✍ Scribed by Jeffrey Archer
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
From the internationally bestselling author of Kane and Abel and A Prisoner of Birth comes Only Time Will Tell , the first in an ambitious new series that tells the story of one family across generations, across oceans, from heartbreak to triumph.
The epic tale of Harry Clifton's life begins in 1920, with the words "I was told that my father was killed in the war." A dock worker in Bristol, Harry never knew his father, but he learns about life on the docks from his uncle, who expects Harry to join him at the shipyard once he's left school. But then an unexpected gift wins him a scholarship to an exclusive boys' school, and his life will never be the same again.
As he enters into adulthood, Harry finally learns how his father really died, but the awful truth only leads him to question, was he even his father? Is he the son of Arthur Clifton, a stevedore who spent his whole life on the docks, or the firstborn son of a scion of West Country society, whose family owns a shipping line?
This introductory novel in Archer's ambitious series The Clifton Chronicles includes a cast of colorful characters and takes us from the ravages of the Great War to the outbreak of the Second World War, when Harry must decide whether to take up a place at Oxford or join the navy and go to war with Hitler's Germany. From the docks of working-class England to the bustling streets of 1940 New York City, Only Time Will Tell takes readers on a journey through to future volumes, which will bring to life one hundred years of recent history to reveal a family story that neither the reader nor Harry Clifton himself could ever have imagined.
**
“Outrageous and top-notch terror.” ― Vogue on SHALL WE TELL THE PRESIDENT?
“The only difference between this book and The Day of the Jackal is that Archer is a better writer.” ― Chicago Tribune on SHALL WE TELL THE PRESIDENT?
“Authentic, literate, and scary.” ― Cosmopolitan on SHALL WE TELL THE PRESIDENT?
“The countdown is the thing; the pace, the pursuit, the what-next, the how-is-it-going-to-come-out…” ― Boston Globe on SHALL WE TELL THE PRESIDENT?
“Holds the reader in a vicelike grip.” ― Penthouse on SHALL WE TELL THE PRESIDENT?
“A compelling read.” ― Newsday on A PRISONER OF BIRTH
“Dynamite…plot twists and a slam-bang finale.” ― The Washington Post on A PRISONER OF BIRTH
“Archer plots with skill, and keeps you turning the pages.” ― The Boston Globe on A PRISONER OF BIRTH
“Thoroughly enjoyable.” ― Publishers Weekly on A PRISONER OF BIRTH
“Compulsively readable.” ― Library Journal on A PRISONER OF BIRTH
“Gripping.” ― The Vancouver Sun on A PRISONER OF BIRTH
“An exercise in wish fulfillment. The good may suffer, but the bad will get theirs in the end. The fun is watching it unfold.” ― St. Petersburg Times (Florida) on A PRISONER OF BIRTH
“Archer plots with skill, and keeps you turning the pages.” ― The Boston Globe on CAT O'NINE TALES
“The economy and precision of Archer's prose never fails to delight. The criminal doesn't always get away with his crime and justice doesn't always prevail, but the reader wins with each and every story.” ― Publishers Weekly (starred review) on CAT O'NINE TALES
“A worthy successor to The Da Vinci Code.” ―Liz Smith on FALSE IMPRESSION, New York Post
“Archer is back in top form with [this] latest thriller.” ― Library Journal (starred review) on FALSE IMPRESSION
“Thoroughly imagined...entertaining...thrilling.” ― Denver Post on FALSE IMPRESSION
“Murder and a high-stakes art-world theft are cleverly blended [in this] exciting...global thrill-ride.” ― Vancouver Sun on FALSE IMPRESSION
“Sail along from one high crime to the next....Archer is a great plotter....[and] in the middle of the action, [he] drops research gems.” ―Liz Smith on FALSE IMPRESSION, New York Post
Praise for Only Time Will Tell
“Dual narrators Roger Allam and Emilia Fox do a truly wonderful job bringing the story to life…Only Time Will Tell is an enjoyable and artfully done listen. If you are a fan of family sagas, or of Jeffrey Archer in general, you won’t be disappointed. However, listener be warned, you will have to wait until next year for the next installment so you may want to savor this one slowly.” – Abbreviated Audio
“An extraordinary, sweeping saga, Only Time Will Tell is an excellent addition to audiobook fiction collections.” – The Midwest Book Review
“[Roger Allam] is the perfect choice for this story. From the very beginning I felt a strong connection… [Emelia Fox’s] voice is a stark contrast, being light and pleasant. The entire audiobook seemed more like a theater production than just a reading of a book.” – Reading with Mo
“Both [Roger Allam and Emilia Fox] do an outstanding job, and I let myself listen to some sections several times just to hear their marvelous voices.” – The Record-Courier
“Archer delivers another page-turning, heart-stopping saga, with delightful twists, and a surprise ending… readers will surely wait for the next with bated breath.” – Publishers Weekly
“General readers as well as Archer fans will enjoy this unforgettable tale, which abounds with cliff-hangers that propel its intriguing and intricate plot.” – Library Journal (starred review)
“What appears at the outset to be a straightforward coming-of-age tale becomes, by the end, a saga of power, betrayal, and bitter hatred. The novel ends on a deliberately dark note, setting the stage for the sequel…An outstanding effort from a reliable veteran.” – Booklist (starred Review)
“I was utterly hooked. It was an absurdly enjoyable read.” – Anthony Horowitz, Daily Telegraph (London)
Praise for Jeffrey Archer
“A dynamite commercial novel…Archer brings it off with panache.”
---The Washington Post on A Prisoner of Birth
“A compelling read…The pace never flags.”
---Newsday (New York) on A Prisoner of Birth
“One of the top ten storytellers in the world.”
---Los Angeles Times
“Archer is a master entertainer.”
---Time magazine
“A storyteller in the class of Alexandre Dumas.”
---The Washington Post on A Twist in the Tale
“There isn’t a better storyteller alive.”
---Larry King
“ Kane and Abel …that classic of modern literature.”
---The Times (London)
📜 SIMILAR VOLUMES
From the internationally bestselling author of _Kane and Abel_ and _A Prisoner of Birth_ comes _Only Time Will Tell_ , the first in an ambitious new series that tells the story of one family across generations, across oceans, from heartbreak to triumph. The epic tale of Harry Clifton's life beg
The "Clifton Chronicles" is Jeffrey Archer's most ambitious work in four decades as an international bestselling author. The epic tale of Harry Clifton's life begins in 1920, with the chilling words, 'I was told that my father was killed in the war'. But it will be another twenty years befo
The "Clifton Chronicles" is Jeffrey Archer's most ambitious work in four decades as an international bestselling author. The epic tale of Harry Clifton's life begins in 1920, with the chilling words, 'I was told that my father was killed in the war'. But it will be another twenty years befo
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