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The Passing Bells Trilogy Read Along Concludes with the Discussion of A Future Arrived!

I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed reading Phillip Rock's Passing Bells trilogy - not only on my own, but with all of you. It was with some regret that I turned the final page in A Future Arrived, the final book in the series. But then I remembered that I could share my thoughts, and read all of yours, so it wasn't really over, at least not yet!

A Future Arrived

The final installment of the saga of the Grevilles of Abingdon Pryory begins in the early 1930s, as the dizzy gaiety of the Jazz Age comes to a shattering end. What follows is a decade of change and uncertainty, as the younger generation, born during or just after the "war to end all wars," comes of age.

American writer Martin Rilke has made his journalistic mark, earning worldwide fame with his radio broadcasts, and young Albert Thaxton seeks to follow in his footsteps as a foreign correspondent. Derek Ramsey, born only weeks after his father fell in France, and Colin Ross, a dashing Yankee, leave their schoolboy days behind and enter fighter pilot training as young men. The beautiful Wood-Lacy twins, Jennifer and Victoria, and their passionate younger sister, Kate, strive to forge independent paths, while learning to love—and to let go.

In their heady youth and bittersweet growth to adulthood, they are the future—but the shadows that touched the lives of the generation before are destined to reach out to their own.

Questions for Discussion

1. In this third book, the action is focused much more on the new generation - and while I understand why (they're younger and more exciting), it was hard sometimes to read more about Albert and Jennifer, and Colin and Kate, rather than Alexandra and Charles and Fenton. How did you feel about this new generation?

2. Martin remains a constant, and I found the introduction of Albert Thaxton so interesting. What did you make of his decision to pursuse journalism rather than an Oxford degree?

3. As he did in The Passing Bells, where he inserted Rupert Brooke and his poetry into the story, Rock includes the book and film adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front and uses the public's reaction to it in the novel to show us what is happening in Europe. Rock often includes the literature of the time, including Martin's own books. Why do you think he chooses to do this?

4. What do you think compels Colin and Derek to enlist, and Jennifer Wood-Lacy and Dulcie to work for peace or social progress?

5. Broadcast technology is changing the way the war is portrayed and fought. What did you think of Martin's radio broadcasts? Do you think that radio changed the course of the war?

6. In what ways do you think the entire trilogy supports, or discredits, romantic notions of war, honor and patriotism?

I look forward to hearing all of your answers - and if you answer them on your own blog, please leave a link to them in the comments! And thank you all for joining the read along - I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have!

Our Passing Bells Read Along Continues with Today's Discussion of Circles of Time

Our Passing Bells Read Along continues with a discussion of the next book in Phillip Rock's trilogy, Circles of Time. It's been wonderful to hear from so many of you as you were reading Circles of Time. I read mine on the way to and from last weekend's mid-winter American Library Association conference and it made for such fun plane reading. And I will admit that I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it, because, when I finished The Passing Bells, I felt so satisfied, that I wasn't sure what could, or should follow it. I was very glad to have been proven wrong however, and think that I liked this second book even better.

Circles of Time

A generation has been lost on the Western Front. The dead have been buried, a harsh peace forged, and the howl of shells replaced by the wail of saxophones as the Jazz Age begins. But ghosts linger—that long-ago golden summer of 1914 tugging at the memory of Martin Rilke and his British cousins, the Grevilles.

From the countess to the chauffeur, the inhabitants of Abingdon Pryory seek to forget the past and adjust their lives to a new era in which old values, social codes, and sexual mores have been irretrievably swept away. Martin Rilke throws himself into reporting, discovering unsettling political currents, as Fenton Wood-Lacy faces exile in faraway army outposts. Back at Abingdon, Charles Greville shows signs of recovery from shell shock and Alexandra is caught up in an unlikely romance. Circles of Time captures the age as these strongly drawn characters experience it, unfolding against England's most gracious manor house, the steamy nightclubs of London's Soho, and the despair of Germany caught in the nightmare of anarchy and inflation. Lives are renewed, new loves found, and a future of peace and happiness is glimpsed—for the moment.

