In need of some literary inspiration ahead of those chilly winter nights? Choose from the clutch of books that will be making their way to the big (and small) screen in 2017…
1. The Circle by Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers’ weirdly prescient novel was one of the first to probe the darker implications of social media giants and privacy online. The Circle of the title is a Facebook-esque silicon valley start-up, a company that has developed tech that will record a user’s entire life – and share it online.
While idealistic college grad Mae is charmed by her new employer at first, things soon take a turn for the Orwellian. Emma Watson (playing Mae) and Star Wars’ John Boyega will star in the forthcoming film, with Tom Hanks playing against lovable type as The Circle’s increasingly sinister svengali figure. Will you want to eliminate your every online footprint after reading (or watching)? Quite possibly.
When is it released? April 28th in the US, with a Aus date to follow
2. My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier
Rebecca isn’t the only Daphne Du Maurier novel worth reading.
Just like its better-known predeccesor, My Cousin Rachel is a moody, atmospheric thriller set in a crumbling Cornish mansion. When the young Phillip Ashley (played on screen by Sam Claflin) learns of the death of his older cousin and guardian, Ambrose, he is immediately suspicious of his cousin’s wife, Rachel (who is also his own cousin, because that sort of thing was less frowned upon in Victorian times).
On returning to his family’s Cornish estate, he becomes captivated by the enigmatic Rachel – while also trying to solve the murder, and avoid being murdered himself. For sheer ease of reference, amongst other reasons, Rachel is played by Rachel Weisz.
When is it released? June 9th
3. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
If you didn’t devour Jessie Burton’s haunting debut upon its release in 2014, do so now. Set against a richly drawn backdrop of 17th century Amsterdam, The Miniaturist tells the story of Nella, a naive 18-year-old trapped into a marriage of convenience with a much older merchant.
In lieu of any spark between them, her husband presents her with a painstakingly realised miniature replica of their home. As the secrets of Nella’s new family unravel, the doll’s house begins to predict – and even control – events with unnerving, uncanny accuracy.
Rising star Anya Taylor-Joy is perfectly cast as Nella, while Romola Garai will return to the small screen as her troubled sister-in-law Marin.
Australian release date to be confirmed
4. The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins
If ever a novel deserved the small screen treatment, it’s the criminally under-read The Woman In White.
Compulsive and chilling in equal measure, Wilkie Collins’ novel was a sensation upon its release in 1859 but still feels arrestingly modern, encompassing everything from gender politics and inheritance laws to insanity and murder: the opening, in which struggling artist Walter Hartright encounters a ghostly woman dressed all in white on a dark London road, is one of the most memorable in literature.
Heading up the BBC’s five part adaptation are Ben Hardy as Hartright and War and Peace’s Jessie Buckley as Marian Halcombe, the androgynous heroine who captivated and challenged Victorian readers.
When will it air? Later this year on the BBC Australian date to be confirmed
5. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
Thanks to crossover successes like Paper Towns and Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why, the words ‘Young Adult’ are no longer likely to raise eyebrows from your judgier friends.
A New York Times bestseller on its release in 2015, Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything tells the story of Maddy, a young girl with a rare autoimmune disease that means she’s forced to live in a bubble, unable to interact with the outside world. This being a teen drama, it’s not long before her tiny world is turned upside down when Olly moves in next door.
Think of it as a less weepy Fault In Our Stars, with Amandla Stenberg taking her first lead role as Maddy.
When is it released? 18th August
6. Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Nikolai Leskov
Taking its cues from Shakespeare’s infamous villainess, Nikolai Leskov’s Lady Macbeth promises an equally fascinating character study.
Trapped into a loveless marriage with a much older merchant by her family, Katerina begins to rebel, first through an affair with a farmhand, then through a series of dark twist and turns that eventually result in murder. With shades of classic novels like Madame Bovary and Zola’s Therese Raquin and a touch of Bronte-worthy gloom, the action has been shifted to the bleak Northumbrian countryside for the utterly compelling film adaptation, which sees Florence Pugh give a star-making performance as Katherine.
When is it released? April 28th
7. Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach
Comparisons with Girl With A Pearl Earring were inevitable for Tulip Fever, which tells the story of a 17th century Dutch noblewoman who falls in love with the artist hired by her husband to paint her portrait. With a screenplay by Tom Stoppard, the screen adaptation of Deborah Moggach’s novel has been in the works for nearly fifteen years: Keira Knightley and Jude Law were initially pegged as the leading pair, roles now taken by Alicia Vikander (who won her first Oscar last year for The Danish Girl) and Dane DeHaan.
When is it released? August 25th in the US, with a AUS release yet to be confirmed
8. Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery
What could be a better excuse to revisit an old childhood favourite than the arrival of a Netflix adaptation?
