It is Week 3 of our Books Like Downton Abbey Series. Week 1 quickly became our most followed post. Read Week 1 here. Week 2 became our second most followed post. Read Week 2 here and Week 4 here. I hear you- we love Downton Abbey and we love books like Downton Abbey. I want to give my house a name now!
Books Like Downton Abbey, Week 3
The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons
The House at Tyneford came out at the end of 2011 and feels like Downton Abbey though it is set during World War II. From the publisher, “It’s the spring of 1938 and no longer safe to be a Jew in Vienna. Nineteen-year-old Elise Landau is forced to leave her glittering life of parties and champagne to become a parlor maid in England. She arrives at Tyneford, the great house on the bay, where servants polish silver and serve drinks on the lawn. But war is coming, and the world is changing. When the master of Tyneford’s young son, Kit, returns home, he and Elise strike up an unlikely friendship that will transform Tyneford-and Elise-forever.”
photo courtesy of penguinbooks.com
Quotes From The House at Tyneford
A few quotes I loved:
“May there be just sufficient clouds in one’s life to make a spectacular sunset.”
“But did I love her with the passion of the poets? No. But we didn’t expect to in those days.”
“I did not know then that this was one of hte happiest moments of my life.”
Penguin Books provided a review copy of this book via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
Kate Morton is an excellent writer. Many of her books feel like Downton Abbey. The House at Riverton though is one of my favorites.
photo courtesy of simonandschuster.com
From the publisher, ” The House at Riverton is a gorgeous debut novel set in England between the wars. It is the story of an aristocratic family, a house, a mysterious death and a way of life that vanished forever, told in flashback by a woman who witnessed it all and kept a secret for decades. Grace Bradley went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline. In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the house, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline and only they — and Grace — know the truth. ”
Quotes From The House at Riverton
A few quotes I loved:
“But happiness… happiness grows at our own firesides. It is not to be picked in strangers’ gardens.”
“Photographs force us to see people before their future weighed them down, before they knew their endings.”
#Gr8Books Book Club
Don’t forget to join us on February 6th when we meet on Twitter to discuss Hemingway’s Girl with the author, Erika Robuck and again on March 5th when we discuss Wife 22 with Melanie Gideon. Details here!
What are you reading and where are you going?
I gotta get reading!
I’ve heard great things from The House at Riverton. I need to put it on my list of things to read.
just ordered house at Riverton – can’t wait!
We have a Downton Abbey display up at our library. We’ll have to add House of Tyneford to our list. I don’t think we had that one!