Carolina Comments: Downton Abbey & More

CINEMA: END OF AN ERA

Downton Abbey:  The Grand Finale (in movie theaters)

Edith, Bertie, Cora, Lord G., Mary (hollywoodreporter.com)

If you, like us, have watched all the TV seasons of Downtown Abbey and the two previous movies, then Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is a must see.  It opens in 1930, and the Granthams are all in London at the theater along with many of their household staff.  The only person missing is Lady Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess.  

The times have changed, and they all must adapt.  Lord Grantham, despite saying otherwise, hangs back on fully handing over the reins and the running of the estate to Lady Mary.  Dominating their conversation is how to maintain the estate and cover needed repairs.  Lady Cora’s brother Harold arrives from America with his friend and advisor Gus Sambrook in tow; together they have grand financial plans.  Also looming are new adventures for Anna and Mr. Bates and retirement for Mrs. Patmore, the cook, and Mr. Carson, butler and major domo.  

It is fun to see how the various characters have matured and succeeded from kitchen maid Daisy to former staff member Barrow, to Tom Branson, who left and created his own business.  Lady Edith has social status and an assertiveness to match it, while Lady Mary remains glamorous, poised, and a force despite new personal challenges.  There are two wonderful scenes near the end that require both upstairs and downstairs to confront a new social order.  Highly recommended for fans of the series! 

NEW NOVEL: FRAGILITY OF FRIENDSHIP

Among Friends by Hal Ebbott

Author Ebbott (penguinrandomhouse.com)

Among Friends is Hal Ebbott’s first novel.  It is diffuse at times, full of striking analogies, and also a poignant dissection of longtime friendship.  Amos and Emerson have been close friends since college; now both over 50, they have wives and teenage daughters.  Neither marriage seems to be as rich and strong as it could be, but their 16-year-old daughters, Anna (Amos and Claire’s daughter) and Sophie (Emerson and Resty’s) have a relationship that is friendly without being bosom buddies.

When the couples and the girls gather upstate for a weekend visit, Emerson approaches Anna in a way that will strain and fray the bonds of these relationships.  Despite their seeming closeness, Amos and Emerson come from very different backgrounds.  Amos’s family was very poor, and he always strove to measure up to others.  Emerson is a product of privilege, used to having his way and being seen, yet carrying an element of meanness.

This is primarily an interior novel.  There is limited action, some descriptions of surroundings and the weather, but much of it exists in the thoughts and minds of each individual character.  Ebbott’s sentences are not long, but one feels the echoes of Henry James.

I found the beginning somewhat slow, but once accustomed to his style, I appreciated what he was doing.  How the big event in this group of friends is finally addressed and dealt with has a bittersweet rightness that will allow life to move forward, but likely not life the same way as before.  Recommended for readers of serious literary fiction.  (~JWFarrington)

VIEWING: UNEXPLAINED DEATH IN DUBLIN

Irish Blood (Acorn or Amazon Prime Video)

Fiona (tvinsider.com)

In Irish Blood, successful Los Angeles lawyer, Fiona Sharpe, played by Alicia Silverstone, receives a message from her estranged father that takes her to Dublin.  Arriving and learning that he died, she sets out on a dangerous path to discover the circumstances of his death.  Along the way, she meets a family who didn’t know of her existence and enlists the aid of the smart young cop, Roisin, who is eager to be involved.  

There are 6 episodes in Season 1, and Season 2 is set for production in 2026.  The series is entertaining enough that the Chief Penguin and I have now watched half of this season.  I’d call it good, not great crime drama, with enough action to keep us in our seats.

Note: Header image of Black-eyed Susans and foliage ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Interlude: Maine Photos & Crime

LEAVING MAINE BEHIND

End of day and a stranded dock

Almost a week ago, we left our idyllic Maine abode.  Life there is quieter and slower-paced but punctuated and enlivened with visits from various family members.  We made one final visit to the botanical garden, finally got to Camden, browsed once more in Sherman’s bookstore, and savored our last lobster rolls of the season at Cozy’s Dockside.  The morning air was cool to cold, fewer people were out and about, and one sensed fall hovering close by.  I took more photos, a few of which I ‘m sharing here.

Awaiting next summer?
Punch of color after day lilies
Quiet cove

RECENT READING: CRIME IN MAINE’S WOODS

Pitch Dark by Paul Doiron

Paul Doiron (amazon.com)

A former editor of Down East magazine, Paul Doiron is the author of the Mike Bowditch Mysteries.  Pitch Dark is the 15th book in the series featuring game warden investigator Bowditch.  A few years ago, I read The Poacher’s Son, his first book. This title published in 2024 is gripping, intense, and had me enrapt.

