I'd suggest that the telling of the same events several times from different viewpoints is the most frustrating part of this book.Long before he was sentenced to four years in prison for perjury in 2001, the Jeffrey Archer phenomenon was a puzzle to those of us in the book world who thought we had seen it all. What character would you cut from Only Time Will Tell: Clifton Chronicles, Book 1?

What do you think the narrator could have done better? Has Only Time Will Tell: Clifton Chronicles, Book 1 turned you off from other books in this genre? All I can say is that if you like watching plants grow for hours on end, then this is the book for you. I would have returned this book, but for some reason my audible account says it accepts returns, but doesn't let me return them. It is a long, long, long story with characters not totally likable, slightly unbelievable situations and no hook to capture your attention and make you want to keep reading. I've read a review comparing it to The Forsyte Saga - I loved the Forsyte Saga - this is in no way in the same class. Even then, the story progressed about as quickly as grass grows. I would go so far as to say I do not believe this book would have been published if not for the author's fame.It was so boring I started to listen to it on fast play on my ipod (x2). I bought this book assuming a good read and was very much disappointed. I have read everything Lord Archer has written. What disappointed you about Only Time Will Tell: Clifton Chronicles, Book 1? Richly imagined and populated with remarkable characters, The Clifton Chronicles will take you on a powerful journey, bringing to life one hundred years of family history in a story neither you, nor Harry, could ever have dreamt of.Ĭontinue the bestselling series with The Sins of the Father and Best Kept Secret. And in doing so, he will change his destiny forever. Over the course of twenty years, as the Second World War and the fight against Hitler draws nearer, Harry will learn the awful truth about his father’s death and of his own connections to a powerful shipping family, the Barringtons. Harry’s existence is defined by the death of his father and he seems destined to a life on the docks until a remarkable gift wins him a scholarship to an exclusive boys school and entry into a world he could never have envisaged. It is 1920, and against the backdrop of a world ravaged by conflict, Harry’s story begins with the words ‘I was told that my father was killed in the war’. Ambitious and addictive, Only Time Will Tell is the first novel in Jeffrey Archer’s The Clifton Chronicles, beginning the epic tale of Harry Clifton, a working-class boy from the docks of Bristol.

Jeffrey archer time will tell