To ask for your book recommendations?

[RecliningHenderson]

I bought East of Eden last week and have almost finished it in two sittings - I've got about 50 pages left to read tonight. It is absolutely brilliant, I've thoroughly enjoyed it but now I'm coming to the end I need something to replace it with ASAP.

I love books with strong female characters. I've read Amber and The Crimson Petal and the White recently too and loved them. Gone with the Wind is my all time favourite book.

Any other recommendations?

PLEASE don't mention what happens at the end of East of Eden, I'm not quite yet finished

Not Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. Should have been called Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Annoying and Totally Unbelievable and Contradicts Herself Throughout the Book.

Seriously, how on earth have so many people rated that book as brilliant.

Most favourite read lately is Memento Mori by Muriel Spark who of course wrote Pride of Miss Jean Brodie. Always writes good female characters.

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

The Golem and the Djinni is beautiful!

I recently enjoyed He Said She Said by Erin Kelly. Also:
The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon
A Kind of Intimacy by Jenn Ashworth (also The Friday Gospels)
Lullaby by Leila Slimani
Attrib. by Eley Williams (short stories)

And Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is good. Ignore anyone who says different.

He's very underrated (in my humble opinion), but Wilkie Collins writes fantastic female characters, and the plots are very gripping. The Woman in White (which was recently serialised) is excellent but I also recommend The Moonstone and No Name.

Otherwise if you haven't read them, I'm a huge fan of Dorothy L Sayers' series of Lord Peter Wimsey detective novels which also have a great female heroine in them!

If you like ‘tricky’ characters I’d recommend any of Lionel Shriver but particularly ‘Post Birthday World’, ‘So Much For That’ and ‘Big Brother’.

Not easy subject matter but good reads. At least I like them.

@Medea13 happy to argue your last point with you any time!

American wife by Curtis Sittenfeld.

Some older recommendations:

Jane Eyre
Middlemarch
Hermsprong (Robert Bage) - has an amazing early kickass feminist heroine
The House of Mirth (wharton)
Persuasion (Austen)

And some newer ones:
Angela Carter's Bloody Chamber
Daphne du Maurier - Rebecca
Beloved - Toni Morrison

Oh yes, Beloved is fantastic! Also, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry and Middlesex by Geoffrey Eugenides.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - brilliant female character and a great story

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - my all time favourite book ever and lots of great female characters!

Euphoria by Lily King - wonderful (have tissues handy!)

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe by Fannie Flagg - very enjoyable and charming characters

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman is my favourite book in the world....maybe my favourite thing in the world...

Ooo thank you all very much. Some of my other favourites named on here!

Actually, my friend lent me Neverwhere last week so I've got it ready to go on to. I'll give it a try.

I agree with Fannie Flagg but almost all of her other books are better than Fried Green Tomatoes!

Terry Pratchett the witches books are great.