Bowditch sets out with his father-in-law Charley, a bush pilot and a retired warden, for the northern Maine woods in search of a supposedly missing person. The missing man has been asking questions about a man and his young daughter staying in the area.  Mike and Charley’s first stop is to see Josie, a bush pilot who lives by herself up there and is somewhat prickly.  Josie knows the man Mark Redmond, a builder, and his 12-year-old girl, Cady, for whom she is akin to a grandmother. That stop ends in a murder, and these two men now have a new set of leads.

The woods are dark and deep, the clues are few, and Mike ends up going it alone in pursuit of his fugitive. He ranges near the Canadian border and that presents risks of its own if he crosses without authorization.  Recommended for those who like suspense set in the wild.

VIEWING: COLD CRIME CASES

Unforgotten Season 6 (PBS Masterpiece)

Jess and Sunny (pbs.com)

Unforgotten is one of the best detective series around.  Set in Britain, the writing is excellent, the characters complex.  Add in a set of unrelated individuals, all with some connection to the crime.  

Last season, Nicola Walker as DCI Cassie Stuart, a fan favorite, was replaced by Sinead Keenan, who plays DCI Jess James.  Sanjeev Bhaskar as DC Sunny Khan continues as a warm-hearted, thoughtful guy.  He and Jess are initially tentative partners, but gradually in this season, they open up to each other.  

When a dismembered body washes up in a marsh, the immediate task is to identify the person.  After establishing who it was, follow-up involves an autistic man who lives with his mother, a professor, a TV commentator, and a recent immigrant on the path to citizenship. Both Jess and Sunny have issues in their personal life and these enrich and add depth to the series.  

Like past seasons, one crime and its solution unfold over the course of the six episodes.  I figured out who was the guilty party but didn’t realize all the circumstances; each of the suspects had a likely motive. Unforgotten raises moral questions in this probing and very human portrayal of crime and its after effects. Highly recommended! (~JWFarrington)

Note: Header photo taken on Southport and other unattributed photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Maine Moments: Camden & Dahlias

CHARMING CAMDEN

Camden Town Green

Earlier this week, we drove up to Camden, another pretty town on the Maine coast.  Incorporated in 1791, Camden is on the Penobscot Bay and running through it is the Megunticook River.  Early industries took advantage of power from watermills and included shipbuilding and textiles.  Beginning in the 1880’s, Camden attracted wealthy folks from Boston, Philadelphia, and New York, including the Bok family of publishing fame, and became a popular summer colony.  After a fire in 1892 destroyed much of the business district, new buildings were brick including the restored Camden Opera House. 

Like so much of Maine’s coastal terrain, Camden is rocky and thus, the streets are a bit hilly and often at sharp angles to each other.  

Colorful facades on a Camden street

Our mission was to explore some of the shops and to enjoy lunch at a highly recommended Thai restaurant (thanks to our daughter-in-law and the New York Times). 

Thai Lunch

Long Grain is an attractive space with an inviting main room and bar and more tables beyond an open divider.  The menu is short with a series of intriguing appetizers from crispy chicken wings to larb, mussels, and salads.  Mains include several noodle dishes, a fried rice with trout, pad krapraw (minced spicy meat over rice with basil), and a green curry, the hottest dish the Chief Penguin had ever ordered.  He loved it, and I very much enjoyed the pad krapraw with chicken. The dining room quickly filled up and looked to be popular with the locals.  Reservations are not required at lunch but recommended.  

Shops and Especially Books

We wandered around the streets going in and out of design stores, high end home décor shops, an L.L. Bean outlet, and a small gourmet grocery, French and Brawn, where we purchased pastries for the next day’s breakfast. Then, finally, on to the independent bookstore.  

The Owl and Turtle Bookshop is cozy and well stocked and also boasts a café serving delicious-smelling coffee along with buns and cookies. Besides the inside seating, café tables in front beckon.

Cappuccino, anyone?

DAZZLING DAHLIAS

We made our final visit of the season to Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.  Now that Labor Day is past and families are back to work or school, the gardens were quieter on this cool morning.  We stayed just a short time, concentrating mainly on the gorgeous dahlias. A riot of colors, the dahlias are so lush and vibrant that I took many photos.  I’m sharing just a few with you.

Note:  All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.) Header photo was also taken at the botanical gardens.

