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Original poster

old fashioned gentle books

260 replies

mumwon · 27/05/2019 14:33

Talking on another topic 2 of us mentioned "Mrs Harris goes to Paris" a lovely uplifting old fashioned book - ia there any books that other people like - either as a child or as an adult that you can suggest & tell us about them - briefly!
Mrs Harris is about an old fashioned char who saves & goes to Paris to buy Dior dress
& "Family at One end Street" children's story about a family with several dc before the ww2

OP posts:
floraloctopus · 28/05/2019 15:27

Katie Morag.

LittleBlueRidingBoot · 28/05/2019 15:49

The Good Companions J B Priestly

heatherblue · 28/05/2019 15:49

Has anyone mentioned Dorothy Whipple yet?

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Children's books
PinkieTuscadero · 28/05/2019 15:54

I have They Were Sisters on my bookshelf but haven't read it yet. Is it a depressing read?

MirandaWest · 28/05/2019 16:27

The Ramona books by Beverly Cleary Smile

ThatLibraryMiss · 28/05/2019 16:36

Some of the books mentioned in this thread are currently in Audible's 2-for-1 sale.

LaDameAuxLicornes · 28/05/2019 16:41

GK Chesterton's Father Brown series.

akkakk · 28/05/2019 16:58

Someone mentioned Swallows and Amazons - it wouldn't work for kids today, not least because one of the heroines is called Titty, but a lovely series of a different time.

Works very well for modern kids - my nephews (11 & 14) have loved this for years and still do - I know lots of children who enjoy the books - adventure / imagination / children without adults / pirates / gold prospecting / drifting out to sea / what is not to like?! Yes, some of the language can be a bit unfamiliar, but children are quite resilient and can cope with that... Grin

other additions:

  • anything by BB
  • anything by PG Wodehouse
SeaToSki · 28/05/2019 16:58

I love so many of the books mentioned. If you want to try a gentle read from the USA try the Mitford series by Jan Karon. I found it when I moved over to the States and it is a lovely gentle read

floraloctopus · 28/05/2019 17:01

Swallows and Amazons works well here too. When I was a child I'd read books that belonged to my parents and they worked despite the language changes.

PinkieTuscadero · 28/05/2019 17:05

I think books like Swallows and Amazons worked for me because it seemed archaic, in terms of the language and the experiences the children were having. So far removed from my 1980s suburban childhood. That's what made it exotic and exciting.

PinkieTuscadero · 28/05/2019 17:06

'Better drowned than duffers, if not duffers won't drown'

Not exactly helicopter parenting! Grin

Runningbackwards · 28/05/2019 17:12

The Whiteoaks of Jalna series. Mazo de la Roche.

pallisers · 28/05/2019 17:18

Gilead by Maryanne Robinson. Utterly beautiful story beautifully written.

Jux · 28/05/2019 17:27

Miss Read's village books. Delightfully old fashioned. www.fantasticfiction.com/r/miss-read/

Shadycorner · 28/05/2019 17:31

Thank you very much ThatLibraryMiss I didn't know that! Will add to Amazon basket! Smile

Fifthtimelucky · 28/05/2019 17:39

Almost anything by Trollope, Josephine Tey, Rebecca West and Winifred Holtby.

Children's books I don't think I've seen mentioned: 'The star of Kazan' by Eva Ibbotson (in fact anything by her), the Dr Doolittle books by Hugh Lofting, anything by E Nesbit, anything by Frances Hodgson Burnett, 'The Cuckoo Clock' by Mrs Molesworth and my two personal favourites: 'The Wind in the Moon' by Eric Linklater and 'The Twilight of Magic' by Hugh Lofting.

BertrandRussell · 28/05/2019 17:45

Brat Farrar.

PinkieTuscadero · 28/05/2019 17:47

The Franchise Affair is great. But it's dark and nerve jangly under a veneer of gentle.

BertrandRussell · 28/05/2019 17:54

The Singing Sands is another favourite of mine.

FrancisCrawford · 28/05/2019 17:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Clawdy · 28/05/2019 19:08

I loved the Whiteoaks books, I remember me, my sister and my mum all avidly reading them. I can remember the characters to this day - Renny, Piers, Pheasant, and poor lovely Finch. I so wanted him to be happy!

Japonicaflower2 · 28/05/2019 19:18

Swallows and Amazons (and all the other books Arthur Ransome wrote)
Tarzan books
Georgette Heyer
The Bobsey Twins series
Anything by Neville Shute but especially A Town like Alice

Geraniumpink · 28/05/2019 19:22

The hugely long series by Angela Thirkell- set in Barchester- snobby and very funny. Nothing at all much happens, they are still a good read.

InfiniteCurve · 28/05/2019 20:42

One person's lovely gentle read is another person's "brace yourself for trauma" I think!
In that category I'd put The Cazelet books,or at least the later ones,and Goodnight Mr Tom,and On the Beach,and 7 Little Australians...one of my vivid childhood memories is watching the TV series of that with my Mum,and Gran,and sister,and all of us in floods of tears Grin

In This House of Brede is one of my favourite books,and The Provincial Lady, and all of Elizabeth Goudge.
And my book which no one else has probably heard of,Appointmemt with Venus,by Jerrard Tickell.It's about a wartime mission to rescue a cow...
My Nevile Shute gentle read would be Pastoral,he can be quite dark I think but Pastoral is a lovely,gentle wartime romance.
And Angela Thirkell - High Rising and Summer Half for preference!