DIY book subscription gift, would you be happy with these choices?

[Scout2016]

Mum's birthday is coming up and me and my sister thought to get her a book subscription gift. But then we thought maybe doing it ourselves would be safer. We'll do 3 each, alternating months and stick in something like new socks / fancy chocolate or teabags with it.
We are going with women authors.

Now I am feeling the responsibility to get it right!

Sister is kicking off with The Doll Factory, by Elizabeth Macneal, which I've not read.

Mum is arty, likes gardens, William Morris and Sewing Bee. Also music, Rock and Roll type, Soap Operas and ongoing multi part dramas. She likes books that aren't too grim or full of sex, like Alexander McCall Smith and Little Women but is into politics so can handle Ken Loach / early Roddy Doyle type reality. I think she is pleased to have read books some she didn't wholey enjoy too, like Engleby and Secret History. She's read or owns most classics. She really appreciates good children's books and their illustrations. She's more Winne The Pooh than Harry Potter.

I'm thinking

• Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie B King
• Good People by Hannah Kent
• Either Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd or Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane.

Do they sound ok?

I have toyed with Old Baggage by Lissa Evans but don't think Crooked Heart went down that well, and I loved Where The Crawdads.. but sister didn't and I know it splits opinion so probably not a safe bet.

None fiction has been considered- I have given her Invisible Women after she asked for it, so maybe Mother Of Invention but I haven't read it yet to gauge.

If you have made it this far, thanks!

If she likes Persephone Press books, the Furrowed Middlebrow list might also appeal

If she likes good children's illustration, she might enjoy Shirley Hughes' illustrated autobiography, A Life Drawing.

Has she read the EF benson Lucia books? They're very funny and easy going - well worth a read if she hasn't.

Also The enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim is lovely - really evocative book with fantastic gardens!

Buy her a subscription from Persephone books - they are a publisher who specialise in forgotten women’s classics. It sounds a bit niche but their book choices are excellent and the books themselves are beautiful.

badpuma the Mapp and Lucia books are funny, but E F Benson is a man so wouldn’t fit the OP’s brief for women authors!

@ItMustBeBedtimeSurely

Buy her a subscription from Persephone books - they are a publisher who specialise in forgotten women’s classics. It sounds a bit niche but their book choices are excellent and the books themselves are beautiful.

Yes, that would be my suggestion. They offer a 'Book A Month' service for six or twelve months, or the Persephone Box set --

persephonebooks.co.uk/products/the-persephone-box-set

Just glancing at their catalogue online, the OP's mother might like Monica Dickens -- Mariana, her first novel, is very much in the 'curl up with' mode, but also well-written and acute, not just fluff. Has she read Dorothy Whipple?

Years ago I went on an Australian writing binge. (Hence Patrick White.)

Shirley Hazzard - 'The Transit Of Venus'

Christina Stead - 'The Man Who Loved Children' (brutal, in a great way!).

Miles Franklin - 'My Brilliant Career'

are all worth re-reading countless times.

There's someone else whose name is on the tip of my tongue - can't remember.

Don't know what to suggest as an accompanying gift. Not sure I'd be wanting a plane ticket right now ... 🐭

@Edmontine Kate Grenville, perhaps? I really enjoyed reading The Secret River, and she's written several more since.

I was going to suggest Barbara Kingsolver, perhaps not even her fiction, but ^Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" about growing food for her family.

Annie Proulx is one of my favourite authors.
I've also just finished The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel (bought mainly because I read Station 11). That was quite good, and not a taxing read.

Dow this thread has picked up since I last looked. Thanks everyone.
We looked at Persephone first off as I had some had from there as gifts and they are lovely. But my sister, who studied English ruled them out as not having enough cheery options. And I deferred to her.

Bah, sent you soon! Was going up put a comma after "English", and add that we also looked at Rare Birds Book Club. They looked something of a find, but we discounted as you get to choose your book each month from two summaries, only it's all online.
Might be good for someone else though so passing on rarebirdsbookclub.com/

Oh my, sorry for typos. Going to move away from the phone until I'm cooled down.

There's a lovely book called Threads of Life which is all about sewing through history.

Hi

I love Hannah Kent but would think Good People might be a bit dark for your mum - its about the murder of a child.

For a lighter read I enjoyed

The Last Painting of Sara deVos by Dominic Smith
I would second the recommendations for Tracey Chevalier A Single Tread or Remarkable Creatures and Kate Atkinson Life After Life - there is a sequel God in Ruins if she likes it.

Another vote for Persephone Books, and would gently suggest that your sister has got it wrong about the ‘cheery options’. There are plenty of books to cheer someone up. Here is a useful page, and the staff are brilliant at suggesting books if you ring or email them.
persephonebooks.co.uk/pages/the-perfect-present
Furrowed Middlebrow is a great suggestion, and Handheld Press have some lovely books, including some Rose Macaulay titles, and ‘Business as Usual’ by Jane Oliver and Anne Stafford. www.handheldpress.co.uk/shop/

@coastalimpact I managed to get a copy of the Shirley Hughes book you suggested and I'm really chuffed with it, thank you.

I'm halfway through Mermaid of The Black Conch and enjoying it but not sure it's one for mum, reckon she'll think there's too much lewdness at the start. But jury's still out - not finished it yet.

I'm glad you like the Shirley Hughes book. I hope your mum enjoys it.