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Original poster

1890s to 1940s favourite books

54 replies

drspouse · 28/12/2023 13:18

I'm going to try a decades challenge for 2024 where I read one book from each decade (roughly) and the 1950s to 2010s will be from the Jubilee Big Read.
What are your favourite books published in each of the preceding decades? Could be fiction or non-fiction but not too heavy: Agatha Christie yes, Tolstoy no!

OP posts:
HappyBusman · 28/12/2023 22:33

jennylamb1 · 28/12/2023 17:04

Mary Webb, Gone to Earth and Precious Bane, beautiful and evocative stories on nature and dramatic romantic relationships. I'm doing a PhD in literature and really enjoyed them, beautifully written.

And are exactly the kind of ‘loam and lovechild’ novels Stella Gibbons was satirising in Cold Comfort Farm! (I do also like them.)

mynameisnotmichaelcaine · 28/12/2023 20:52

Tess of the D'Urbervilles for 1890s
Jamaica Inn is good for 1930s if you've already read Rebecca, which is amazing.

granhands1 · 28/12/2023 20:52

Miss Pym Disposes by the Josephine Tey, She was a wonderful writer, my favourite ever book is The Daughter of Time, but it was published in 1951 so too late for your challenge, read it anyway because it is a fabulous story.I also like I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (1948)

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 28/12/2023 17:41

South Riding, Winifred Holtby, 1936
Another vote for Diary of a Nobody
Ditto anything by Evelyn Waugh and P. G. Wodehouse
Anything by Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh or Margery Allingham
Short stories: Saki, Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes - the short stories are far better than the full-length novels)
The entire Swallows and Amazons series - my favourite children's books - published 1930 to 1947
Ballet Shoes
Miss Pym Disposes, 1946 (or anything else by Josephine Tey, but some of them fall into the 1950s)

muchalover · 28/12/2023 17:31

Lud-in-the-mist by Hope Mirrelees. Highly recommended by Neil Gaiman and an early high fantasy novel. I found it difficult to get into (but hadn't read anything for a long time) but once in really enjoyed the story. 1926.

Anne Mcaffrey?

Nancy Springer? Not sure when she started but her book of isles trilogy is lovely. Also chains of gold.

Currently I'm reading back to back Patricia Wentworth who is a contemporary of Agatha Christie. But so is Ngiao Marsh and her books are great too.

BlazingWorld · 28/12/2023 17:22

My favourites in that period - Mrs Dalloway 1925, Howards End 1910, Gaudy Night 1935 (or any Dorothy L Sayers), The Franchise Affair 1948.

I also love Persephone Books, I’ve just read The New House by Lettice Cooper, (1938) which I really enjoyed, it’s a bit like Mrs Dalloway in that the action takes place over the course of a day but more domestic.

Numbersarefun · 28/12/2023 17:17

Just William

BoreOfWhabylon · 28/12/2023 17:17

Monica Dickens:
One Pair of Hands
One Pair of Feet
My Turn to Make the Tea

Paul Gallico: The Snow Goose

BigMandsTattooPortfolio · 28/12/2023 17:14

Frost in May by Antonia White (1933)

jennylamb1 · 28/12/2023 17:09

In an effort to champion working class literature- I'm reading Love on the Dole at the moment which is also a classic.

MrsMitford3 · 28/12/2023 17:06

I would be remiss if I did not mention Nancy Mitford here-

love all of her books-my go to comfort reads-

Think Love in a Cold Climate my favourite!

jennylamb1 · 28/12/2023 17:06

Cold Comfort Farm was an excellent lampoon of the Mary Webb 'loam and Lovechild,' genre. I think Webb's work demands reassessment as it stands on its own- and did also have a sly sense of humour.

jennylamb1 · 28/12/2023 17:04

Mary Webb, Gone to Earth and Precious Bane, beautiful and evocative stories on nature and dramatic romantic relationships. I'm doing a PhD in literature and really enjoyed them, beautifully written.

SuperLoudPoppingAction · 28/12/2023 16:59

The plague and I, Betty macdonald, 1948

TooBigForMyBoots · 28/12/2023 16:59

The Chronicles of Clovis by Saki (1912). A collection of hilarious short stories.

BigMandsTattooPortfolio · 28/12/2023 16:57

Persephone Books are brill.

Queen Lucia
Miss Mapp
Lucia in London
Mapp & Lucia by E.F.Benson (1920 - 31)

The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton (1940s)

BarbaraBuncle · 28/12/2023 16:49

There's lots to choose from from the Persephone Books website. https://persephonebooks.co.uk/pages/book-list

I particularly like R C Sherriff's novels and D E Stevenson.

Book List

Persephone Books, publisher and bookseller since 1999. We reprint mainly women writers from the early twentieth century.

https://persephonebooks.co.uk/pages/book-list

eddiemairswife · 28/12/2023 15:25

Three Men in a Boat,

Original poster
drspouse · 28/12/2023 15:20

What a lovely set of suggestions! Thanks!

OP posts:
AdaColeman · 28/12/2023 14:35

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (1932) still funny, sharp and clever after all these years.
Scoop by Evelyn Waugh (1938)

CrossPurposes · 28/12/2023 14:29

AdaColeman · 28/12/2023 14:23

Arnold Bennett ~ Anna of the Five Towns (1902) or The Card (1911) a wonderful writer, sadly not seen often enough these days.

I've already mentioned Riceyman Steps but really anything by him is worth a read...Clayhanger, The Old Wives' Tale, etc

AdaColeman · 28/12/2023 14:23

Arnold Bennett ~ Anna of the Five Towns (1902) or The Card (1911) a wonderful writer, sadly not seen often enough these days.

AdaColeman · 28/12/2023 14:16

Another vote for A Room with a View (Forster, 1908)

HobnobsChoice · 28/12/2023 14:12

The Diary of a Nobody George and Weedon Grossmith. Published 1892. Humorous and not at all heavy going.

CrossPurposes · 28/12/2023 14:09

Riceyman Steps by Arnold Bennett (1923)
A Room With a View by EM Forster (1908)
A Pin to See the Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse (1934)