The Passing Bells Trilogy Read Along Beings with the Discussion of The Passing Bells!

Our Passing Bells Read Along discussions officially begin today! And it's about time as I'm fresh off tonight's Downton Abbey premiere and need something else to discuss until next Sunday night! It's been great to see some of your excitement on Twitter (#passingbells) already. I hope that everyone enjoyed reading the first book in the series as much as I did - now I just wish there was a theatrical adaptation of it in the works. For those arriving here for the first time who've yet to read The Passing Bells, let this officially stand as a spoiler alert - don't read beyond the italicized type if you don't want to learn essential plot points. Ok, let's begin!

The Passing Bells

The guns of August are rumbling throughout Europe in the summer of 1914, but war has not yet touched Abingdon Pryory. Here, at the grand home of the Greville family, the parties, dances, and romances play on. Alexandra Greville embarks on her debutante season while brother Charles remains hopelessly in love with the beautiful, untitled Lydia Foxe, knowing that his father, the Earl of Stanmore, will never approve of the match. Downstairs the new servant, Ivy, struggles to adjust to the routines of the well-oiled household staff, as the arrival of American cousin Martin Rilke, a Chicago newspaperman, causes a stir.

But, ultimately, the Great War will not be denied, as what begins for the high-bred Grevilles as a glorious adventure soon takes its toll—shattering the household's tranquillity, crumbling class barriers, and bringing its myriad horrors home.

Indeed, as Nancy Pearl posted on her Facebook page during the holidays: "Jonesing for Downton Abbey? Meet the Grevilles of Abingon Pryory in Philip Rock's Passing Bells, 1st of a trilogy. Check it out."

Questions for discussion -  post your answers in the comments section - if you're a blogger and you've posted a review, include that link with your answers.

1. I know that many of us have read the Maisie Dobbs and Bess Crawford series, which are also set during WWI. What I really liked about The Passing Bells was that we get more of what's going on in the war itself - I learned a lot that I didn't know about the politics and the battles and felt I got a fuller picture than before. If you've read either of those series, or just from watching Downton Abbey or reading other books set in this time period, how did The Passing Bells compare for you? (I loved seeing things I'd learned in other books - the white feathers from Birds of a Feather and the scene where war is declared echoed a similar scene in Betsy and the Great World).

2. I was struck again at how the war changes the social order in Britain - in that it allows people like Ivy Thaxton and her father, Jamie Ross and even Alexandra Greville to do things they would never have been allowed to do in the places they held prior to the war. Ivy is ushered into a world she would only have been able to look at from the outside and her father's business thrives; Ross is in a position to tell his former master's son what to do; and Alexandra finds a life that is certainly full of more purpose (if also more pain) than the one she's planning at the beginning of the novel. What did you think of all these role reversals and changes?

3. Martin Rilke's diary entries are embedded throughout the novel - much as he is embedded as our "American eye" into the story - first he's embedded into the British aristocracy, then the world of journalism and finally the the war itself. Why do you think Phillip Rock chose to include his diaries in this way?

4. The novel is full of literary allusions, to such an extent that the poet Rupert Brooke is included as a character himself. Why do you think Rock chose to include these allusions and Brooke?

5. What did you think of Lydia Foxe and Alexandra Greville at the beginning of the novel and how did your feelings toward them change by the end?

6. Which leads me to my next question - my feelings about many characters changed throughout the novel: Charles, Fenton, Jacob, Lydia, Alexandra. Where there any characters about whom you felt the same at the end as you did at the beginning?

7. In the biography in the PS section at the back of the book, Rock's inspiration for the book is discussed - from his youth spent in England up until the Blitz and standing still with his father on Armistice Day. The Passing Bells was published in 1978 while Rock was living in the States and the Vietnam War had just ended three years prior - probably during the time he was writing the book. Do you think that the effects of that war - and what we as a country learned about what happens to men in battle, could have influenced the novel, specifically how Charles and Jacob are affected and change?

8. When we read the Maisie Dobbs and Bess Crawford series together I asked if there was a new word or phrase that you learned in each book. There were many words that were new to me here. I knew that "Blighty" was a term for England, but not that it could also refer to a self-inflicted wound that would, in turn, send a soldier back to Blighty. What word or phrase was new to you?

I can't wait to read all of your answers, and please add any thoughts or observations I may not have covered here.

Join us for our discussion of the next book in the trilogy, Circles of Time, on Monday, February 4th. Also - the first 5 people to comment on this post will win a free copy of that book to read for the discussion!

 

Comments

[Melissa Mc]

What a fun readalong! I've been tempted to buy this book for weeks -
I should have followed my gut and bought it so I could participate!

