Lady Virginia is facing bankruptcy, and can see no way out of her financial problems, until she is introduced to the hapless Cyrus T. Grant III from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who's in England to see his horse run at Royal Ascot. Sebastian Clifton becomes chairman of Farthings Kaufman Bank after Hakim Bishara resigns for personal reasons. Sebastian and his wife Samantha's talented daughter, Jessica, is expelled from the Slade School of Fine Art, but her aunt Grace comes to her rescue. Early on, Harry brings an end to his popular book series, deciding instead to turn his attention to writing his best-ever work. Emma, who’s spent the last 10 years as chairwoman of the Bristol Royal Infirmary, gets a call from none other than Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who offers her a job. Sir Giles, meanwhile, is ramping up his efforts as a member of Parliament on the opposing side – pitting him squarely against his sister Emma. Harry Clifton remains determined to get Anatoly Babakov released from a gulag in Siberia, following the international success of his acclaimed book, Uncle Joe. But then something unexpected happens that none of them could have anticipated. In Whitehall, Giles Barrington discovers the truth about his wife Karin from the Cabinet Secretary. Is she a spy or a pawn in a larger game?

Only Time Will Tell is a first part of the seven in the Clifton Chronicles by Jeffrey Archer. The book was published worldwide in 2011. It was launched by Jeffrey Archer himself in Bangalore, India in March 2011, as the beginning of a global book tour. [1] Plot [ edit ] It is a story about coincidences, about what people will do for love, about how life can go full circle, and how people get their due. This is a story about friendship, about the way different events are important to different people, and about how the actions of others – that we don’t even know about – can affect so many aspects of our lives. This is a story about unfortunate circumstances, about class bigotry, and about redemption. Overall, Cometh The Hour was entertaining, dramatic and engaging historical fiction. Not best in series but I liked it. She looked up and smiled. He didn’t know her name, and perhaps it was better that he didn’t. All he knew was that she spoke fluent English, was an interpreter by profession, roughly the same age as Karin, and would be wearing an identical outfit to hers. But there was one thing Walter hadn’t explained. Why was she willing to take such a risk? This is the final installment in the Clifton Chronicles series by Jeffrey Archer. The prologue here takes place in 1978, followed by a section on Harry Clifton and his wife Emma from 1978 to 1979, and at the end are chapters on Harry and Emma in 1992.There are few authors better than Jeffrey Archer at plotting. True, he will extract his characters in distress with some crazy Deus Ex Machina, but that is kept muffled in this book. I thought that Cometh the Hour is not equal to his best, but given that the writer is quite old (and I'm prone to say he has passed his peak), it's a great effort on his part, to give us quite a lot to think about. Harry Clifton sets out to write his magnum opus, while his wife Emma completes her ten years as Chairman of the Bristol Royal Infirmary, and receives an unexpected call from Margaret Thatcher offering her a job. I love Jeffrey Archer’s supreme talent in story telling and creating characters that are easy to like and a relish to hate. Kane and Abel is still my favourite novel of all time, and this series is turning out to be a solid, well written saga. Twists and cliffhangers galore.

