A Bit Mad for Downton Abbey

The staff and customers at Book Passage, like much of the rest of the country, have gone a bit mad for "Downton Abbey," the hit historical drama which airs Sunday nights on PBS. The show is, as the New York Times dubbed it, the darling of American public television. And, it is also the subject of something of a frenzy of reader interest. Like the earlier and widely acclaimed "Upstairs, Downstairs," "Downton Abbey" is set in the years just before, during, and after the First World War.

Our "Downton Abbey" display at Book Passage.

Book Passage customers are keen on not just books about the series, like the lavish pictorial, The World of Downton Abbey (St. Martins, $29.99) by Jessica Fellows (the niece of show writer Julian Fellows), but also books which tie in directly to the story on the screen, like Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle, by the Countess of Carnarvon (Broadway, $15.99). And then there are related titles like the recollections of a lady’s maid Rose: My Life in Service to Lady Astor (Penguin, $15.00), by Rosina Harrison - and What the Butler Winked At (Westholme Publishing, $14.95), by Eric Horne, a memoir by a someone who worked as a butler for more than 50 years. And don't forget Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" (St. Martins, $22.99) by Margaret Powell. It too is very good.

Another view of our "Downton Abbey" display.

We picked out some of these titles and a few others titles - fiction, memoirs and a biography - and made a display at our store in Corte Madera. Why not drop by and check it out. You can find each of the Downton Abbey-related titles mentioned in this blog for sale at Book Passage.