Can anyone suggest some books for my niece, please?

[MiddleAgeMiddleEngland]

She's just 18, a rather quiet and studious girl (she's lovely!) and she wants to find some new authors.

She's read a lot of Victorian literature, Dickens, Hardy, Brontes, etc, but wants to read something a bit more modern. No scifi, no horror, no fantasy.

She has enjoyed The Curious Incident, We Need To Talk About Kevin, Mr Pip, and a few others. I think she'd like to find a new author rather than individual books if that makes sense, although not necessarily a series.

Any suggestions would be fantastic, thank you. I'm planning to take her book shopping next week.

Maybe some Isabel Allende?

I recommend Daphne Du Maurier (Rebecca is by far my favourite), Tracey Chevalier and Khaled Hosseini. Brilliant authors.

Reporting back after our shopping trip!

We bought Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, Wide Sargasso Sea, The Kite Runner and Animal Farm. I've lent her my own copies of The L-Shaped Room and The Collector.

That's enough for now, there's a birthday before Christmas, so lots more on the list will be bought! We looked at a few others (some weren't in stock) and have a list of more to get later on. Thank you all so much for your suggestions.

There's so much amazing Young Adult lit available, and at 18 she doesn't even need an excuse to read the stuff! There's a real trend toward dystopian fiction in YA at the mo, and lots of great stuff available which could only narrowly be defined as fantasy, so perhaps she'd still enjoy it.

I highly recommend:

Nought and Crosses by Malorie Blackman as a starting point.

Slated by Terri Terry

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Divergent by Veronica Roth

I think she sounds very lucky to have an aunt like you.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

Beloved by Toni Morrison

I know you said no sci fi but can I suggest Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes.

And don't forget to use the local library.

And yes I agree with busybee You are a fab aunt your niece is extremely lucky.