffrey Archer is known for his trilogies that cover decades of time and he’s outdone himself with the new Clifton Chronicles. The saga will span 5 books and 100 years, following a man named Henry Clifton. The first novel, Only Time Will Tell, encompasses Henry’s childhood in Bristol, England, covering the years 1920 to 1939.

Henry is the son of Maisie and Arthur Clifton. However, shortly before her marriage to Arthur, Maisie had an affair with Hugo Barrington, the son of the local shipping magnate, and she’s not quite sure which one is really Henry’s father. When Henry is a toddler, Arthur disappears in a possible freak accident but no one at the shipyard, including Hugo, is talking about what happened. Henry grows up believing his father died in the Great War. As a young child Henry skips school to spend time on the docks with his uncle, but Old Jack Tarr, a war hero who lives in a railway car at the shipyard, realizes Henry’s potential and uses some of his war connections to get Henry a chorale scholarship to a local school. Henry befriends young Giles Barrington and no one can understand why Giles’s father, Hugo, hates Henry so much.

As the secrets surrounding Henry’s father are unraveled, so are the lives of his friends and family. Another war with Germany is inevitable and Henry decides he must serve his country. An opportunity arises for Henry to disappear to America to save his friends from heartbreak and potential family disintegration, and the book ends with a cliffhanger, which would be disappointing if there weren’t 4 more books coming to continue the story. It’s going to be a long year waiting for the next book.

While the protagonist of Only Time Will Tell is undeniably Henry Clifton, the story is told from multiple points of view, including first person from the main characters and third person omniscient. Maisie, Giles, Hugo, Old Jack and Emma, Giles’s sister who falls in love with Harry, each tell their own version of events, so often the same incident is repeated several times by different narrators. Each telling revolves around Harry so it’s interesting to see different viewpoints and there’s a more dimensional feel to the story.

Readers who enjoy character heavy family sagas spanning multiple generations and decades should check out Only Time Will Tell.

Notes on the audiobook: The audio version includes an interview with Archer which explains his use of the multiple points of view. Archer is an amazing story teller, and he says, “You can work on being a better writer by being better read, having a greater command of language and a fluency, but you can’t work on the storytelling, that is a God-given gift.”

Nancy doesn’t have the gift of storytelling but sure likes listening to a good story. She writes about her 2 boys, books and life in Colorado at Life With My Boys and Books.