Meanwhile, Lady Virginia is about to flee the country to avoid her creditors when the Duchess of Hertford dies, and she sees another opportunity to clear her debts and finally trump the Cliftons and Barringtons. Writing was easy to read, addictive and flawless. It was told in third person narrative from Emma, Harry, Giles, Seb, Bishra, and Virginia’s perspective; started in 1970 from where the previous book ended with result of court case against Emma and ended in 1978. Being second last book of the series, lot of things were happening. Sebastian Clifton is now the Chief Executive of Farthings Bank and a workaholic, whose personal life is thrown into disarray when he falls for Priya, a beautiful Indian girl. But her parents have already chosen the man she is going to marry. Meanwhile, Sebastian's rivals Adrian Sloane and Desmond Mellor are still plotting to bring him and his chairman Hakim Bishara down, so they can take over Farthings. Other, than to hint that the final act is a delightful mixture of fictional writing, political speech writing, and poignancy written from the mind and heart of an author who has surely lived and experienced that of which he crafts his ending. It is courageous, eloquent, humanitarian, and worthy of the high ovation he places around those characters of whom he created to demonstrate what faith, courage, and seeking the truth can reap for all communities, which fosters that character.This Was a Man opens with a shot being fired, but who pulled the trigger, and who lives and who dies? Sebastian has been elected to the board and has proposed to girlfriend Samantha, but will she be able to live with his ambitions and the lengths he is prepared to go to attain them? So the reader doesn’t know and you don’t know and you’ve got a year of course to work it out and get it right. But that’s the fun. Firstly I have to state how disappointed I am that this is the final book in the series! I have loved the Clifton Chronicles, the twists and turns, highs and lows, never knowing who is going to turn up dead and who will get a giant wind fall. It has all the heroes and villains you could wish for although all of them are 2D and the characters are extremely under developed for a 7 part series. However, this doesn't put much of a damper on the exciting storyline. In a nutshell, the story is extremely enticing, captivating and highly exciting despite being sympathetic in its own way. The author devised one hell of a spellbinding tale that won't disappoint any of his readers.

When I read through the last chapter of the book, I felt a profound impact emotionally. Different from most of the fictions that tell stories of people in a particular period or in a particular situation, this series tell the while life of a few individuals, e.g. Harry, Emma and Giles. Their struggles, fortunes and misfortunes, failures and successes all form part of the entire life experiences of them. When Emma and Harry died at the end, I felt a profound loss, like the loss of someone who I have known for their entire lives. This book follows the same format as the previous books in the series and naturally, ends with a big cliffhanger.Although it’s obvious, this book is part of a series, and to be honest, you do need to have read the other books before this one. It would make the story much more understandable, and if you didn’t you will miss out on 6 books of great storytelling! I’ve heard a lot of people say that they won’t read any Archer books as they don’t like the man – whatever you feel about him or his past, you can’t deny that the man is an amazing author and storyteller, capturing each decade, scenario or situation perfectly. So determined is Harry to see Babakov released and the book published, that he puts his own life in danger. Kudos, Lord Archer for never letting your readers down. While there will be naysayers, it is likely an inherent need to play the role of Lady Virginia that fuels their bitterness.

Then there are flashes of the past; Sebastian, who while waiting to visit a jail prisoner, reads a copy of the Daily Mail filled with photos of Prince Charles and Lady Diana talking at a garden party. "Diana looked really happy, while the Prince looked as if he was opening a power station," the accompanying story noted. Sir Giles Barrington is now a minister of the Crown, and looks set for even higher office, until an official trip to Berlin does not end as a diplomatic success. Once again, Giles’s political career is thrown off balance by none other than his old adversary, Major Alex Fisher, who once again stands against him at the election. But who wins this time? I’ve enjoyed writing The Clifton Chronicles and I’d like to thank all those readers who’ve stayed with the whole series and let me know by tweet or by Facebook post or through my blog how they feel. Wow!!! Finished this fine series. Wonderful storytelling with Book 7 doing a great job of ending the Harry and Emma Clifton Chronicles, while leaving other generations in play in the event the author wants to bring the family story to the present as we end in 1992. Sebastian Clifton becomes chairman of Farthings Kaufman bank, but only after Hakim Bishara has to resign for personal reasons. Sebastian and Samantha's talented daughter, Jessica, is expelled from the Slade School of Fine Art, but her aunt Grace comes to her rescue.

Her brother Giles is a Member of Parliament but is working hard to get the woman he loves out of East Germany. Harry and Emma’s son, Sebastian is the director of the bank and his former girlfriend, Samantha, reappears with a surprise. Maisie's sacrifices and the secret of Harry's parentage are the main focus of Only Time Will Tell. Harry has grown up thinking Arthur Clifton is his father and that he died in the war. Maisie knows the truth about Harry's parentage, and a few people know the truth about Arthur Clifton's death, but no one tells Harry anything.