Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Brunch
The Book’s The Thing…
IF YO U AR E a fan of Ele n a Fe rran te , an d (like m e ) are suffe rin g with drawal pan gs afte r h avin g de voure d e ve - ry word sh e h as e ve r writte n , th e n I h ave som e good news for you. Th e Italian film and television production com pany, W ildside, h as announced th at it is working on adaptin g Fe rran te ’s N e apolitan quarte t in to a T V se rie s, alongwith producer Fandango. Th e series will be sh ot in Italy, an d in Italian .
Th e four novels, wh ich trace th e friendsh ip of Lenu andLinaoverhalfacentury,willbeadaptedintoafourse ason T V se rie s, with e ach n ove l tak in g in e igh t e pisode s, m akin g it a 32-e pisode blockbuste r. Fe rran te is be lie ve d to be involve d in th e production, th ough nobody quite knows in wh at capacity or h ow close ly. But th e n , give n th at n obody e ve n kn ows wh o Fe rran te is – sh e is still ze alously clin gin g tigh t to h e r an on ym ity – th at can ’t be ve ry surprisin g.
Norelease date hasbeen announcedbutIam al re ady salivating with anticipation. Th e story of Lenu and Lina consum ed m e entirely as I raced to th e final book in th e quarte t, The Story of the Lost Child, an d I can ’t wait to se e th is tale of fe m ale frie n dsh ip re told in a visual m e dium .
O f course , th is an ticipation is tin ge d with a dash of fear. It is th e sam e fear th at every book-lover experiences
And sometimes it’s even better when it is adapted for TV or a movie
wh e n a we ll-love d book is turn e d in to a m ovie or a T V se rie s. I fe lt th at fe ar wh e n th e first se ason of Game of Thrones was released, not sure h ow th at tale of kings and knigh ts, love an d lust, pride an d passion , would work on th e T V scre e n .
W ould it all look a bit ridiculous, like som e costum e dram as te n d to do? W ould th e story h ave th e sam e powe r on TV as it did in th e book? W ould th e ch aracters be reduce d to caricature s be cause of th e de m an ds of th e visual m e dium ? W ould it just be com e ye t an oth e r bodice -rippe r of th e kindth atlitterth e television universe?
You can im agin e m y re lie f wh e n th e T V se rie s prove d to be as m uch of a trium ph as th e books. O f course , I fe lt a little m iffed th at I already knew wh at was goin g to h appe n , th us losin g out on th e th rill of anticipation th at oth er vie we rs, wh o h adn ’t re ad th e book , we re fe e lin g. But th e n , Ge orge R R Martin , rath e r obligin gly, we n t off script in th e late r se ason s, an d I could watch with the sam e edge-of-the-seat excitem ent th at n on -re ade rs we re privile ge d to e xpe rie n ce .
So, yes, I am a tad nervous about h ow th e Fe rran te will survive th e tran sition to our T V scre e n s. Just as I am both n e rvous an d e xcite d about th e m ovie adaptation of Longbourn th at is in th e work s. R an dom House Studio an d Focus Fe ature s h ave acquire d th e film righ ts to Jo Bake r’s n ove l about life be lowstairs in th e Be n n e t h ouse h old m ade fam ous by Jan e Auste n (Pride and Prejudice), an d th e re le ase date is te n tative ly se t for 2017. I just h ope an d pray th at th is adaptation re m ain s true to th e origin al an d doe sn ’t go down th e Downton Abbey route .
But th e one auth or wh ose works I long to see on television is Ge orge tte He ye r (just on e of h e r book s, The Reluctant Widow, h as be e n m ade in to a film –andaprettybadoneat th at!). Th e prolific auth or of R egency rom ances h as given ussuch am azingcharactersas The Grand Sophy, Arabella, Frederica, Venetia, and it would be an absolute tre at to se e th e m com e alive on the TV scre e n . But for som e re ason , British T V com pan ie s are too busy film in g Pride and Prejudice again and again an d again to pay an y atte n tion to th e possibilitie s in h e re n t in th e se He ye r h e roin e s.
And th at is an absolute pity, if you ask m e. He ye r te lls absolute ly crackin g storie s, in tricate ly plotte d an d le ave n e d with wit an d h um our. An d h e r h e roin e s are th e absolute be st; pluck y little cre ature s wh o do th e ir be st in a socie ty th at h e m s th e m aroun d with strict rule s of e tique tte .
W h o e lse but He ye r could com e up with a h e roin e like Soph ia Stan ton -Lacy wh o com e s visitin g h e r aun t with a little m on ke y to gift h e r youn g cousin s, an d th in ks n oth in g of con fron tin g an e vil m on e yle n de r with an e le gan t but e ffe ctive pistol? O r th e im pish Le on ie de Sain t-V ire , wh o m asque rade s as a youn g page in P arisian socie ty, be fore be in g unve ile d as an aristocratic be auty? O r e ve n th e stun n in gly beautiful Deborah Granth am , relegated to th e fringes of polite socie ty as Faro’s Daughter, wh o m ake s th e gre ate st conquestof th em all?
I could go on listin g th e m arve llous, re source ful, witty, in te llige n t, be autiful wom e n wh o pe ople He ye r’s storie s (th e h e adstron g Lady Se re n a Carlow, Judith T ave rn e r, Mary Ch alloner are just som e nam es th at com e to m ind), but th e n we ’d be h e re fore ve r. In ste ad you could go ove r to pe tition buzz.com and sign a petition asking th at Heyer’s n ove ls be m ade in to m ovie s.
T h ough , if you ask m e , te le vision is be tte r suite d to te llingHeyer’sstories(inmyview,moviesarelikeshortstorie s, on ly T V se rie s can do justice to th e swe e p of a n ove l). Surely th e BBC or ITV, wh ich spends m illions on period dram as of dubious quality, could pick up on e He ye r R e ge n - cy rom ance – m y personal favourite would be The Grand Sophy – and adapt it into a six-part series. I would bet m y entire collection of tattered copies of Heyer’s novels th at it would do so well th at production com panies would be scram blin g for th e righ ts to th e books ye t to be film e d.
So, com e on guys, look sh arp. T h is is a world of fiction be yon d Jan e Auste n an d Julian Fe llowe s th at be ckon s.