Hold onto Your Crumpets—We’re Getting a ‘Downton Abbey’ Book

Lady Edith (with her publishing industry career goals) would be thrilled.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Downton Abbey fans have more than just an upcoming movie adaptation to get excited about. The people behind the forthcoming movie are releasing a companion book that will give readers a behind-the-scenes glance at the making of the film.

The new book will be titled Downton Abbey: The Official Film Companion and will be released on September 17, 2019. The book will feature a foreword by series creator Julian Fellowes, stunning photos from the new movie, interviews with the cast and crew along with original costume illustrations.

The upcoming film, out on September 20, will be set in 1927, when King George V and Queen Mary (aka Queen Elizabeth’s grandparents) are visiting Downton Abbey. Except, times are tough, and the Crawley clan has cut back on staff and servants. In order to prep for the royal family arrival, Lord Grantham has asked Mr. Carson to return from retirement to help out the family and get the Abbey in tip-top shape just as the world seems to be bordering on disarray.

"The Depression looms, a World War has ended. Lady Mary Crawley is toying with leaving the estate for a new life. Anna Bates, Lady Mary’s loyal maid, reminds her of the role that Downton plays in the small English village," Variety noted of the plot when it was revealed at CinemaCon in April.

“‘Downton Abbey is the heart of this community and you’re keeping it beating,’ Bates reminds Mary,” Variety reported. We’re gonna need a minute.

Directed by Michael Engler and written by Fellowes, the movie will see the return of Henry Talbot (Matthew Goode), Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith), Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael), Anna Bates (Joanne Froggatt), John Bates (Brendan Coyle), the Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) and more. The first full-length trailer for the film was released on May 21.

Although we still have over two months 'til its release, the book, from publisher St. Martin's Press, is available for preorder on Amazon now for the special early bird price of $21 (originally $30).

We've always wanted to be one of those people that's done with Christmas shopping well before December (yep, that's sooo Lady Mary of us). BRB, crossing all the Downton Abbey fans off our list now...