Maine Moments: Brunswick, Library, & Prague

SAMPLING BRUNSWICK’S DELIGHTS

Indian Lunch

The Chief Penguin and I made the trek down to Brunswick earlier this week for lunch with my cousins.  We met at our now favorite Indian restaurant, Shere Punjab, for some spicy curries.  You can pick your level of heat from 1-10; two of us stuck with level 4 (plenty hot for my chicken curry) while the other two went for 5 or 6.  Add in an order of garlic naan, a papadum, fluffy basmati rice, and you have a very satisfying meal.

Exploring Downtown Brunswick

Interior, Gulf of Maine Books

On previous trips to Brunswick, we have mainly spent time on the Bowdoin College campus visiting the latest exhibit in the college’s small, but well curated, art museum.  This time, the Chief Penguin was off getting a haircut so I was on my own to explore. I never walked as far as Bowdoin; instead I checked out a few shops, a gallery of works by local artists for sale, and the appropriately cluttered (in the best way) Gulf of Maine Books. This store is obviously a labor of love with a wide selection of titles. Of course, I bought some note cards. Then on to the wonderful Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick’s public library.

Located on the very pleasant and aptly named Pleasant Street, the library consists of a historic 1904 brick building plus a light, bright, spacious addition from around 2000. Workmen were blocking the original front door, but I was pleased to see the blue banner hanging to their left. 

 The actual library entrance is on the side of the building in the new part and is inviting with outdoor tables and chairs and a portico. The lobby inside is cheery and welcoming with a small lounge to the immediate left, a display of paintings on the right wall, and “Welcome” signs in several languages on the service desk.  

Library entrance
Small lounge just inside the door
Exterior wall of 1904 building; staircase from new to meet old

Library Spaces and Collections

The Curtis Library was recently featured in a New York Times article for their Library of Things, one of several in existence in Maine.  After seeing the garden tools downstairs from the Things library, I traipsed upstairs past the 1904 brick wall and was both amazed and impressed with the range of items to borrow, from educational kits to kitchen equipment to power tools to musical instruments and so on.  

All are neatly cataloged and arranged by type in plastic envelopes or hanging with tags.  Brunswick’s Library of Things is so successful that public libraries in South Portland, Cumberland, and Windham created their own versions.

One aisle in the Library of Things, a tagine, anyone?

I’m a lover of libraries so I roamed around the stacks and reading areas in the new part, chatted with several staff members, and then went upstairs again to check out the more formal reading and study spaces in the 1904 building.  As one might expect, these rooms are darker with wood trim and deeper colors on the walls.  There’s a reading room with a fireplace, another one with oversize deep brown club chairs, and a quiet room for working on your computer.

Cozy seating in the 1904 building
Light-filled seating in the addition
Highlighting certain titles

Thus, the library brings together the old and the new, quiet nooks and livelier areas.  The addition has a children’s alcove, a teen zone, and a new books room. I also liked the front facing displays of selected titles scattered throughout the stacks.  Here is one example in the fiction section; several others feature biographies and memoirs. This library was definitely worth seeing!

WATCHING:  PRAGUE UNDER THE NAZIS

The Golden Swan (PBS Walter Presents)

Irena, Gruber, Marta, & Petr in foreground (Hollywood-spyblogspot.com)

This Czech series, The Golden Swan (Zlatá labuť), is set in a luxury department store of the same name.  The Golden Swan opens its doors in Prague, in 1939, just before the Nazis take over the country, and life is disrupted.  It is owned by the wealthy Kucera family, patriarch Rudolf and his wife and their two sons (one disabled) and one daughter.  Daughter Irena is the de facto CEO for both their power plants and the store.  Son Petr oversees the store.  Bara, a young woman fleeing the clutches of her wily and abusive boyfriend Marek, is involved in stealing for him. Through a series of interesting circumstances, she gets hired as a sales girl at the store.

Soon, Jewish employees are threatened or let go, Irena’s husband Lukas causes problems, and Irena must deal with the slyly attractive Colonel Gruber.  Bara and Petra spar with each other while the family pushes him to cement his engagement to Marketa, daughter of a another prominent family.   

There are eleven episodes in Season 1, and overall, there are three seasons for a total of 56 episodes.  Although it is somewhat soap opera-ish, the Chief Penguin and I are enjoying the series and have now watched almost all of Season 1.  Recommended If you like WWII era drama and family intrigue.   

Note: All unattributed photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)  Building in the header photo includes Vine and Vessel, a wine and cheese shop in Brunswick.