What is Millie Bobby Brown’s novel ‘Nineteen Steps’ about as Netflix adaptation gets green light
Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown is having her debut novel adapted into a Netflix feature. The actress only released Nineteen Steps last year, inspired by stories about her grandmother's life.
It follows a teenager in 1940s Britain as she attempts to navigate wartime life and adolescence as the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster unfolded. The actress, who plays Eleven in Netflix sci-fi hit Stranger Things, is also reportedly set to also star in the film and produce it, according to Deadline.
Anthony McCarten, best known for The Theory of Everything and Bohemian Rhapsody, is thought to be handling the script. Brown previously discussed plans to adapt the novel as part of her production company, PCMA, saying: “Yes, definitely [I would adapt it]. That was the intention behind it. Naturally, I just want to create more, so, yes, this is a great foundation."
She continued: “My nan told me the stories when I couldn't sleep at night and I think, for a while, and maybe until I was eight, I didn't think they were real. Then I slowly realised that these were things that happened to her in her childhood, during World War Two."
Millie's book was was ghostwritten by author Kathleen McGurl, though her name doesn't feature on the cover. It sparked a debate at the time over celebrities collaborating with other writers on fiction books. Read on to find out more about the book's plot.
The book's official blurb reads: "Love blooms in the darkest days. London, 1942. Despite the raging war, spirited eighteen-year-old Nellie Morris lives a quiet life in the tight-knit East End community of Bethnal Green. Her family and friends all tease that she will marry air raid warden Billy, the boy next door who’s always been sweet on her.
"Although the