Book Review--

While We Were Watching Downton Abbey

By Wendy Wax

First, this book doesn't have a lot to do with Downton Abbey;  second, it reads like a book just begging for a sequel (which is OK with me).   After both of my sisters read the book, I knew I had to read it too, and I was not sorry.  Wendy Wax is a good writer and keeps the reader interested and involved in the lives of three women (and others) who have decided to participate in watching the weekly screenings on Sunday evening of the British television series, Downton Abbey.

The setting is interesting.  I have never explored Atlanta, but was intrigued enough by the location to want to.  It all takes place in a large, mid-town apartment building called the Alexander.  The building, remodeled in the Beaux Arts style, is a trendy and desirable place for up-scale but diverse tenants.

The Alexander has contracted with a new company called Private Butler whose owner is a 50ish Englishman, Edward Parker.  He is also the concierge in the building.  He believes and follows a moral code of total discretion in serving his residents.  His family legacy in England was "in service" at Montclaire Castle where his grandfather began teaching Edward the practice of discretion when he was only 10 years old.

 

Edward realizes that he and the tenants don't know one another and because he is a little homesick, he decides screening seasons one and two of the wildly popular series, Downton Abbey, is just the catalyst needed for a getting-to-know you activity.  Indeed, an unlikely friendship is one result between three attendees; Samantha Davis, Claire Walker, and Brooke Mackenzie, as they sip shandies (lager and lemonade) and partake of before and "afters," including authentic English pastries, tarts and trifles.

Samantha married Jonathan Davis twenty-five years ago when she was 21 and he was 27.   Before they were married, her father embezzled from the law firm founded by Jonathan's father to pay his gambling debts.  However,  both her mother and father were killed in a car accident leaving Samantha to care for two younger siblings.  Under the circumstances, she was surprised Jonathan wanted to marry her and help raise her brother, Hunter, and her sister, Meredith.  She and Jonathan never had children of their own but Jonathan has always been  generous to a fault and supportive of her brother and sister.

Samantha appears to be perfect.  She dresses impeccably, is always perfectly coiffed, and ready to please Jonathan.  Even though she is married to a successful (rich) attorney who treats her with affection and respect, she wonders if he really loves her and if he married her only because he felt sorry for her.  Samantha definitely needs to figure this out.  With the help of Brooke and Claire, she finally finds the answer.  (I don't think the author knows much about marriage or she wouldn't have developed this fake story line.  In the book, Jonathan did everything to show Samantha he loved her, yet she couldn't see it?  I'm sorry, no!)

Brooke Mackenzie is a divorced mother of two girls.  She worked three jobs to put her ex-husband, Zachary, through medical school and residency in plastic surgery (a long, hard haul).  Brooke has curly red hair and a less than perfect body, but she refused to let her ex work on her.  Brooke could never please Zachary and he constantly puts her down. The marriage broke up when Zachary becomes involved with one of his patients that Brook calls Barbie.  Edward (the concierge) engages her in his Private Butler business working with a single father which leads to new confidence and the possibility of a new beginning.

Finally, Claire Walker.  She is a single, long-divorced mother whose daughter has just gone off to Chicago to attend college.  While still working, Claire authored two moderately successful romantic novels set in Scotland in the 1700's.  Now, she sold her house in the suburbs and moved into a small apartment in the Alexander where she plans to spend the next year concentrating on writing her "best seller."  The trouble is, she has a bad case of writer's block that she can't seem to cure.  And, she worries that her money will run out before her words start to flow again.  When she gets involved in the friendship with Samantha and Brooke, she begins to see that she might be finished with Scotland in the 1700's.  Moving on to new times and characters seems to be the answer.

A good book always includes characters who grow and change. While We Were Watching is a great example of that.  Friendship leads to confession, that leads to recognition, change, love, success, new attitudes and new thinking.  Be watching for the sequel that is sure to come!