The Best Book-To-Screen Adaptions

Bridgerton (L to R) Phoebe Dynevor as Daphne Bidgerton and Regé-Jean Page as Simon Basset. Image courtesy of Liam Daniel/Netflix © 2020

The Best Book-To-Screen Adaptions
Culture / 3 years ago

Home
Culture

The Best Book-To-Screen Adaptions

By Kate O' Gorman

3 years ago

From Little Women to Bridgerton

This post may contain affiliate links. Learn more

From Daisy Jones & The Six to Nine Perfect Strangers, there are plenty of new and exciting books being transformed into television shows and films later this year. Looking for more book-to-screen adaptions to binge-watch during lockdown? Then read our guide to the best tv shows and films from some of our favourite novels and authors.

The Best Book-To-Screen Adaptions

Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures tells the true story of Katherine Johnson (Taraji Penda Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) – a bunch of talented African-American women that worked on the United States space program, calculating the flight paths that would launch rockets and astronauts into space. Adapted from the bestselling book written by Margot Lee Shetterly, Hidden Figures highlights the struggle for black women to be viewed as intellectuals and the heart-warming tale of victory over adversity.

Big Little Lies

Featuring Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Shailene Woodley, Big Littles Lies is a television series based on Liane Moriarty’s bestselling book. The show ventures into the lives of Madeline, Celeste and Jane whose seemingly perfect lives begin to unravel as a murder takes place in their small town. The darkly comedic series created by David E. Kelley leaves viewers on the edge of their seat guessing who the murderer may be.

The Handmaid’s Tale

The Handmaid’s Tale is a series based on the best-selling dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood. Set in Gilead, a totalitarian society that treats women as property of the state, the television series follows the live of Offred (Elisabeth Moss) who is one of the many women forced into repopulating the world.

Emma

Emma is a 2020 comedy-drama film directed by Autumn de Wilde, which is based on the novel written by Jane Austen in 1815. Starring Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit), the film is brimming with satire and romance (as most of Jane Austen’s novels are) with queen bee Emma Woodhouse meddling in her friends love lives. The on-screen adaption takes viewers through the pains of growing up, finding yourself and falling in love.

The Help

Kathryn Scott’s debut novel took to the big screen with actresses Emma Stone, Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer confronting the issues of social class, race and gender in Mississippi during the 1960’s. When Skeeter (Stone) returns home from college intent on becoming a writer, she decides to interview the black women who have devoted their lives to working as maids for prominent Southerly families – much to the dismay of Skeeter’s small hometown. As more women come forward to tell their stories, they have a lot more to say than people ever realised.

Normal People

When Sally Rooney’s second novel, Normal People, was adapted into a television series on BBC, viewers were instantly hooked. The much-loved book tells the tale of an unusual love story between young Irish students, Marianne and Connell, who navigate the highs and lows of their relationship as they delve into adulthood. The award-winning novel was transformed into twelve thirty-minute episodes, directed by Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald, with the authors involvement during the writing of the series ensuring it would be a major success.

Bridgerton

One of the best things to come out of lockdown is the new period drama Bridgerton, which broke records on Netflix after it premiered in December. The television adaption created by Chris Van Dusen and produced by Shona Rhimes, is set during the Regency era in London, adapted from the bestselling romance novel series by Julia Quinn. Following the lives of the Bridgerton family, we witness Daphne Bridgerton attempting to find love as she is presented to the court as a debutante where she meets Simon, the Duke of Hastings. With plenty of scandal, romance and drama, the beloved show has confirmed there will be eight more seasons for us to feast our eyes on.

Little Women

Greta Gerwig’s coming-of-age adaption of Little Women brings Louisa-May Alcott’s timeless novel to the big screen – combining marriage, love and the struggle of being a woman in the 19th Century. The film intertwines the lives of the loveable March sisters with a star-studded cast including Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen and Timothée Chalamet. Seamlessly flowing from past to present with frequent flashbacks, Little Women is the ideal combination of humour, love and sisterhood that is not to be missed.

DISCOVER MORE:

Book Releases To Be Excited About In 2021 / The Culture Radar: What To Watch, Read & Listen To