books set in the past?

[BooyhooNOTboohoooORbooyou]

i find i tend not enjoy books set in the present day, theres already enough of it on the news everyday so i usually read books that are set in the past, quite like ones set in the earlier half of the 20th century.

having exhuasted my nana's huge collection books i now find myself with nothing to read and not knowing what to buy for a good read either.

any recommendations? what have you read that you think i might enjoy?

[MarthaFarquhar]

The Go-Between by L P Hartley (probably my fave read)

or the Lord Peter Wimsey by Dorothy L Sayers - Strong Poison is a good one to start with

[MarthaFarquhar]

Lord Peter Wimsey novels, rather

[BooyhooNOTboohoooORbooyou]

never heard of either so will have a look at those, thank you

[DastardlyandSmugly]

I love Lord PW and also Agatha Christie if you like thrillers.

Have really enjoyed Kate Morton's two books - The House at Riverton and The Forgotten Garden.

Also Robert Harris's books are amazing - Fatherland, Enigma and Archangel all set mid 20th century. Ghost modern day so ignore (but based on Tony Blair and actually really good) but his bestest books imho are the roman ones - Pompeii, Imperium and Lustrum.

Also Gone with the Wind is just amazing. Politically very dubious but a fab story nevertheless.

Depends how far you want to go back.

[Maggie00]

WEll I love Philippa Gregory books which are all set in the 1400s and 1500s. Have you read them?

[KurriKurri]

Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier

I capture the Castle -Dodie Smith

House at Riverton - Kate Morton

Atonement Ian McEwan (seems to be a bit of a marmite book, but I enjoyed it)

The Regeneration Trilogy by pat Barker is fabulous - set during WW1

E.M.Forster. - Where Angels Fear to Tread (and others)

F.Scott Fitzgerald.

[SethStarkaddersMum]

If you would like classic rather than modern historical fiction, try Wilkie Collins, 'The Moonstone' and 'The Woman in White', both real page turners despite being written in the mid-19th c!

[BooyhooNOTboohoooORbooyou]

never read Philippa Gregory.

i think the furthest back ive been is pre-famine ireland so circa 1830's.

which reminds me, i also love stuff about ireland and books set around either of the two world wars.

i loved jennifer worth's first two books and i'm waiting for my mum to finish her 3rd so i can nab it aswell.

[NoahAndTheWhale]

I like books by Elizabeth Elgin, most (if not all) of which are set in either WW1, between the wars or WW2. There is a series which starts with I'll bring you Buttercups and has five books through WW1 and following various families.

[NoahAndTheWhale]

That series goes on until after WW2 and has babies being born and then growing up and having their own families.

[SethStarkaddersMum]

Have you read Small Island by Andrea Levy? If not, do!

[SethStarkaddersMum]

do you like a bit of wit & humour? If so then for the 1930s try Nancy Mitford, also Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons.

[Pumphreydidit]

Thomas Hardy's Tess or Far From The Madding Crowd

[BooyhooNOTboohoooORbooyou]

no i haven't read small island but i watched the two part dramatisation that was shown on BBC last year and i loved it. i dont know if i'd want to read the book after seeing it on tv as i often find the books dissapoint me if i have watched it already.

yes i love a bit of humour, definitely. in fact i am dissapointed when books are too serious or miserable.

[CaptainNancy]

Sarah Waters- The Little Stranger
Rachel Heath- Finest Type of English Womanhood
Hilary Mantel- Wolf Hall
Eva Rice- Lost Art of Keeping Secrets

If you like humour- then definitely go for PG Wodehouse.

[fudgecat]

I would also recommend Kate Morton

[trumpton]

Diana Gabaldon Cross Stitch and the other 5 she has written. Time travel from 1940s to C18th Culloden. I really loved this series.

[janeite]

Brideshead Revisited
I Capture The Castle
Georgette Heyer for very light stuff that is quite diverting.
Rebecca
Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day
Breakfast At Tiffany's
Room With A View

[janeite]

I loathed the Kate Morton one I read but others have liked it. Think it was The House At Riverton.

[Clary]

Ooooh

of you never having read DLS LPW novels.

I love em so much and re-read them whenever I am feeling low. I know them virtually off by heart now tho, hence the envy.

I was also going to say The Go-Between Martha!

I also love F Scott Fitzgerald but The Great Gatsby is much better than anything else he wrote. (So much so as to make others barely worth reading??)

Also would mention Edith Wharton, New York at turn of the century, very interesting.

I also like Roasmund Lehman (The Weather in the Streets, Dusty Answer) - set in similar time I think.

[BooyhooNOTboohoooORbooyou]

thank you all, that is a great list to be getting on with.

[DastardlyandSmugly]

Oooh would also second Wilkie Collins and The Great Gatsby. My fave ever book is East of Eden.

[elkiedee]

Have you read Andrew Taylor's books? The 8 Lydmouth ones are set in the 1950s, and the Roth Trilogy is set in the 80s/70s/50s (intended to be read in reverse chronological order). He's also written some set much earlier.

[Lucifera]

Elizabeth Jane Howard's quartet Cazenove Chronicles, starting with The Light Years; think they start just after WW2. Addictively enjoyable for me.

[janeite]

Taylor's The American Boy is v good.