Question about the film versus books (*SPOILER*)

This question reveals something that happens at the beginning of Season 2, so if you haven't watched that far, and don't want to know a major plot point, please skip!

*SPOILER*




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Did Aunt Elizabeth die in the books? I am just starting to watch Season 2. I know the actress needed to leave the series for personal family reasons, but why didn't they just re-cast her?

I love Susan Clark in that role. Aunt Elizabeth and Emily were just starting to warm up to each other. It just kinda took the heart out of the series for me to see her gone.

If it's in the books, okay. But if it's not, I would have preferred they re-cast Aunt Elizabeth. I really do love Susan Clark in the role, but I would've eventually gotten used to some other actor playing the part.

Right now, I'm not even sure how much I want to watch Season 2! It's just too, too sad to see Emily go through this again, after losing both of her parents! And Aunt Laura, come on, she can't run the household. I know some other aunt or something will come in.

It also bothers me because now they're really fishing for reasons (no pun intended) why Cousin Oliver can't inherit the estate (thereby going against the previous plot point) by saying it's indebted. Sigh.

I'm pretty fed up with this series. I really, really enjoyed Season 1, so I'm pretty upset about this.