Stormy times

For fans of 'The Forsyte Saga', 'Downton Abbey', and 'The Cazalet Chronicles'. The first novel in the Whiteoaks series was featured in the American magazine Atlantic Monthly and received an award of $10,000. Its victory and subsequent publication in 1927 brought Mazo de la Roche fame and wealth. The writer was 48 years old at the time. The 'Jalna' series, covering the period from 1854 to 1954, tells the story of the Whiteoak family living on an estate in Southern Ontario. The novels in the series were not written in chronological order. Each of them can be read as a standalone story. 'Jalna' is the name of the fictional estate where the Whiteoak family lives. The name of the series comes from Jalna, a town in Western and Central India where a British garrison was located. In the prequel novel, the house is built by a retired officer of the British army who served in India. 'Jalna' is partially based on 'Benares', a house in Mississauga, Canada. 'Benares' was built in the late 1850s... Read more