Monday, February 11, 2013

Book review: The Passing Bells, by Phillip Rock

Readers should be forgiven if they delve into Phillip Rock’s former bestseller and initially find themselves picturing Downton Abbey’s famous cast. The book has a similar premise — a noble English family and their servants have their lives upended by World War I — and more resemblances abound. The Countess of Stanmore is American, and her overseas relative disturbs the careful social hierarchy at their Surrey estate. Below stairs, a new housemaid learns her place. Their personalities come alive via elegant parties and cross-class love affairs.

But the Grevilles aren’t the Crawleys, and as its new cover reminds us, The Passing Bells was here first. While equally as engrossing and full of nuanced characterizations, it offers an even meatier story, traveling places the show never ventured and addressing period issues through realistic, heartfelt drama.

The plot follows the younger generation almost exclusively. Charles, the Greville heir, timidly pursues rich businessman’s daughter Lydia Foxe, knowing his father disapproves, while Lydia and family friend Fenton Wood-Lacy deny their attraction. When war breaks out, all see their lives transformed. Chicago cousin Martin Rilke becomes the novel’s Everyman — his candid written observations on English aristocrats bring their differences home sharply — as his journalistic talents lead him to the front lines. The devastation at Gallipoli and the Somme has that much more impact when characters we care about are involved. Even Alexandra Greville, the pampered social-butterfly daughter, has a shocking coming-of-age.

From busy London newsrooms to a Yorkshire factory to the trenches, Rock is especially good at scene-setting and dialogue, and while his themes are unmissable, the characters’ engagement with their changing world is strong and moving. For some, war is futile, while for others, it gives their lives purpose. This fabulous reissue is tailor-made for post-Edwardian aficionados, who will be thrilled to know that two more volumes follow.

Originally published in 1978, The Passing Bells was reissued by William Morrow in trade paperback in December 2012 at $15.99.  I enjoyed it so much that I requested the subsequent two titles for review, too.  This writeup first appeared in the Historical Novels Review in February as an "online exclusive."

20 comments:

  1. Already on my TBR list! Glad you liked it enough to read the next 2.

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    1. I'm eager to see where Rock takes these families next. But since the novel I'm reading now (Simone St. James' An Inquiry Into Love and Death) is also set in the '20s, I'm giving myself a little break before diving into the period again.

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  2. I've seen the author's name coming up on many blogs over the last two weeks so reviews should also be appearing soon. I like the story of this book and will be looking out for it.

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    1. I believe there was a read-along for the trilogy so that may be where the multiple blog mentions are coming from.

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  3. I got this one for Christmas, adored it and immediately ordered the next two. I'm working on "A Future Arrived" the last book in the trilogy now. So good and like you said so much more depth than Downton!

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    1. Glad you agree! It's definitely more realistic than Downton, which I'm addicted to, but it's gotten silly with its soap-opera subplots. Rock takes reader much more deeply into people's wartime experiences.

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  4. I read this one and I missed the Downton feeling. I agree that this one features less drama but what I didn't really care for was the descriptive war plot. It was an okay read, but I will probably pick up the next books in this series just to see what happens.

    Kimberlee
    www.girllostinabook.com

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    1. The war scenes make it different than many other new novels set around the same time. In some ways the pretty cover may be doing it a disservice (men will avoid it!).

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  5. Half way through this one and thoroughly enjoying it. I am especially enjoying the voices of the younger generation.

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    1. Me too, and I'm looking forward to continuing their story through the '20s. Circles of Time (book 2) looks to move on to the younger generation's children, too.

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  6. I'm glad there's a factory.

    That's what's missing from Downton.

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    1. And we won't get to see any scenes of his brother's Liverpool garage, either, now that Branson is staying on.

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  7. Great review, Sarah! I've been recommending this one to everyone I know who enjoys historical fiction. The book is a definite winner. I still haven't started the second novel, but I hope to be able to get to it soon.

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    1. Thanks! The next two in the series are sitting here staring at me. I'm grateful to Downton for helping revive interest in these books.

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  8. I really want to read this series. I'm seeing it all over the blog world and it sounds so good!

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    1. It deserves the attention it's been getting!

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  9. I a thrilled to see that you enjoyed this book too Sarah. I loved it and look forward to the next two in the series.

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    1. Hi Laurel Ann, I'm glad you agree!

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  10. DD Morton5:15 PM

    I loved this when I read it years ago. I'm so glad it has been reprinted. Keep Downton Abbey in mind but don't expect it too be exactly the same. Posts about the war scenes are interesting. Although disturbing, a book set during a major war MUST include the reality of that war. I remembered the part about a soldier trapped in the wire for days when visiting Flanders Fields last summer.

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    1. I appreciated the war scenes; they served to illustrate what most of England's young men were facing. Many newly published WWI novels that follow the Downton theme focus just on the women back home, so the detailed scenes at the front are either omitted or recounted after the fact by men who were there. It may be a matter of reader expectations, based on the woman on the cover of this one.

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