Back when I was way more into livejournal then I am now (I feel less emo then I used to? seriously my LJ was mostly me being emo about stuff, which is fine except I was in my 20's, not my teen years) I ran across writer Genevieve Valentine's journal because of another friend.  She sent me the rec 'cause of Valentine's "Catherine Cookson Experience" journal entries.

These things are hilarious (and rather on the point, though at the time I didn't know this).  But I was deep into reading Barbara Cartland, which as anyone knows is a tremendous undertaking and one I don't recommend unless you have a lot of time (and patience for tstl heroines).  Its only recently I came back to Cookson, thanks in large part to Netflix insta-play having a whole slew of the dramas based on her books showing up.

The Wingless Bird, which is a horrible reference to the old adage 'friendship is like love without wings' (thanks Lord Byron, you gave me another reason to hate you), interested me mainly because Claire Skinner (from the recent Doctor Who special "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe") and Edward Atterton (oh the places...but yeah Duncan Idaho from "Children of Dune" or that jerk who challenged Mal in the Firefly episode "Shindig").

Also candy.  Lots of candy.

Here's the description from Masterpiece Theatre:

"The Wingless Bird" follows the fortunes of three very different families, all linked by the strong-minded Agnes Conway. The story starts on Christmas Eve 1913, when a disenchanted Agnes is once again behind the counter of the family sweetshop. Feeling taken for granted by her family and uncertain about where her life is going, she can't help feeling envious of the happy young couple who come in to buy Christmas treats. That encounter marks the start of her involvement with the wealthy Farrier family as first Charles, and later Reg, fall in love with her. Meanwhile, she finds herself entangled with the notorious scrapping family, the Feltons, as she goes to the aid of her younger sister Jessie.

Incidentally this is a three part mini-series, not a movie.

As an intro to Cookson this can be a little bit misleading.  As Valentine says in her entry "...[Agnes is] smart as a whip and, unlike many other Cookson heroines, keeps a level head in all situations, and does not take any shit about anything, ever, including her awful, awful dad."  Most of Cookson's heroines are more in line with Agnes' sister Jessie.

Which as a mild nitpick, Agnes' mother says with true vehemence that Jessie isn't Agnes sister at all because her father had her with his beloved (deceased) mistress.  Lest I am mistaken, that makes them at least half-sisters by blood, legitimacy be damned.

The formula is pretty easy, especially for anyone who reads historical romances, but there's something just so...charming about Edward Atterton's earnestness.  He will do something with his life if its the death of him!  He will court whomever he wants because by gum class means nothing!

Its at this point I should point out that no one who is born as anything but aristocratic would ever say 'class means nothing'.

Meanwhile his poor older brother Reginald joined up in the military service and someone forgot to tell him that World War 1 was on its way.  He's also so visibly in love with Agnes (in the mini-series at least) that its kind of funny no one remarks on it.  He spends maybe five minutes opposed to Agnes before succumbing to her charms. I'd accuse Agnes of being a Mary Sue--because everyone eventually unbends to like her, including Charles crotchety, elitist parents--but she's just so logical and intelligent. 

Production values wise, the costumes and sets and locations are quite good.  The film quality is rough, especially now 15 years later the picture is that vague kind of blurry from the picture quality being low.  Acting wise, no one is terrible, but no one stands out too much.  Edward is adorkable, Claire is often very exasperated looking and tolerant, and Reginald is resigned looking from the very start.

This is fun, a little bit tragic, but overall its a good way to spend the weekend.