"But the attraction of these novels is partly because the rhythms of life in great houses are so very different from the rhythms of our own: The characters linger over breakfast, they take long walks in the gardens, they stop for lunch, they stop again for afternoon tea, they talk to each other without constantly checking their iPhones."
Though she talks about how these novels have fallen out of favor of the years, I suspect that the success of Downton Abbey will change how much a modern audience enjoys those types of stories. I have just started a "big house" novel myself (Anya Seton's Dragonwyck) and thought I would provide a list of my favorite novels that involve big homes who become just as much a part of the story as any other character:
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - Thornfield Hall
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier - Manderley
- Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - Tara
- Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead
- The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro -Darlington Hall
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