Top 10 Tuesday: Book Recommendations for People Who Love Downton Abbey

I am SO excited that The Broke and Bookish are back with some new Top Ten Tuesday Topics!  I have recently been binge watching Downton Abbey and I am obsessed.  I love historical fiction and the turn of the century is my absolute favorite time period to read about and watch.  This weeks theme was “Ten Recommendations for….” so I decided to combine my latest obsession with my book obsession.  Here are my Top Ten Recommendations for People Who Love Downton Abbey!

No Angel by Penny Vincenzi:  The Spoils of Time is one of my all time favorite trilogies.  It is an epic family saga full of drama, romance, war, scandal, what more could you want?   My favorite thing about this book is the characters.  All of them were so flawed, and yet I fell madly in love with them and their relationships.  The first book, No Angel, was my favorite in the trilogy.

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett:  Ken Follett, made a masterpiece out of this trilogy.  It follows 3 generations of families all over the world, and how their lives intertwine throughout the big events in history.  Fall of Giants follows the first generation during WWI.  The plot is engaging, the characters are complex, and following the links in the families is really exciting.

 

A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett: Another book by Ken Follett? Yes.  I love him, and this book is incredible.  The social politics and the drama alone are enough to make this book worth while.  Not to mention the characters are lovable (and despicable), the plot is fast paced, and the writing is super juicy.

 

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton: This book gave me a huge book hangover! It had a darker, gothic tone, which I really enjoyed.  It kept me on the edge of my seat and awake way past my bed time.  You can read my full review here.

 

 

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: If you’re in the mood for a classic, Downton lovers, Sense and Sensibility has all of the snark of Aunt Violet mixed with the beautiful writing of Jane Austen.  Find my full review here.

 

 

Atonement by Ian McEwan: This book is beautiful, tragic, and perfect for Downton fans.  It has a haunting story that will leave you frustrated (in a good way) and questioning every choice you make and the consequences. The movie is also really well done.

 

 

The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig: Who doesn’t love a good flashback story?  With plenty of dark family secrets, this book will keep you reading and involved in Clementine and Addie’s lives until the very last page.  I got lost in this story on a vacation and I had to be pulled out of it and back to real life.

 

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen: I have raved about this book before on my blog, but I really can’t say enough good things about it.  This is the book that made me fall in love with this time period and its social politics.  Years later, I still vividly remember how invested I was in these characters, and reading it backstage at my dance recital because I couldn’t wait to get home to find out what happened next.

 

The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin:  This book didn’t have the most exciting plot, but the overall feel of it was very grand.  I found it interesting to see the dynamics between the American and the British aristocrats.  It reminds me of what it would have been like for Cora before the start of Downton. Coincidence, the heroine of this book is named Cora too.

 

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray: Now if you love Downton Abbey and Fantasy, then this is the book for you.  I absolutely LOVED this book.  The world created was so unique, and the dark gothic style worked really well.  This book was unlike anything else I’ve read, and the rest of the series continued to be just as good.