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I’m off my feet with an injury and have been turning on the TV a lot more. Catching up on Season 4 of Bridgerton (based on a book series written by Julia Quinn), I got to thinking about books that make their way to the screen. The Academy Awards are this weekend and several celebrated films are based on books: Hamnet, One Battle After Another (based on Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland), Frankenstein, and Train Dreams.
In addition to Project Hail Mary which comes out next Friday, a number of beloved books are coming to screens later this year, including Remarkably Bright Creatures, The Odyssey, and, bewilderingly, an animated version of Animal Farm. I’m mostly of the opinion that the book is better than the screen adaptation. My two slight exceptions are William Goldman’s The Princess Bride (casting is perfect but the book is funnier, if you can believe it) and Mario Puzo’s The Godfather (the book and movie are equally exceptional).
I often picture actors in books I’m reading or come up with a “dream cast” once I’ve finished. When screen actors narrate audiobooks, I may use their likeness to imagine one of the characters in the book. That happened for me while listening to Rachel Hochhauser’s debut Lady Tremaine, a fresh take on Cinderella that came out last week - and it ties back to my mention of Bridgerton above! Bessie Carter, who portrays a Featherington sister on the show whose mother is endlessly scheming to help her daughters’ marriage prospects, narrates a book about a mother’s scheming to improve her daughters’ marriage prospects.
Told from the “evil” step-mother’s point of view, Lady Etheldreda Tremain Bramley marries for love, then marries for security, then is left with neither when she inherits a crumbling estate with no incoming funds to pay property taxes or maintain their home. After years of keeping up appearances of nobility while desperately making ends meet, a royal ball seems like an answered prayer to elevate her dowry-less daughters toward a stable future. But while her machinations to get her daughters noticed by the prince are underway, there are even bigger schemes afoot from inside the palace. This is not a story about true love and daydreams and happy endings. This is a story about a smart, resourceful woman and the ferocious instincts of mothers to ensure their children survive.
Keep scrolling to see some of the other new releases on our shelves, including a sophomore release from M. L. Stedman, whose debut The Light Between Oceans was also made into a movie. Whether you're looking at pages or looking at a screen, I hope you have a great weekend!
- Mallory
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