Review – While We Were Watching Downton Abbey by Wendy Wax

This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.

Reviewed by Jennifer Joyce

 

Brooke is a divorced mother of two who is still struggling with the breakdown of her marriage, she lacks confidence due to years of being put down by her ex-husband, Zachary, and dreads seeing him and his new perfect girlfriend. Writer Claire has moved into an apartment in Brooke’s building and is about to begin her third historical romance novel, she doesn’t know anybody in town or the building so she decides to go to the screening of Downtown Abbey organised by Edward, the building’s concierge. Samantha has been married for 25 years but she still isn’t sure how her husband feels about her, she keeps everyone at arm’s length, including her husband, Jonathan. The couple are wealthy so everyone assumes they have a perfect life, but it is far from it.

The three women meet up at Edward’s screening and, with the help of Downton Abbey and British-themed drinks and snacks, they strike up a friendship and a strong bond. I found the beginning of While We Were Watching Downton Abbey quite slow as there are four main characters to get to know, but after a few chapters it did pick up and I began to enjoy the story. Although I liked all three women, I found myself more drawn towards Brooke, and really felt for her as her husband continued to treat her and their two daughters appallingly. I liked how she started to grow in confidence, gaining strength from her friendship with Samantha, Claire and Edward.

The three women are all very different, but I think they worked well together and I enjoyed their blossoming friendship. The only part of the book that didn’t quite work for me was Samantha’s confusion over her husband’s feelings, as I didn’t quite believe that she wouldn’t know how he felt about her after 25 years.

7/10

Wendy Wax’s Website