Full review here:

http://swampofboredom.com/2013/02/25/if-you-love-downton-abbey/ ( )

I read / own a first edition. Good historical fiction, with great detail about many aspects of WWI: societal changes, the battles and politics of the battle "plans", the care of the wounded, and the battle for free Press. Right up there with Birdsong (but not as character specific) and Fall of Giants (but not as broad and sweeping). Glad Downton Abbey and 2014 reading challenge inspired me to read this little treasure that was languishing in my bookshelf. Having said that, the ending was rushed, as if the writer had reached his limit. Still, I'm looking forward to reading the sequels. If you like historical epics with war, politics and romance, you'll enjoy this. ( )

WWI changed the world. This book is the first in a trilogy and follows the lives of an English upper class family through the changes that war brought about. It's not "Downton Abbey" so if you're looking for a story that focuses on the house, this isn't it. It's more gritty than that and while there was a little more detail about the war itself than I would have liked, in retrospect, it was necessary for this book. (3 and a half stars) ( )

This is the first of a trilogy that was written in 1979 and was recommended as something a fan of Downton Abbey would enjoy. The novel is divided into four books and the first one is very reminiscent of the Downton Abbey story and moves equally between the upstairs and downstairs characters.

Anthony Greville, Earl of Stanmore, is the typical traditional English aristocrat. He's married to a beautiful woman and has three smart and attractive children. Archie Foxe is the business genius behind White Manor Tea Shops, a sort of Fortnum and Mason's. He's the father of Lydia, who longs to give up her bourgeois life and marry the Greville heir, Charles. Charles' best friend, Fenton Wood-Lacy has a career in the Coldstream Guards and needs to marry someone wealthy to maintain his lifestyle. Ivy Thaxton is a young maid who wants more out of life than being promoted to parlor maid and having every Wednesday afternoon off.

The novel will explore World War I through the extended family and servants. Books Two and Three take some of the main characters into the heart of WWI. The descriptions of the fighting are heartbreaking and the horror of WWI is not neglected. Through the eyes of the American cousin, Martin Rilke, we are witness to Gallipoli and the Battle of the Somme. I don't think I ever realized how truly horrific "trench warfare" was. Martin is also able to give us the American perspective of the conflict since most of the action he witnesses is before America enters the war.

I don't know what I was expecting with this book but I really liked it. The author makes his male characters way more interesting than the female ones. He doesn't focus on one main character and perhaps that's because a lot of the story takes place during the war and the female characters are mostly relegated to England or as wartime nurses. One notable exception is Alexandra Greville, who comes to grip with the horrors of war and really grows up during the passage of the book.

It was a very engaging family saga that reflects the British class, culture and spirit of that time period. I thought the story was very intriguing and immediately ordered up the second in the series called "Circles in Time". ( )

4.5 Stars

The first novel in Phillip Rock's Greville Family Saga, The Passing Bells, is a magnificent work of historical fiction that successfully captures the atmosphere and spirit of the age in which it is set. The novel opens in England in the summer of 1914, and even though Europe is poised on the brink of war, life continues on as usual at Abingdon Pryory, the stately home of the Earl of Stanmore and his family. After the War's outbreak, the general consensus is that Britain and her allies will enjoy a quick victory. Countless young men, including Charles Greville, heir to the Earldom of Stanmore, enthusiastically heed the call to arms and are dispatched to fight for King and country. Despite initial optimism, a conclusion to hostilities remains elusive and the spirit with which the participants began the war soon dissipates as the realities of the conflict set in. Back in England, the War brings an end to the nobility's golden age and ushers in a period of immense social change.

With well-developed characters, engaging story lines and a remarkable sense of time and place, The Passing Bells is a novel not to be missed. The early part of the book, which focuses primarily on the lives and loves of the Greville's and those closest to them prior to the outset of the War, provides an intimate look at the privileged lives of Britain's noble class. While the first part of the novel is entertaining, the greatest strength of this book rests with how well Rock has captured the War and the struggles of those who fought in it. Whether detailing character experiences in the trenches of the Somme, on a ship off the coast of Gallipoli, at a Casualty Clearing Station close to the Front, or in hospital recovering from wounds, Rock successfully conveys the horrors of WWI. For this reason it is not difficult to understand why the War had such a devastating and lasting effect on those who lived through it.

The Greville Family Saga continues in Circles of Time and A Future Arrived.

Recommended to all readers of historical fiction, especially those interested in novels set during the Edwardian era and WWI. ( )