Breaking Bad producer and writer Moira Walley-Beckett has written all eight episodes of Anne (they’ve dropped the ‘Green Gables’ bit, perhaps to differentiate this version from the countless others that have been made over the years) and promises a ‘grittier’, less picturesque version of L M Montgomery’s Prince Edward Island.
Amybeth McNulty will join the ranks of Netflix redheads as Anne herself, while Lucas Jade Zumann (who held his own alongside the likes of Annette Bening and Greta Gerwig in 20th Century Women earlier this year) will play Gilbert Blythe.
9. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Wait years for an Ian McEwan adaptation and three will come at once: first The Children Act, then The Child in Time and finally On Chesil Beach. Set in 1962 (which, as Philip Larkin would put it in ‘Annus Mirabilis’, was the year before sex ‘began’) McEwan’s Booker-nominated novella follows a newly married couple as they tentatively navigate the awkwardness of their wedding night. On board for the film version are Billy Howle and the always brilliant Saoirse Ronan, who made her big screen debut (and earned her first Oscar nomination) in the sweeping 2007 adaptation of McEwan’s Atonement.
When is it released? Late 2017
10. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
On paper, the film adaptation of Northern Lights, the first volume of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, should have worked.
On screen, though, it fell utterly flat, causing the studio to pull plans to continue the trilogy. After letting the dustle settle on The Golden Compass for the best part of a decade, the BBC announced that they are at work on an epic new version, spread out over mutiple seasons to fully give justice to the intricacies of Pullman’s parallel universe (perfect to fill the void post-Game Of Thrones).
It’s slated to arrive much later this year (at the earliest), meaning you’ve plenty of time to work your way back through the novels…
When will it air? Later this year on the BBC Australian date to be confirmed
11. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
administration continues to roll back women’s rights, the dystopia of The Handmaid’s Tale has begun to feel uncomfortably prescient.
Set in a world where women enjoy few basic privileges, we follow the class of women who have been designated ‘handmaids’, forced to bear children for wealthy couples. Streaming service Hulu couldn’t have predicted that their 10 episode adaptation would be so timely, but the combination of an Atwood classic and a brilliant, female-led cast (Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss, Gilmore Girls’ Alexis Bledel and OITNB’s Samira Wiley all star) was always going to command our attention.
When will it air? Later this year on the BBC Australian date to be confirmed
12. Howards End by E. M. Forster
Perhaps thanks to the lush Merchant Ivory adaptation that your mum has almost certainly tried to make you watch (the one that’s essentially a who’s who of the British acting establishment), Howards End is the sort of book you always vaguely think you’ve got round to reading, even if you haven’t.
Make this the year you tackle Forster’s novel, a piece of social commentary that focuses on three families spanning the Edwardian class system, and feels surprisingly incisive today. Kenneth Lonergan (the writer-director behind this year’s awards favourite Manchester by the Sea) has penned a four-part adaptation which will star Hayley Atwell and Matthew Macfadyen, due out later this year.
When will it air? Later this year on the BBC Australian date to be confirmed
13. I Love Dick by Chris Kraus
You’ve probably raised one eyebrow when you’ve spotted fellow commuters reading engrossed in a book bearing the title I Love Dick, but bear with us: first published in 1997, Chris Kraus’ work has only appeared in UK bookshops in the last few years.
A cult favourite relying heavily on word-of-mouth recommendations, it has since been hailed as a radically important piece of feminism, blurring fiction and memoir to chart one woman (confusingly, also named Chris Kraus)’s obsession with one man (‘Dick’).
Given that Kraus’ ‘novel’ is anything but straightforward, Amazon’s forth-coming adaptation (from Transparent’s Jill Soloway) is all the more intriguing.
When will it air? May 12th on Amazon
14. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
2017’s second Atwood adaptation comes courtesy of Netflix, who will be bringing Alias Grace to our screens later this year (as with most of their new arrivals, the streaming service is being secretive about an exact release date). Think of this as period drama meets true crime.
The novel is based on a notorious real-life case from 1843: when landowner Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper were found dead, housemaid Grace Marks and a stable hand were accused of and eventually tried for the murder. Grace, however, showed symptoms of hysteria, meaning that doubt has been cast on her guilt. Canadian actress Sarah Gadon will star as Grace: when we spoke to Sarah last year, she revealed that Atwood herself has a brief cameo…
When will it air? Later this year on Netflix
15. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
If you’ve not yet worked your way through Agatha Christie’s most famous detective story, then this year is the time to do so. For his forth-coming adaptation, director Kenneth Branagh has assembled a cast that can best be described as everyone who’s anyone, and then some: Branagh himself will presumably be donning a fake moustache to become Hercule Poirot, joined by (deep breath) Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Daisy Ridley, Olivia Colman, Michelle Pfeiffer and more. The tightly plotted novel is peak Christie: an American passenger is murdered while travelling on the famous Orient Express, meaning that all the passengers immediately become suspects.
When is it released? November 22nd
This story was originally published on Grazia Daily and republished here with full permission
