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Original poster

If I like Nancy Mitford, Jilly Cooper, Barbara Pym...

87 replies

bigkidsdidit · 13/09/2011 21:08

who else would I like?

A few months of biographies, feminist book group books and Serious Tomes and I need some fun (but not crap) books for the tube journey to work.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

thanks :)

OP posts:
steamedtreaclesponge · 15/09/2011 09:29

If you like the Rosamund Lehman this month, I would definitely try Invitation to the Waltz next.

I haven't read much Monica Dickens but of what I have read, Mariana is definitely my favourite & I think would be a good one to start with.

Original poster
bigkidsdidit · 15/09/2011 06:09

Of course I will DDS!

Right mrs v have put Monica dickens and Barbra comyns on my list for next month!

OP posts:
thefirstMrsDeVere · 14/09/2011 22:08

Only a few still in print. I would go for Our Spoons came From Woolworths or A Touch of Mistletoe.

They are all utterly fab. My least favourite is The Vets Daughter but its still worth a read.

Haberdashery · 14/09/2011 21:52

I love Monica Dickens! And also most of the books mentioned here.

Barbara Comyns is new to me. What should I start with?

thefirstMrsDeVere · 14/09/2011 21:29

Does anyone love Monica Dickens?

She is my guilty pleasure.

CaptainBarnacles · 14/09/2011 20:30

YY to Barbara Comyns, Cazalet Chronicles, I Capture The Castle, and Miss Pettigrew. Brideshead also excellent.

EdithWeston · 14/09/2011 20:27

If you like Hermione Harefield, then you should love The Grand Sophy! And also because of that, I third the Amelia Peabody recommendation - the first one, Crocodile on the Sandbank, could be exactly what you are after. Harefield would seem mealy-mouthed in comparison to Peabody!

DoubleDegreeStudent · 14/09/2011 20:21

Can you report back and let us know what you think?

thefirstMrsDeVere · 14/09/2011 19:58

Barbra Comyns!!!!

You MUST get her books, all that you can get hold of.

Kingsroadie · 14/09/2011 19:55

whoops - crappy

Kingsroadie · 14/09/2011 19:55

Cazalet Chronicles = amazing (in an easy to read, good story way)!

Sarah Waters - Fingersmith, The Night Watch

Penny Vincenzi - The Spoils of Time books (quite crapy but very addictive!)

gethelp · 14/09/2011 14:42

hey steamedtreaclesponge I was going to suggest 'Miss Pettigrew' too. And also I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith.

Original poster
bigkidsdidit · 14/09/2011 13:50

Thanks so much everyone!

I have been to Persephone a few times, I bought my mum some books there for Mother's Day. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is WONDERFUL. One of my favourite books I've read in years. The Persephone books are so beautiful, too. There's a branch right by my work, I should pop by more.

Marian Keyes I like too but the older stuff more than the recent books. Aside from Keyes I don't like chick lit with weak women characters spilling things down themselves when they meet the man of their dreams etc like Jennifer Aniston films. Much prefer Hermione Harefield Grin

Anyway, I've just gone mad at amazon and bought:
Diary of a provincial lady
Dusty answer by Rosamund Lehman
A perfect life by Rafaella Barker
The grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
House at Riverton by Kate Morton
My cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier, which popped up as a 'other people who bough Kate Morton also bough this'
and Perfect meringues by Laurie Graham.

All for £40. I cannot WAIT now, so excited to get cracking.

thanks :)

OP posts:
steamedtreaclesponge · 14/09/2011 13:39

X-post with gethelp there!

steamedtreaclesponge · 14/09/2011 13:38

Dorothy Sayers is great for not-too-gory crime fiction - Lord Peter Wimsey is a wonderful creation and her books are very clever. If you like Agatha Christie you'll probably love her. Would also second the recommendations of Georgette Heyer and Rosamond Lehman, and Elizabeth Peters.

Have you read Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day? That's one of my favourites - really brilliant and good fun. It's published by Persephone who do a lot of great books, all by women writers and mostly published in the first half of the 20th century.

Sophie Kinsella is quite fun but very very silly - I find her characters too annoying to read but I know they are very popular. TBH the only chick-lit author I can read without wanting to kill myself is Marian Keyes.

gethelp · 14/09/2011 13:19

Elizabeth Taylor - not the film star! Rachel Cusk is good, but you should try Persephone Books, their shops are in London but also on the internet.

stleger · 13/09/2011 22:53

Oh I love Laurie Graham! And Deborah Moggagh.

Francagoestohollywood · 13/09/2011 22:18

I second The diary of a provincial lady

LoveInAColdClimate · 13/09/2011 22:10

Great thread, thanks for starting it.

SuePurblybilt · 13/09/2011 22:03

Rafaella Barker

SybilBeddows · 13/09/2011 22:01

I was going to say E.F. Benson.

AnyoneButLulu · 13/09/2011 22:00

The Diary of a Provincial Lady - EM Delafield, very Mumsnet. My copy has a preface by Jilly Cooper, who is a huge fan.

EightiesChick · 13/09/2011 21:25

Laurie Graham - wrote Gone With the Windsors, The Future Homemakers of America. Very funny.

Original poster
bigkidsdidit · 13/09/2011 21:24

I have read Alexander McCall Smith (and I have my own Bertie!) and love them. Not such a fan of Sophie Kinsella, although I have read a few. Love Wodehouse!

Oh I'm so excited about all these! Lovely new books.

OP posts:
meditrina · 13/09/2011 21:22

There's always PG Wodehouse!

And if you want "nice" crime, try the Diasy Dalrymple books by Carola Dunn and the Lord Edward Corinth ones by David Rogers, and of course, the wonderful Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters.