Only Time Will Tell

Only Time Will Tell (Advance Readers’ Edition)

I received this book from the Amazon Vine program, thinking that Jeffrey Archer wrote mystery/thrillers. Reading just a few pages proved me wrong. “Only Time Will Tell” is the first of a five-part saga centered on the life of Henry Clifton, a British youth. Despite my misconception, the story grabbed me from page 1, and I couldn’t put it down.

This well-told tale follows a classic formula. Henry, a pure, intelligent, gifted protagonist of common birth whose widowed mother works herself to the bone to support and educate Henry, suffers at the hand of the powerful Hugh Barrington, a wealthy, evil amoral man. With the help of his few virtuous friends, Henry must overcome the obstacles show more to his development to ultimately triumph.

This family epic is told by the major characters, each having a separate section of several chapters, with the exception of Henry, who has two sections.

As other reviewers noted, the book suffers from a few factual glitches. Archer uses the color blindness of all the men in a family to imply the parentage of Henry. In fact, common color blindness is not passed on from male to male in a family. Male children of a father with color blindness and a non-color blind mother will not inherit color blindness; however, all of the female children in the family will be carriers.

Unfortunately, the book ends on a glaring error. In 1940, the police make an arrest in the United States and read the subject his “Miranda Rights.” This practice began in 1966 following the Supreme Court case of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). (I hope this is corrected in the final print.)

Until I reached the last chapter, I had planned to read the other books in the saga. However, based on the path Henry chooses in the conclusion of Only Time Will Tell, I can’t go through the classic good v. evil drama again. I felt that Archer was toying with my emotions in the contrived twist ending this book, and I don’t want to ride this merry-go-round, again. show less

Compulsively readable. A sprawling epic with a large supporting cast. Sure, there are issues with plot and characterization but that stuff simply does not matter. The only thing that does matter is turning the page to see what happens next. Archer is a master of this type of tale and this first installment quickly draws the reader in and, at the end, leaves them wanting more, (drums fingers on arm of chair while waiting for library hold on books 2 and 3).

I haven't read Jeffrey Archer for years, but this one makes me wonder why. This new series featuring Harry Clifton, son of a dockworker (or is he the son of an uppercrust owner of a huge shipping line?), and his climb through the British public school system is going to be a delight if this first one of five is any indication. Make no mistake, this is not a Pulitzer, but it is good, solid storytelling, with bold characters, a world wide setting, and a story that has enough twists, turns, and sneaky heart-stoppers to definitely merit the label "page turner."

The story involves Harry, as he grows from an angelic choirboy into an intelligent, hardworking young man faced with the difficult choice of going to Oxford upon graduation from the show more US equivalent of high school, or joining the armed forces as Britain enters the war against Hitler. His romance with the sister of his best friend, together with some of the aforementioned story twists makes his choice even more difficult. Harry's mother, a hard-working widow, who takes a series of back-breaking jobs to help with Harry's expenses, is harboring a secret about Harry's parentage. This secret, if revealed could destroy lives, and Archer skillfully weaves his story around it.

My only problem with the book was the absolutely sucker punch ending. I was left gasping, yelling "Don't do that to me!!." I will be among thousands lined up to get my hands on the second book in the series to find out what happens next. The Clifton Chronicles promises to keep us all enthralled for several years to come. show less

I have never read a book written by Jeffrey Archer before. After reading this book I will be looking out for more of his books. What an amazing storyteller!

Only Time Will Tell tells the story of two families, the Barringtons, a well to do family and the Cliftons, a struggling family. The Barringtons are shipping magnates while the Cliftons are hard working people. Young Harry Clifton's mother, Maisie is a waitress while his uncle is a dock worker as was his father. Young Harry believes his father died in the war. Maisie will do what she needs to do to get her son the type of education he needs to break the cycle. Harry has a phenomenal voice which just may be his ticket to a good school. When Harry goes off to school he meets Giles show more Barrington and the two become fast friends. The two boys become connected without realizing they may have always been connected. As Harry learns the truth about his father, the world is getting closer to being at war and decisions are made which will affect them all.

Each chapter is told from the viewpoint of another character. I found this extremely interesting even though some of the same storyline was retold. It gave me a different look at the situation as it happened. Seeing the same situation through the eyes of another can be quite eye-opening.

The characters are well developed. I felt I knew each character very well. The author does a fantastic job creating each character's personality. Each character seems to be harboring some sort of secret by the time this book ends. Some of the characters are not very likeable but make for great reading. Every saga needs a good villain or two. Other characters such as Maisie and Harry will capture your heart. You can't help but feel for Harry and Maisie. I kept hoping life would get easier for them.

The book ends with a huge cliffhanger that has me dying to get my hands on the next installment of this series. I find myself wondering what will happen to each of the characters in the book. This book ends with many unanswered questions but I knew going into this book it was a series spanning many years and many generations. I adore a good family saga and this one does not disappoint! I loved all the unexpected twists. I can't wait to see where Mr. Archer plans on taking this storyline next! He has made me a big fan! I just hope we don't have to wait too long for the next book! I know I'll be reading all installments of The Clifton Chronicles. You don't want to miss this series! show less

Many authors have tried to tell stories from multiple character perspectives. Unfortunately, most times it creates more problems than it solves. Not so with Jeffrey Archer's Only Time Will Tell. In this case, the sum of the storytelling is far greater than the parts. Archer weaves a tale filled with twists and turns along with new insights with each character's new perspective. Rather than bogging the flow of the story down, Archer is able to enhance the overall story and provide a level of depth to each character than would be impossible otherwise. And it's a look at pre-WW2 England as well.

How good is Only Time Will Tell? So good that I can't stop thinking about Harry and Emma. So good that I have to pick up the sequel right away. show more That's pretty darn good. show less

This review is for the audio book that comes in a 10-CD compilation, read by Roger Allam and Emelia Fox.

The plot is quite interesting and will keep you entertained and paying close attention till the end. The author tells us the saga of the Clifton's family, a lower class family of dock workers from which Harry Clifton is a talented son from Maisie, and the Barrington's family, a wealthy family from which Giles and Emma, children of Hugo and Elizabeth, turn to be and important part of Harry's life. The story starts with Harry fighting to rise in life through his studies. He finds an old man named Jack leaving in the docks, who tutors him and both ended up being great friends. And as he progress with studies through scholarships, life show more presents very tricky to Harry, with bullies and real friends crossing his path. The story is full of twists, some predictable, but the end is really unexpected.
This is suppose to be the first part out of five book series that is called "The Clifton's Chronicles", this first one in particular covering the period between 1920 and 1940. The whole story is told from different perspectives. There is an introduction from Harry's mother, Maisie, followed by the main stream by Harry, back to his mother, them to Hugo Barrignton, Old Jack, Emma and Giles points of view, before returning to Harry for the final part.
The only detail is that as this book is the first part of a series, the story does not wrap up on itself, on the contrary, it is left open on a hook for the next part.

Overall this is a masterpice composed by Mr. Jeffrey Archer, where each character is described in rich details and the voice that Roger Allam uses for each one is simply priceless. The female characters are read by Emelia Fox. Their narration is superb and contributes a lot to the success of this audiobook. Excellent fiction novel, a must have in the permanent library of any reader that enjoys this genre.

This audiobook was published by Macmillan Audio in August 2011 and Amazon.com was kind enough to provide this audiobook for me through their Vine Program for reviewing and I was not request to provide a positive review. Opinions expressed here are my own. show less

This is my 2nd Jeffrey Archer book and it sucked me in even faster than the first one. A little cliche on the who's the father and how did one of them die but the book is so much more. The child's illiterate poor 1920's mother sacrifices everything so her son can go to a better school and have a better life. The character development is amazing and the plots twists, while maybe easy to guess, still draw you on the strength that you feel for the characters.

This book is the first in a series so there is a large cliff hanger at the end which I find annoying but you'll be sure that I'm looking for the next book at the 2nd hand shop