From Books to Kanopy

Jane Austen's beloved 1815 classic novel follows the story of 21-year-old Emma Woodhouse, a "handsome, clever, and rich"—and spoiled and headstrong—gentlewoman living in Georgian-Regency England, who greatly overestimates her matchmaking abilities. Blind to the dangers of meddling, she interferes in the romantic lives of others, setting off a chain reaction of misunderstandings and unexpected consequences.

Widely adapted into film, this 1996 version of Austen's witty comedy of manners stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeremy Northam, Toni Collette, and Ewan McGregor.

A coming-of-age story that takes a sometimes heartbreaking, often hysterical, and always honest look at high school in all its glory, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is Stephen Chbosky's critically acclaimed and #1 New York Times bestseller debut novel. The story follows observant "wallflower" Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up. 

The feature film, starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson, is a funny, touching, and haunting modern classic.

In Wilkie Collins' 1859 gothic horror novel, young protagonist Walter Hartright meets a mysterious woman dressed all in white on a London street at midnight. After helping her return home, he learns from the police that she has escaped from an asylum. Later, Walter takes a job as an art tutor to two young women, one bearing a strong resemblance to the woman in white. Ultimately, Hartright's midnight encounter draws him into a vortex of crime, poison, kidnapping, and international intrigue. 

The five-part drama series, starring Dougray Scott, Jessie Buckley, and Charles Dance, combines romance, intrigue, and danger in a thrilling ride from the corridors of English country houses to the dankest corners of the Victorian madhouse.

It is 1940 and France has fallen. With only a narrow strip of sea between Great Britain and invasion, the war could go either way, and everyone must do their bit. In this feel-good story by Lissa Evans, young copywriter Catrin Cole is drafted into the Ministry of Information to help write women into propaganda films. Her task is to fabricate a heartwarming tale of bravery and rescue at Dunkirk. Since call-up has stripped the industry of its brightest and best, it is up to the callow, the jaded, and the utterly unsuitable to get the job done. This team of movie-making misfits must unite for the common good, for King and Country, and—in one case—for better or worse. 

Snuggle up for a cozy film night with this delightful rom-com starring Bill Nighy, Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, and Richard Grant.

Maurice Hall is a young man who grows up confident in his privileged status. Modest and generally conformist, he finds himself increasingly attracted to his own sex. Through Clive, a fellow student at Cambridge, and through Alec, the gamekeeper on Clive's country estate, Maurice gradually experiences a profound emotional and sexual awakening. A tale of passion, bravery, and defiance, this intensely personal novel by E.M. Forster was completed in 1914 but remained unpublished until after the author's death in 1970. 

Hugh Grant, James Wilby, and Rupert Graves star in the sumptuous award-winning period film adaptation from 1987.

John Irving's novel, The Cider House Rules, follows the story of Homer Well, the older unadopted offspring at St Cloud's orphanage in rural Maine, and the apprentice of physician Wilbur Larch, a philosopher, and a man of rare compassion with an addiction to ether. When Homer decides to experience the world outside of the orphanage, he learns some powerfully indelible lessons about life, love, and home. 

The film adaptation was nominated for seven and the winner of two Academy Awards in 2000, with a star-studded cast featuring Michael Caine, Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, and Paul Rudd.

Based on Jane Austen's classic novel, Pride & Prejudice, crime writer P.D. James's bestselling whodunit opens in 1803, six years after Elizabeth's marriage to Darcy. Happily living with their two young sons at Pemberley and preparing for their annual autumn ball, Elizabeth's peaceful life is thrown into chaos when her disgraced sister Lydia unexpectedly arrives hysterically shrieking that her husband Wickham has been murdered in the woods on the way to the estate. 

The three-part PBS film adaptation starring Matthew Rhys, Jenna Coleman, and Matthew Goode, will not disappoint fans of Austen or James!