T.J. Brown
Summerset Abbey
Gallery / January 15, 2013 / $15 print, ~$10.93+ digital

Reminiscent of Downton Abbey, this first novel in a new series follows two sisters and their maid as they are suddenly separated by the rigid class divisions within a sprawling aristocratic estate and thrust into an uncertain world on the brink of WWI...

Rowena and Victoria, daughters to the second son of the Earl of Summerset, have always treated their governess’s daughter, Prudence, like a sister. But when their father dies and they move in with their uncle’s family in a much more traditional household, Prudence is relegated to the maids’ quarters, much to the girls’ shock and dismay. The impending war offers each girl hope for a more modern future, but the ever-present specter of class expectations makes it difficult for Prudence to maintain a foot in both worlds.

Vividly evoking both time and place and filled with authentic dialogue and richly detailed atmosphere, Summerset Abbey is a charming and timeless historical debut.

Turning the opening pages of this Edwardian drama, T.J. Brown's Summerset Abbey, I could not help but hear the Downton Abbey theme song. And that’s not a bad thing.

It’s 1913, and the lives of the Buxton sisters, Rowena (age twenty-two) and Victoria (age eighteen), are upended by the death of their beloved father. Despite their aristocratic lineage, their father raised them in an unusually progressive household. Everything changes when they are sent to live under their uncle’s guardianship at Summerset Abbey, the family estate outside of London.

[Juicy drama coming right up?...]