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.As with the first book, we see the world first through American Martin Rilke's eyes, as he struggles to get over Ivy and find his footing and purpose. Why do you think he chose to stay in Europe after her death and the war?

2. What did you think of Charles' recovery, and his family's involvement in it?

3. Thomas Hardy's poem "The Souls of the Slain" is reprinted in the PS section in the back of the book. Why do you think this poem in particular stuck with Charles throughout his shell shock?

4. Lord Stanmore (much like Lord Grantham in Downton Abbey) has trouble with the changes that the war and time have brought to the world but at times (such as when he brings Charles home), he does admit to being wrong and is capable of change. In what other ways do his viewpoints and attitudes evolve througout the novel?

5. I found myself increasingly frustrated with Fenton's obstinate refusal to quit the military, when they repeatedly gave him the worst assignments. What do you think drove him to keep allegiance to an institution that valued him so little?

6. I loved learning more about Jamie Ross in this book, and his success in America. What did you think of his return to England, his decision to stay and his relationship with Alexandra?

7. Throughout the novel we see the characters seeking to forget the pain of WWI in drink and frivolity. What are they each working to forget and what do they choose to remember?

8. Given the growing climate of hate in Germany, do you think that Lord and Lady Stanmore and all of the family will begin to distance themselves from their German relations?

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

Join us for our discussion of the final book in the trilogy, A Future Arrived (which goes on sale this week) on Monday, March 4th. The first 5 people to comment on this post will win a free copy of that book to read for the discussion!

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!

 

Join The Passing Bells Trilogy Read-Along!

Are you, like me, counting the days until Sunday, January 6^th, when season 3 of Downton Abbey will FINALLY air here in the States? Well, if you just can’t wait for some sweeping historical fiction set in World War I, consider joining The Passing Bells Trilogy Read-Along! The Passing Bells by Phillip Rock is the first book in a breathtaking family saga with very Downton-like themes. Originally published in 1970s and 80s, the series was mentioned repeatedly in articles and blog posts last winter as a great read for fans of the popular Masterpiece series. Now the 3-book series is being reissued in paperback and on e-book beginning with The Passing Bells which will be on sale on 12/4, followed by Circles of Time on 1/2/13 and A Future Arrived on 2/5/13.

The Passing Bells was a New York Times bestseller when it was first published in 1978 and the New York Times Book Review praised its “A capacity to shock, to astonish, and to engage . . . written throughout with economy and wit.”

While I realize this is not necessarily the ideal time for a read-along (what with the holidays and all), I hope the schedule below isn't too taxing for anyone, and that we'll all be excited to be reading along as we're watching Downton Abbey in January and February.

If you'd like to join in, enter your name at the Mister Linky below, and write up a post that you're joining us, using the read along tile ad and post a link to your post in the comments.

The first 10 people to sign up will receive a free copy of The Passing Bells to start reading right away!

Follow the Read Along here, on my Facebook page and on Twitter using the hashtag #passingbells

The Passing Bells - on sale 12/4 - we'll discuss it on Monday, January 7th
Before Downton Abbey, there was Abingdon Pryory, the elegant country home of the Grevilles—a titled English family who, along with their servants, see their world turned upside down when England goes to war. Once their well-kept lawns and whirling social seasons give way to the horrors of World War I, no one, upstairs or downstairs, is left untouched.

Circles of Time - on sale 1/2 - we'll discuss it on Monday, February 4th
A generation has been lost on the Western Front. The dead have been buried, a harsh peace forged, and the howl of shells replaced by the wail of saxophones as the Jazz Age begins. But ghosts linger—that long-ago golden summer of 1914 tugging at the memory of Martin Rilke and his British cousins, the Grevilles.

 A Future Arrived - on sale 2/5 - we'll discuss it on Monday, March 4th
The final installment of the saga of the Grevilles of Abingdon begins in the early 1930s, as the dizzy gaiety of the Jazz Age comes to a shattering end. What follows is a decade of change and uncertainty, as the younger generation, born during or just after “the war to end all wars,” comes of age.