With the final Downton Abbey movie, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, hitting theaters this month, it's a bittersweet time for fans of the Crawley family. If you're looking to fill the void after this final chapter, here are some fantastic reads that will transport you back to the world of grand estates, societal drama, and captivating historical detail.
Cavendon Hall
by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Cavendon Hall is home to two families, the aristocratic Inghams and the Swanns who serve them, just as their ancestors did over the centuries. For centuries, these two families have lived side-by-side, beneath the backdrop of the imposing Yorkshire manor. But now, with World War I looming, these two families will find themselves tested in ways they never thought possible. Loyalties are tested and betrayals are set into motion. In this time of uncertainty, one thing is sure: these two families will never be the same again. Set over a period of sixteen years (from 1913 to 1929), Cavendon Hall is Barbara Taylor Bradford at her very best.
The American Heiress
by Daisy Goodwin
Presents the story of vivacious Cora Cash, whose early twentieth-century marriage to England's most eligible duke is overshadowed by his secretive nature and the traps and betrayals of London's social scene.
Belgravia
by Julian Fellowes
1815, the eve of the Battle of Waterloo. At the Duchess of Richmond's ball, one family's life will change forever; for Sophie Trenchard, this night will change everything. Twenty-five years later, as the upper echelons of society begin to rub shoulders with the emerging industrial nouveau riche, the true repercussions of that moment will be felt. And there are those who would prefer the secrets of the past to remain buried.
Highcliffe House
by Megan Walker
1813, London, England. Anna Lane longs for the day when she can find a companion who will love her for who she is. Her father's business partner, Graham Everett, whose hard work and ability to spot a good investment has allowed him to provide for his mother and sisters. Now, with a new opportunity in his sights, Graham approaches Mr. Lane, hoping to persuade him to travel to Brighton to close the deal. Mr. Lane has business elsewhere, so Anna will accompany Graham to Brighton. If she gives a good report, her father will invest. Anna and Graham hesitate; the two have never truly gotten along. But if they set aside their misconceptions about each other, they might have a chance at real love.
A Well-behaved Woman
by Therese Fowler
Alva Smith, her southern family destitute after the Civil War, married into one of America's great Gilded Age dynasties: the newly wealthy but socially shunned Vanderbilts. Ignored by New York's old-money circles and determined to win respect, she designed and built 9 mansions, hosted grand balls, and arranged for her daughter to marry a duke. But Alva also defied convention for women of her time, asserting power within her marriage and becoming a leader in the women's suffrage movement.
The Royal Nanny
by Karen Harper
In April 1897, Charlotte Bill enters service into the house of the Duke and Duchess of York as a nanny. For decades, "Lala", as she is called, cares for her royal charges, some of which will rule, and one known as "The Lost Prince".
The Kennedy Debutante
by Kerri Maher
London, 1938. The effervescent "It girl" of London society since her father was named the ambassador, Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy moves in rarified circles, rubbing satin-covered elbows with some of the 20th century's most powerful figures. Eager to escape the watchful eye of her strict mother, Rose, the antics of her older brothers, Jack and Joe, and the erratic behavior of her sister Rosemary, Kick is ready to strike out on her own and is soon swept off her feet by Billy Hartington, the future Duke of Devonshire. But their love is forbidden, as Kick's devout Catholic family and Billy's staunchly Protestant one would never approve their match. When war breaks like a tidal wave across her world, Billy is ripped from her arms as the Kennedys are forced to return to the States. Kick gets work as a journalist and joins the Red Cross to get back to England, where she will have to decide where her true loyalties lie--with family or with love . . .
The Razor's Edge
by W. Somerset Maugham
Leaving wealth and loved ones behind, Larry Darrell journeys to the mountains of India in search of spiritual wisdom.
The Downstairs Girl
by Stacey Lee
1890, Atlanta. By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kwan works as a lady's maid for the cruel Caroline Payne, the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for 'the genteel Southern lady.
Beauchamp Hall
by Danielle Steel
Beauchamp Hall is perfect for the holidays, a delightful novel about a young American woman who finds love and fulfillment in the course of her involvement with a Downton Abbey-style TV show in England.
The Summer Before the War
by Helen Simonson
It's the summer of 1914 and life in the sleepy village of Rye, England is about to take an interesting turn. Agatha Kent is expecting an unusual candidate to be the school's Latin teacher: Beatrice Nash, a young woman of good breeding in search of a position after the death of her father. Agatha's nephews, meanwhile, have come to spend the summer months, as always, both with dreams of their own. When Hugh is sent to pick up Beatrice from the train station - life, of course, changes. Here, these characters and others we come to love and root for become characters we hope and pray for when the shadow of the Great War looms ever closer to home.
Lovely War
by Julie Berry
The Greek goddess Aphrodite recounts two tales of tragic love during WWI to her husband, Hephaestus, and her lover, Ares, in a luxe Manhattan hotel room at the height of World War II. She seeks to answer the age-old question: "Why are Love and War eternally drawn to one another?" but her quest for a conclusion that will satisfy her jealous husband uncovers a multi-threaded tale of prejudice, trauma, and music revealing that War is no match for the power of Love.
The Magnolia Palace
by Fiona Davis
Eight months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, twenty-one-year-old Lillian Carter's life has completely fallen apart. So when she stumbles upon an employment opportunity at the Frick mansion--a building that, ironically, bears her own visage--Lillian jumps at the chance. Nearly fifty years later, mod English model Veronica Weber has her own chance to make her career--and with it, earn the money she needs to support her family back home--within the walls of the former Frick residence, now converted into one of New York City's most impressive museums.
The Murder of Mr. Wickham
by Claudia Gray
After many years of happy marriage, Emma Knightley and her husband are throwing a house party, bringing together distant relatives and new acquaintances-not all of whom are well known to the Knightleys but are certainly beloved by every Jane Austen fan: Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, Marianne and Colonel Brandon, Anne and Captain Wentworth, and Fanny and Edmund Bertram. Very much not invited is Mr. Wickham, whose latest financial scheme has netted him newfound wealth and a broadening array of enemies.
Murder at Honeychurch Hall
by Hannah Dennison
Former TV celebrity host Kat Stanford is just days away from starting her dream antique business with her newly widowed mother Iris when she gets a huge shock. Iris has recklessly purchased a dilapidated carriage house, on an isolated country estate, Honeychurch Hall, several hundred miles from London. When the nanny goes missing, the loyal housekeeper ends up dead, and Iris is accused of the murder, Kat realizes she hardly knows her mother at all and wonders if she is--indeed--guilty.
Summaries provided via NC Cardinal’s catalog. Click through to each book’s title for more information and availability.