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Original poster

If I love a period novel...

43 replies

ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts · 19/08/2013 18:42

such as Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights, what else will I enjoy? What are Tue must read ones? Smile

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RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 26/08/2013 21:30

Has anybody said Vanity Fair yet?

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 26/08/2013 21:30

If you want period-esque, The American Boy by Andrew Taylor is pretty good. You might also like Ian Pears, but I must admit I found him very wearing and rather too try-hard.

MarianForrester · 26/08/2013 20:49

A Lost Lady by Willa Cather is amazing, and beautifully written.

Edith Wharton is also a big favourite of mine; maybe start with The Age of Innocence?

I also love Thomas Hardy. My favourite is Tess, probably, but I also love A Laodicean.

Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina are also great.

And some Turgenev - maybe First Love?

Astr0naut · 26/08/2013 20:43

If you want books set in past periods, Jude Morgan is pretty good. He tends to pick specific periods and/ historical figures to build them around.

A taste of sorrow is his version of teh Bronte sisters' lives, although Lynne REid banks also did a good one.

YoureAllABunchOfBastards · 26/08/2013 20:42

phiney - Laura is drippy but Marion is just ace!

YoureAllABunchOfBastards · 26/08/2013 20:41

The Woman in White and The Moonstone. Best books ever.

I also like Sarah Waters - Fingersmith is very similar to period novels. Lost by DJ Taylor. And Kate Morton - modern authors but all with that vibe.

Astr0naut · 26/08/2013 20:41

Can't go wrong with a bit of Moll Flanders. Ignore the fact she appears to be about 80 and still devastatingly attractive to men, and it's a cracking read.

highlandbird · 26/08/2013 20:35

Wuthering even bloody autocorrect!!

highlandbird · 26/08/2013 20:34

Tess of the d'urbevilles, Jayne eyre, these are my favourites along with pride and prejudice and withering heights. Am very Envy as I don't have time to read these days!

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 26/08/2013 20:33

Wilkie Collins is a must - No Name has the best heroine imho.

Yes to Pullman's Sally Lockhart series - excellent.

Phineyj · 26/08/2013 20:31

I like Wilkie Collins too especially 'The Moonstone'. The main character in The Woman in White was too drippy for me, although it's a good story.

Philip Pullman's series set in Victorian England are good - I think the first one is The Ruby in the Smoke.

Or maybe I Capture the Castle?

(I'm guessing you like period with feisty women).

CircassianLeyla · 26/08/2013 20:26

Hardy, Gaskell. I love a bit of Catherine Cookson from time to time but obviously not in the same league as the others.

Foreign period novels, Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina.

DuchessofMalfi · 20/08/2013 07:49

I haven't come across any yet with missing bits. I have complete free copies of Austen on my kindle but you can still get cheap complete copies from some publishers. Delphi do complete works sets for ridiculously cheap prices.

Original poster
ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts · 19/08/2013 19:20

There's abridged, unabridged, annotated.... i just want a normal book Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts · 19/08/2013 19:20

When downloading these how do I know which to choose?

A lot of them are free as they're older but then I've found the free ones often have bits missing. Id rather pay than have bits missing.

OP posts:
DuchessofMalfi · 19/08/2013 18:51

Wilkie not Willie. Stupid autocorrect Grin

DuchessofMalfi · 19/08/2013 18:50

The rest of the Austen and Bronte novels, Dickens, Willie Collins, Trollope, Edith Wharton for a start?

Original poster
ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts · 19/08/2013 18:42

the*

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