Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Should Be Made into Movies

Published on by Margaret

Books That Should Be Made into Movies

The Year Without Summer: 1816 by Guinevere Glasfurd – the story of six people whose lives were affected by the volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora on Sumbawa Island in Indonesia in 1815. A disaster movie.

The Lost Man by Jane Harper. A murder mystery set in the Queensland outback, a huge and isolated territory, red earth stretching for hundreds of miles, with its unbearable heat, dust and, at times, the threat of flood. A body is found lying at the the base of the headstone of a stockman’s grave – a headstone standing alone, a metre high, facing west, towards the desert, in a land of mirages. A spectacular setting!

The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey – this would make an good alternative World War Two movie with a strange story about taxidermy collection moved from London to a country manor house. It struck me as I was reading it that it would make an excellent film or TV drama as one after another, some of the animals go missing or are mysteriously moved from their positions in the long gallery.

The Deep by Alma Katsu – a story of the Titanic in 1912 as it sets sail on its ill-fated voyage and its sister ship the Britannic in 1916, converted to a hospital as it picks up soldiers injured in the battlefields of World War One. I think this would make an eerie, creepy film full of atmosphere of terror and disaster.

The Plague Charmer by Karen Maitland, a fascinating medieval tale full of atmosphere and superstition. It’s set in Porlock Weir in 1361 where a village is isolated by the plague when the Black Death spreads across England. It’s a tale of folklore, black magic, superstition, violence, torture, murder, and an apocalyptic cult – and also of love. There’s a colourful cast of characters from Will, a ‘fake’ dwarf, Sara, a packhorse man’s wife and her family, to Matilda, a religious zealot. It would make a terrific movie.

The Last Day by Andrew Hunter Murray – A dystopian thriller set in a world which has spun to a halt, bringing civilisation to the brink of collapse. Chaos followed, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and gales swept the earth’s surface.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley – a steampunk novel set in Victorian times, both in London and Japan, with colourful characters including clockwork inventions, in particular Katsu, the clockwork octopus. I’d love to see this as a film.

See What I have Done by Sarah Schmidt – a re-imagining of the unsolved American true crime case of the Lizzie Borden murders, this would make a horror film. So terrifying I don’t know that I bear to watch it though.

The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor – about the Great Fire of London in 1666, complete with a murder mystery. This would make a spectacular movie as the fire roared through the 17th century streets of Charles II’s London.

Another historical crime fiction series of books I’d like to see as either a TV series or a film is C J Sansom’s Shardlake novels set in the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century. There are seven books, beginning with Dissolution set in 1537 at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries.

23 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Should Be Made into Movies”

  1. Ooh I love Karen Maitlands books! I’ve not read the plague charmer yet, must get to it ASAP 😊 really enjoyed the owl killers and company of liars by her. Great post! 👍🏻

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  4. I couldn’t agree with you more, Margaret, about the Sansom. I think that would make for a fine film. Of course, I’m biased, as I think the series is excellent. I can see Harper’s work doing very well as an adaptation, too. I’ll bet your choices would get a lot of viewership!

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  6. Jane Harper and Sarah Schmidt would make great dramas – I loved See What I Have Done! Do you remember that bubbling pot of lamb stew on the stove? – and Natasha Pulley would be such great fun! Have you read The Lost Future of Pepperharrow yet? Or The Bedlam Stack which doesn’t have Thaniel or Mori (or Katsu) in but is just as good – and set in the same universe so I have hopes of a crossover!!

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  12. Such a great list!! I absolutely love the Matthew Shardlake series – I’m currently reading Tombland – and I’ve just read The Ashes of London which was fantastic! 😀 Karen Maitland is similarly fantastic!!

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