Great Adaptations
Is it any surprise how often you find a great book behind a popular film or tv show? After all a good story is a good story however it’s told. Here are some recent adaptations of books we love. Who does it best is up to you!
Hamnet : WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2020 - THE NO. 1 BESTSELLER
Author: Maggie O'Farrell
Edinburgh-based Maggie O’Farrell won the Women’s Prize for Fiction with Hamnet, published in 2020. And now the film of the book, released in 2026, is winning prizes all over the place!
Why does this story about Shakespeare’s only son strike such a chord? Hamnet is a compelling and deeply insightful depiction of a mother’s love for her children. Fierce maternal devotion – and the aching sense of loss – forms the heart of this book. And like all of Maggie O’Farrell’s books it’s beautifully written.
After Hamnet, why not try The Hand That First Held Mine - the story of two women connected across fifty years by art, love, secrets and motherhood.
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Slow Horses : Slough House Thriller 1
Author: Mick Herron
Welcome to the thrilling and unnervingly prescient world of the slow horses - washed-up MI5 spies who have all disgraced themselves in one way or another - and their irascible, unkempt, cold war-era leader, Jackson Lamb, unforgettably portrayed on TV by Gary Oldman.
Slow Horses is the first of the Slough House thrillers, which have won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award, two CWA Daggers, and been published in twenty-five languages. Mick Herron is also the author of the Zoë Boehm series, the first of which, Down Cemetery Road, was recently adapted into a TV series starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson.
If ever there was a both/and rather than an either/or decision to make about reading vs watching, Slow Horses is it!
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Pride and Prejudice
Author: Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice has charmed generations of readers for more than two centuries. Jane Austen’s much-adapted novel is famed for its witty, spirited heroine and deft remarks on the triumphs and pitfalls of social convention.
So are you Team 1995 BBC miniseries with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, or Team 2005 film with Keira Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen? And did you know that Netflix is adapting it yet again in 2026?
Maybe in this year of celebrating the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, it’s time to return to the source and enjoy the book once more? Or branch out and pick up Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, or Emma - you won’t be disappointed!
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The Night Manager
Author: John le Carré
Jonathan Pine, night manager of a luxury Swiss hotel, has a secret. He knows that the guest he awaits, billionaire trader Richard Roper, is ‘the worst man in the world.’ And he knows why. Pine will do whatever it takes to help the Intelligence services bring Roper down – even if it means going deep undercover into a ruthless, lawless world, up against forces more dangerous than he can imagine.
John le Carré virtually created a new school of fiction, not so much spy stories as anti-spy stories, convoluted tales of disillusionment and betrayal. This is what he had to say about the first season of the Night Manager on TV: “they’ve totally changed my book – but it works”.
There are so many wonderful John le Carré books which have become films and/or TV shows - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Call for the Dead to name but two.
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Rachel's Holiday : A Hay Festival and The Poole VOTE 100 BOOKS for Women Selection
Author: Marian Keyes
Arriving on TV in February 2026, The Walsh Sisters is inspired by the novels of celebrated Irish author, Marian Keyes, featuring the chaotic, dysfunctional but deeply loveable Walsh family.
Our favourite book in the series is Rachel’s Holiday, in which Rachel Walsh has to leave behind the fun and freedom of her glamorous life in New York, and slowly come to terms with the fact she’s a drug addict. As ever, Keyes successfully marries heartbreak and hilarity, making this book laugh-out-loud funny, deeply romantic and desperately moving. To quote Nigella Lawson: “Her talent for tackling serious issues with such humanity and wit is balm for the soul”.
Once you’ve enjoyed Rachel’s Holiday you’ll be delighted to know that Marian Keyes has written a sequel, Again Rachel - the story continues!
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