Can you recommend a lovely classic novel?

[PoloM1nt]

I've just been through a phase of reading a lot of contemporary fiction and lots of it was great but I really fancy reading a good classic novel now.

I would like a book that ultimately makes me feel good once I've finished it. A nice 'curl up by the fire' type novel, along the lines of Austen, Hardy, Elliott, the Brontes etc, but I've read those.

Suggestions welcome!

I've been watching Sanditon and quite enjoying it, despite muttering 'Jane Austen would never have done that' from time to time.

Loving this thread! Placemarking so I can return and take notes later 😊

Thanks @VitreousHumour I haven't, so will add to my list!

Yes @Fifthtimelucky I do the same! Apart from the set up it's so un-Austeny! But slightly addictive, plus the Darcy-esque character is a bit of serious eye candy! 😋

He certainly is!

The Enchanted April.
Excellent Women- written in the 50's but has the feel of Jane Austen.

This is what I came on to say. Absolutely gorgeous book - so cosy and everything right with the world by the end. I might have to go and root out my cop now even though I'm supposed to be rereading Harry Potter.

Northanger abbey, just so brilliant and laugh out loud funny!

Thank you for the thread op! I'm not a fan of autumn or winter but am now feeling quite excited about a blanket on the sofa and some new books.

In turn, I suppose I should recommend something! Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell is one of my all time favourites, and I really enjoyed the Palliser novels by Anthony Trollope, especially The Eustace Diamonds.

Was East Lynne the one that created the phrase 'Dead! And never called me mother!', or am I getting mixed up?

One last thought from me, if you are well read and love classic literature but don't take it too seriously, you might enjoy The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.

YY to Zola. The Ladies' Paradise tells the story of those who work in a department store in Paris in the 19th century - a classic version of Mr Selfridge - and in complete contrast Germinal by the same author is a bleak and gripping account of a small town of miners and their political struggle. Both excellent.

I sometimes think the film Brassed Off is Germinal set in late 20C Britain.

If you're into long reads Anna Karenina is really good, but not necessarily 'feelgood'. I've never seen a screen adaptation that does it justice.

Oh, and if you're prepared to try science fiction type stuff, my latest username reminds me that the first three books of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy are thoroughly entertaining.

Oh pleeeeaaasee read A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith, it's one of my favourites, I just adore it and in my mind it doesn't get enough recognition

I agree! It’s so wonderful and nobody I speak to has ever heard of it

George Elliot’s Adam Bede. Hardy’s Mayor Of Casterbridge. Dickens’ A Tale Of Two Cities. DH Lawrence’s The Rainbow. Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.

So many lovely stories there.

Look what's arrived... ☺

That is the version starring Ben Kingsley - it’s exceptional.

@Xenadog. That's why I bought it. Happy teenage Christmas memories.....

Bit late to this party... agree with many suggestions on here, but I've just started reading "Three Men in a Boat" (Jerome K Jerome). It's very funny and easygoing.

Jude The Obscure by Thomas Hardy. I haven't RTFT so this may already have been suggested.

The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy - keep you going for months!
Also the Balkan Trilogy followed by the Levant Trilogy by Olivia Mannig
Anthony Trollope " Can you Forgive Her?"
Anything by Donna Tartt
Anything by Barbara Kingsolver...
The shipping News, E annie Proulx..

To Serve Them All My Days - RF Deiderfield. Stonking read.

Not sure whether it’s a classic but Gone with the Wind is my all time favourite book. Could read it again and again

Some of my very favourite 'read by the fireside with a cup of tea' books which you can escape into:

The Wise Woman by Philippa Gregory
Green Darkness by Anya Seton
The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien
Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine
No Angel by Penny Vincenzo
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

2nd EM Forster

Maurice is divine

I also love a room with a view and Howard’s end.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
All George Eliot
diary of a provincial lady is hilarious as is diary of a nobody (unrelated to each other)
John Galsworthy might also be worth a try. He was very popular about a hundred years ago and often you can find old copies of his stuff in Oxfam Books