The World of Downton Abbey review
When my husband gave me The Denver Post review copy of The World of Downton Abbey I was delighted, of course, but I did not have high expectations, thinking it would be a nice picture book to go with the series. But having read it, I can heartily recommend it, especially if the recipient has little knowledge of the Edwardian era, which had just ended as the first series began. But even if you are oh so familiar with entails and the Titanic and World War I and Buccaneer brides you’ll still enjoy the backstories of the characters, the behind the scenes glimpses into turning Highclere Castle into Downton Abbey and the gorgeous photos.
But I think the real appeal of the book are the many examples of the real life people who inspired or mirrored the characters in the story, from Lord Northcliffe, the publisher of The Daily Mail who resembles the second series character Sir Richard Carlisle, to American heiress Almina Wombwell, who married the 5th Earl of Carnarvon in similar fashion to Cora Levinson marrying Lord Grantham of Downton Abbey. And there are similar stories of those in service who lives paralleled those of the downstairs staff in the television series.
I especially enjoyed the information about the costuming and makeup of the production, even though I am no clothes horse and never wear makeup. It’s fascinating to read how a costume was created from a scrap here and a reused costume here. The cobbled together nature of some of the costumes even resulted in lace so delicate it could only be worn once. And it also brought to light how, even though the Crawleys were wealthy thanks to Cora’s inheritance, the sisters reused and adapted their clothing. One of Edith’s best coats in series one becomes the coat she wears while doing farm work in series two. In similar vein, it’s interesting how the makeup artists created the look of women who of that time and station would not have worn makeup.
Of course, many of these behind the scenes looks I would have known had I watched the many behind the scenes making of videos, but even if you did, I’ll bet you’d enjoy having this book, if for nothing else than the cast list, the pictures of the characters and the bibliography.