[Diane (bookchickdi)]

One of the first things that struck me about this book is that it is a great fiction read for women as well as men. There are the relationships and love stories that will appeal to women and the entire Book Two is all about the actual fighting itself. I think that a book club with men and women could have a terrific discussion.

I live with three men- my husband and two sons- and so I like reading about men and what makes them tick, and this book really appealed to that part of me.

I also liked Martin's diary entires, it deepened the story for me getting his personal observations from his distinctly American point of view.

Just like we are seeing the life of Downton Abbey changing because of the war, it was interesting to see how dramatically the class system also became a casualty of war in the novel. Ivy and Ross left their servant positions to become a nurse and engineer. The war gave them opportunities they never would have had otherwise. The same is true for Alexandra, who may be the most changed character in the book. (I liken her to Sybil's journey in Downton) I hope we see more of Alex in future books.

When the girls with the white feathers showed up, I immediately recognized them from Maisie Dobbs. I knew what they were up to right away.

It is interesting that Rock wrote the novel just after Vietnam because one of the themes that struck me is just how war is the same no matter when or why it is fought. Young men die fighting for a piece of land that next week is lost and in the end makes no difference. It reinforces how war should always be a last resort.

I raced through The Passing Bells and loved it! I will post my full review this week on http://bookchickdi.blogspot.com

[Marcie]

I really enjoyed this book! I posted my review on my blog: http://www.2readornot2read.com/2013/01/review-passing-bells-by-phillip-rock.html

[Farin]

1) I've said this several times since I picked it up, but The Passing Bells is Downton Abbey on the page. I feel like it highlighted the breakdown of the class system a lot more than the Maisie Dobbs and the Bess Crawford series (although it's definitely a part of Maisie's world), and seeing that play out was extremely interesting to me.

2) I think I answered this partly in the previous question, but I thought Rock did an incredible job of depicting the role reversals wrought by the war, particularly because he had such great character foils. When you see someone like Lord Greville desperately holding on to the old traditions even as his son and daughter are making decisions for themselves and his own chauffeur goes to work for Rolls Royce, it really makes the changes stand out.

3) I think perhaps to further humanize the story and to give a different perspective of both British society and the war. Martin is not a completely objective observer, but he still sees things as an outsider, and that definitely added something to the story. He also has a Jane Eyre-like quality about him that lets him serve as a guide of sorts. He's one of the characters I took into my heart.

4) For me, having Brooke in the novel really brought home the "lost generation" aspect of WWI and that all of these bright young men were cut down in their prime.

5) I'm kind of ambivalent towards both of them, actually. I feel like to say that Lydia is a total cow and Alex is completely redeemed would be too pat. I want to see how they develop in the next book.

6) I kind of fell in love with Fenton, and his development was most fun to watch. I really liked Jacob as well--his honesty was refreshing. My view of Charles changed quite a bit, because I didn't feel too much for him at the outset, but that all changed as he came into his own and stood up to his wife and family and then when he returned from the war with shell shock. The final scene with him and William broke my heart.

7) I think that Rock's experiences with war definitely influenced The Passing Bells. Vietnam also saw the loss of a generation of bright young men, and many who returned were not whole. Not to mention the anti-war protests and draft dodgers that are mirrored in Jacob.

8) No new terms for me, but I am an Anglophile. :-)

[Andrea]

Ohh this sounds good. I should definitely pick up The Passing Bells and would love to read Circles of Time.

[Sandra @ Fresh Ink Books]

I'd love to have a copy of there is still one available. Thank you.

[Elisa]

I finally finished the Passing Bells today. I read it sporadically and so it took me a while to fall into the characters. It definitely seemed to me that Rock was passing more contemporary views of the war as views of those during WWI, but who am I to say - I wasn't there. I did read the first Maisie Dobbs, which I loved (thank you for the rec), and felt it gave a more in depth feel of nursing than this one did, although the chapter in which Alex goes to France did a good job of putting you in the scene. I really liked the fact that Martin speculated on Charles' sang froid and found out later he was just holding it all in. Hate to admit that I had to look up the feather thing and didn't know the reason for Armistice Day, but I'm glad I do now. I did read all of the Betsy books, but that was in elementary school! I may have to read them again - they were good :) I also thought the women were drawn a little too stereotypically: the mother and wife who didn't want to send their loved one to war; the maid and aristrocrat who want more (think Edith and Daisy) - and Lydia (another mention) of the femme fatale who gets what she wants with her beauty and wiles. Thank you for all of the thoughtful questions, and for recommending this book!

[Diane (bookchickdi)]

My review of The Passing Bells is in my monthly Book Report column in the Citizen. (Spoiler: I loved it!)
http://bit.ly/WN0jee