Anni's Attic is the American version of Downton Abbey

Over the holidays I caught up on the first two seasons of Downton Abbey. I’m now watching the third season on PBS. I am totally hooked. I adore historical fiction. What I love most about Downton is its depiction of the cultural shift caused by war. Out of something so horrific comes a miraculous evolution in the human condition.

I got to thinking there should be an American version of Downton Abbey. After all, the Civil War drastically altered American culture and society. Lo and behold, the book was in my Kindle the whole time awaiting my attention. I just finished reading and reviewing Anni’s Attic by Anne McGee. I have a feeling there are some Downton Abbey fans reading this and I have just the book for you.

Anni’s Attic
By Anne Loader McGee
Vendera Publishing
November 2012
326 pages

The last thing 11-year old Jennine Nicòle Parkington wanted to do was live on an old cotton plantation in Georgia, and share a bedroom with Annise Loréal Bouvoir, la cousine terrible. But that was exactly what happened. After her mother died, Jenn was perfectly happy living with Grandmère and Grandpère in their New Orleans mansion while her father Phillip Parkington, a businessman from England, went about his international affairs. But the Civil War had changed everything. Southerners were choosing sides and Mr. Parkington had chosen to fight in President Lincoln’s Army. He told Jenn, “Believe me, living with someone your own age will be the best thing for you, especially now I’m going –”

Be that as it may, the two cousins had nothing in common. Jenn spoke French and took pride in her impeccable manners. Anni made friends with the Negro slaves and didn’t know the meaning of the word “etiquette.” In spite of their animosity, friendship sprouted and bloomed through four brutal years of the Civil War. Together Jenn and Anni shared secrets and adventures like all young girls. Then, as the war dragged on and closed in around them, the secrets and adventures became much more terrifying and dangerous.

Through the friendship of Jenn and Anni, the intertwining of the Parkington and Bouvoir families, and the politics of war, Anne McGee skillfully weaves Confederate and Yankee sympathies into this epic tale. McGee’s intricate details of Southern life during the Civil War Era transport the reader to another time and place. Anni’s Attic is the American version of Downton Abbey. Fans of the series will absolutely love this book.~ Copyright (c) 2013 by Peggy Tibbetts

Peggy Tibbetts
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