Passing Bells

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.

The Acclaimed Trilogy That Has Been Called a Must-Read for Fans of Downton Abbey 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.

Before Downton Abbey, there was Abingdon Pryory... The third installment in Phillip Rock's trilogy that came alive with The Passing Bells andcontinued with Circles of Time, begins with the fading of the Jazz Age in England, and ends with German bombers on the horizon. A Future Arrived, the conclusion to the epic Grevilles of Abingdon saga, contains a P.S. section with additional insights from the author, background material, suggestions for further reading, and more.