Lost Without DOWNTON ABBEY

Dozens of suggestions have been offered for the poor bereft souls who are longing for more Downton Abbey (a third season has begun shooting. It is scheduled to air in the UK in Sept and the US in Jan). In an unusual dip into the past, this week’s People magazine recommends John Galworthy’s The Forsythe Saga (CORRECTION: in an earlier version of this story, we misidentified the recommendation as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon; People recommends that book for fans of The Artist).

Below are some of the other lists that have appeared (none of them include The Forsythe Saga):

RA Crossroads: What To Watch (and Read) After Downton Abbey,” Neal Wyatt, Library Journal — focuses on DVD’s.

BiblioCommons, “Waiting for Downton Abbey,” by Anne Rouyer, Seward Park Library, NYPL — focuses on books.

Flavorwire.com, “Essential WWI Novels for ‘Downton Abbey’ Fans” — there are some extraordinary leaps on this list; will Downton fans really be interested in Johnny Got His Gun?

The Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver included some interesting choices in their Downton-themed promotion, including To Marry an English Lord, by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace (Workman, 1989; reissued in trade pbk in March). The show’s creator, Julian Fellowes, has said it was a major inspiration (full list is here; scroll down to the sixth story on the newsletter). Libraries that own it are showing holds on few copies.

Looking ahead, PBS Masterpiece returns to WWI, beginning April 22, with the BBC’s two-part Birdsong, based on the book by Sebastian Faulkes. The British tabloid, The Daily Star, referred to it as a “raunchy adaptation” and an “X-rated hit.” British critics applauded the first episode, but were divided over the second. The audiences, while strong, were not as large as those for Downton Abbey.

A tie-in edition is coming in April (check here for EarlyWord‘s full list of tie-ins to upcoming movies & tv series)

Birdsong (Movie Tie-in Edition) (Vintage International)
Sebastian Faulks
Retail Price: $15.95
Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: Vintage – (2012-04-03)
ISBN / EAN: 0345802896 / 9780345802897

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