Feature Friday - Mr. Selfridge

Hello there!

For today's Feature Friday I really must admit I've been up to a bunch of nothing. In that bunch of nothing I have almost finished watching the two seasons of Mr. Selfridge that are available on Amazon Prime.

This Masterpiece series is about Harry Gordon Selfridge (played by Jeremy Piven), an American businessman who opens a department store in London despite resistance from local influentials and the many bumps along the way. He (of course) isn't faithful in his marriage, which we find out is well-known by his wife, Rose. He has a gambling problem. (This series is based on Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge which is supposed to be a biography of the true Harry Selfridge - I haven't read it and don't know how much the show has kept to it- and it makes me ask, "Really? Were all men such scumbags?"-but it seems the women weren't much better.) To be honest I find the stories of the side-characters (Miss Agnes Towler, for example, with a drunken father who's determined to make trouble for her and a brother who needs looking out for) to be much more interesting. I think this partly stems from the acting, as too often it seems Mr. Selfridge thinks of himself as putting on a show because of his speech, and there is something weird about the way he blinks (I don't know if that is Piven or part of the show-I can't say I've [knowingly] watched anything else with him in it). Also in the first season (not so much the second), Rose has a weird, passive,  and frustrating speech pattern.

I can't say that the show has held my full attention for the entire time, and I started watching it because it seemed reminiscent of The Paradise, which I love (although I've only seen the first season, the second isn't on any of the streaming services I subscribe to). It is reminiscent of The Paradise, but not quite as captivating.

I don't know how accurate any of it is, but I really love watching just to see the styles of dress and the houses/buildings.

I really had planned on featuring a book from an author attending YAK Fest 2015, but I've been a sorry reader this past week and am going in only having read works by Rachel Caine. I still have today, so I might can get one in, but I doubt it (there are still episodes of Selfridge to watch).

Thanks!

Julia