As the sixth and final season of Masterpiece Classic hit “Downton Abbey” comes to a close, we can’t help but dread missing the drama and heartbreak play out in the domestic quarters, the Edwardian garb and decor of the Yorkshire elite—and of course the Dowager Countess’s unfailing quick wit. But the Crawley family isn’t the only one with intriguing secrets and awe-inspiring family drama. Here are eleven books that will ease your approaching “Downton Abbey” withdrawal.
10 Tantalizing Tales to Ease Your Downton Abbey Withdrawal
The Remains of the Day
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The Pursuit of Love
Nancy Mitford’s most enduringly popular novel, THE PURSUIT OF LOVE has all the shock, awe, and dry wit of a tumultuous season of “Downton Abbey.” In this classic comedy about growing up and falling in love among the privileged and eccentric, we are introduced to the Radletts through the eyes of their cousin Fanny, who stays with them at their Gloucestershire estate.
The Pursuit of Love
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Brideshead Revisited
At once romantic, sensuous, comic, and somber, BRIDESHEAD REVISITED immerses us in the glittering and seductive world of English aristocracy in the waning days of the empire. Through the story of Charles Ryder’s entanglement with the Flytes, a great Catholic family, Waugh charts the passing of the privileged world he knew in his own youth and vividly recalls the sensuous pleasures denied him by wartime austerities.
Brideshead Revisited
Evelyn Waugh’s delicious coming-of-age tale of star-crossed lovers and sexually ambiguous pretty boys drinking their way through guilt trips over religion and lost love provided an admittedly romantic backdrop to my own rocky adolescent journey to adulthood.
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Life After Life
This wildly creative tale about second chances and alternate histories follows the many lives of one woman who lives her life over and over, instantly returning to where her former life left off each time she dies. Kate Atkinson’s novel is inventive, darkly comic, and startlingly poignant.
Life After Life
During a snowstorm in 1910, a baby is born. She dies before she can draw her first breath. During a snowstorm in 1910, the same baby is born and lives. What if there were an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you be able to save the world from its own destiny? What power can one woman exert over the fate of civilization as she lives through the turbulent events of the twentieth century again and again?
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The Sisters
The mastermind of many a family saga, Nancy Mitford and her sisters lived a privileged life packed with all the elements of a juicy episode of “Downton Abbey.” In this wise, evenhanded, and generous family biography, Mary Lovell captures the vitality and drama of sisters who took the twentieth century by storm and became, in some respects, its victims.
The Sisters
A saga, indeed. The Mitford sisters, one of whom was a bestselling novelist, were a close and loving family, until conflicting ideologies between the two World Wars divided them. Touring around the great cities of Europe and interacting with some of the most influential people of the day, the story of these talented and headstrong sisters would make the perfect period drama.
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Snobs
Creator of the sensational ”Downton Abbey,” Julian Fellowes establishes himself as an irresistible storyteller and a deliciously witty chronicler of modern manners. In this wickedly astute portrait of the intersecting worlds of aristocrats and actors, the characters of “Downton Abbey” we’ve come to love so dearly come to life in modern-day England.
Snobs
Creator of the sensational ”Downton Abbey,” Julian Fellowes establishes himself as an irresistible storyteller and a deliciously witty chronicler of modern manners. In this wickedly astute portrait of the intersecting worlds of aristocrats and actors, the characters of “Downton Abbey” we’ve come to love so dearly come to life in modern-day England.
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The House at Riverton
In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the Riverton House, a young poet shoots himself. Only three witnesses—the Hartford family’s servant, Grace, and the Hartford sisters, Hannah and Emmeline—know the truth. Kate Morton’s gorgeous debut is full of secrets, some revealed, others hidden forever.
The House at Riverton
Set in interwar Britain, this gorgeous debut novel is the story of a decades-old suicide at an aristocratic manor home, relived through the eyes of the ninety-eight-year-old former housemaid. In a classic case of the servant knowing all, her memories of that long-ago night are the key to shocking secrets and heartbreaking truths.
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The Thirteenth Tale
Reclusive author Vida Winter, famous for her collection of twelve enchanting stories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long.
The Thirteenth Tale
Read a Book About Books
In this novel, biographer Margaret Lea is approached by a well-loved but gravely ill author with a surprising request: she wants Margaret to capture her life story before it’s too late. Although Margaret has never read the author’s work, she’s intrigued, and soon gets immersed in her strange and troubling history. Now both women will have to confront their pasts—and grapple with the ghosts that still haunt them.
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The Orchid House
Spanning from the 1930s to the present day, from the Wharton Park estate in England to Thailand, this atmospheric and poignant novel tells the tale of a concert pianist and the aristocratic Crawford family, whose shocking secrets are revealed with devastating consequences.
The Orchid House
Set in a magnificent estate in interwar Britain, this sweeping novel tells the tale of the prominent Crawford family, whose shocking secrets lead to devastating consequences for generations to come.
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Downton Tabby
Welcome to Downton Tabby, where the aristocrats of the animal kingdom dwell in stately splendor. Sleeping, grooming, sleeping some more, and being fed by their downstairs cats, they are unaware that their way of life, providing work for others, is about to be swept away by the tides of history . . . and runaway cars.
Downton Tabby
Welcome to Downton Tabby, where the aristocrats of the animal kingdom dwell in stately splendor. Sleeping, grooming, sleeping some more, and being fed by their downstairs cats, they are unaware that their way of life—providing work for others—is about to be swept away by the tides of history . . . and runaway cars.
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