The Passing Bells: A Novel

by Phillip Rock

Overview

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. For fans of sweeping historical fiction, the reissue of Phillip Rock's New York Times bestseller The Passing Bells is a breathtaking family saga not to be missed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062229311
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	12/04/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	544
Sales rank:	160,917
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Born in Hollywood, California, Phillip Rock lived in England with his family until the blitz of 1940. He spent his adult years in Los Angeles and published three novels before the Passing Bells series: Flickers, The Dead in Guanajuato, and The Extraordinary Seaman. He died in 2004.

Editorial Reviews

A capacity to shock, to astonish, and to engage . . . written throughout with economy and wit.” — New York Times Book Review

“Swift and startling power . . . moving . . . entertaining . . . can absorb you into its fictional landscape as easily as Alice passing through the looking glass.” — Chicago Tribune Book World

“Well-written, exciting . . . echoes of Hemingway, Graves, and ‘Upstairs, Downstairs,’ with characters who breathe and about whom one cares.” — Library Journal

“Spellbinding. This is really a start-reading-and-don’t-stop-until-you’re-finished-novel.” — Publishers Weekly

“Every twenty-five years or so, we are blessed with a war novel, outstanding in that it depicts not only the history of our time, but also its soul.” — West Coast Review of Books

“Fascinating . . . a timeless tale of the conflicts that emerge from a violent change. It is a delight to read.” — Cleveland Press

From the Publisher

Swift and startling power . . . moving . . . entertaining . . . can absorb you into its fictional landscape as easily as Alice passing through the looking glass.

Chicago Tribune Book World

Every twenty-five years or so, we are blessed with a war novel, outstanding in that it depicts not only the history of our time, but also its soul.

West Coast Review of Books

A capacity to shock, to astonish, and to engage . . . written throughout with economy and wit.

New York Times Book Review

Fascinating . . . a timeless tale of the conflicts that emerge from a violent change. It is a delight to read.

Cleveland Press

12/01/2014
Originally published during the 1970s, at the height of Upstairs Downstairs mania, Rock's trilogy follows the wealthy Greville family as they navigate the changes wrought by the war. As with Downton Abbey, it's a family saga featuring plenty of drama; unlike Downton Abbey, the portrayal of the horrors of World War I is quite detailed and graphic. The full trilogy spans the years from 1914 through the 1930s.

Library Journal