Exclusive interview with author Wendy Wax and a review of her new book about how watching Downton Abbey created new friendships
Rating: 3 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
“I discovered that according to USA Today, I had written the first novel about fans of a television series,” says While We Were Watching Downton Abbey author Wendy Wax. “I can’t say that was my goal. It just worked out that way, but I think it’s kind of cool.”
Wax’s novel is a delight. Fans of The Jane Austen Book Club will appreciate this story of characters who, except for their shared interest in Downton Abbey, might not otherwise become friends. In Wax’s novel, watching Downton Abbey gives the characters an escape from the problems they face in their lives. The concept of using a phenomenon that is current today to give the characters a connection is fantastic, and Wax ties up the story neatly at the end.
Edward, a British concierge at a condo complex in midtown Atlanta, is screening the first season of Downton Abbey as an event for the residents. Brooke Mackenzie’s husband has left her after years of her supporting him through college and working for him in his medical office. Brooke has no close friends because her whole life centered around Zachery and her daughters. Samantha Davis and her husband Jonathan are childless and raised her younger siblings after their parents died. New resident Claire Walker is on her own after sending her daughter off for her first year of college. While watching the show each will form bonds with one another and help each other through life’s challenges.
“My novels often revolve around very different characters who form bonds of friendship that see them through the really tough times,” says Wax. “Downton’s audience is wonderfully diverse. The more I watched and the more I fell in love with the series, the more I began to see a way for the series itself to bring my characters together.”
Wax had some catching up to do in researching her book. “I somehow missed the first season of Downton Abbey, but I kept hearing how great it was from an incredibly wide variety of people,” says Wax. “So I had my own little mini-marathon one weekend. I watched the entire first season in a day and a half.”
Wendy McCurdy is Wax’s editor at Berkley Publishing Group, part of Penguin USA. “When the manuscript for While We Were Watching Downton Abbey landed on my desk last fall, I immediately fell in love with it,” says editor Wendy McCurdy. “In addition, since I am such a fan of the show myself, it was a treat to get a little bit of a Downton Abbey fix between seasons.”
Orion Publishing will release While We Were Watching Downton Abbey in the UK in August. Wax is currently writing a third novel that features the characters of her popular Ten Beach Road and Ocean Beach novels. An aging, down-on-his-luck rock star turns his estate into a B&B featuring him as the genial, though reluctant, host.
Wendy Wax lives in the Atlanta area. She was born in St. Petersburg, Florida.
website: www.authorwendywax.com • www.facebook.com/AuthorWendyWax • twitter.com/wendy_wax
While We Were Watching Downton Abbey by Wendy Wax. Publisher Berkley Trade; 1 edition (April 2, 2013), Language English. ISBN: 9780425263310 $ 15.00
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