Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

Original poster

Books sets in Victorian London (not Dickens)

36 replies

TellySavalashairbrush · 28/09/2023 17:15

I love Dickens I should hasten to add, but have read them all. I’m looking for fiction set in Victorian London. I read many Victorian authors at University but would love any suggestions in case I have missed some, even those written by modern day authors .

OP posts:
Vermin · 28/09/2023 17:16

The Fingersmith - Sarah waters

Lamelie · 28/09/2023 17:26

Same era, different country and lots in cities, particularly Paris, with fascinating detail about buildings, relationships, commerce shooing- Zola.
Nana, Therese Raquin, L’Assomoir particularly.

cherryassam · 28/09/2023 17:31

It’s not wholly (or even largely…) set in Victorian London but Possession by A S Byatt is one of my favourite books of all time

Fingersmith is great, also Tipping the Velvet and Affinity by Sarah Waters

Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber

Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith

The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal

Things in Jars by Jess Kidd

The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O’Donnell

saltnsaucey · 28/09/2023 17:57

You could try some Wilkie Collins, who was a contemporary of Dickens

determinedtomakethiswork · 28/09/2023 18:15

Try Sara Collins' The Confessions of Franny Langton.

It's an amazing book.

Original poster
TellySavalashairbrush · 28/09/2023 18:26

Thank you all. Some great ideas to be getting on with .

OP posts:
ASuitableName · 28/09/2023 18:27

The American Boy, by Andrew Taylor

Very fast-moving, atmospheric story set in 19th century London

20thousandleaguesunderthesewage · 28/09/2023 18:46

I like Henry James
A v good novel set in the Victorian era which came out this year is Theater of Marvels by Lianne Dillsworth https://www.waterstones.com/book/theatre-of-marvels/lianne-dillsworth/9781529158595

fearfuloffluff · 28/09/2023 18:56

I don't know if they're set in London but Victorian sensation novels are awesome! Wilkie Collins or my favourite is East Lynne by Mrs Henry Wood. It's like Victorian EastEnders!

mambojambodothetango · 28/09/2023 19:00

Yes to Fingersmith. Also, Lilly by Rose Tremaine. Jack Maggs by Peter Ackroyd.

highlandcoo · 28/09/2023 23:33

I came on to suggest Fingersmith and The Crimson Petal and the White!

How about Trollope's Palliser novels? A very different side of London society from that portrayed by Dickens. And if you enjoy them there are six in the series.

Terpsichore · 28/09/2023 23:41

And I was just about to say Trollope too!

Matthew Kneale's Sweet Thames is set in London at the time of the notorious 'Great Stink' of the 1850s. There’s another on the same subject, actually just called The Great Stink, by Clare Clark.

CrossPurposes · 29/09/2023 09:45

highlandcoo · 28/09/2023 23:33

I came on to suggest Fingersmith and The Crimson Petal and the White!

How about Trollope's Palliser novels? A very different side of London society from that portrayed by Dickens. And if you enjoy them there are six in the series.

I've not read any of the Pallisters though I loved the TV series when it was repeated. I think The Way We Live Now by Trollope is a great read (and also was adapted well).

BlueChampagne · 29/09/2023 09:50

Jack Maggs by Peter Carey

KakiFruit · 29/09/2023 09:54

They're technically YA but I really love the Sally Lockhart series by Philip Pullman and think they're fine for an adult. Ruby in the Smoke is the first one.

The Woman in White is the best Wilkie Collins imo.

Have you read Frankenstein? A very different experience from any of the films.

If you like nonfiction, The Five (Hallie Rubenhold, about the Ripper victims) and The Ghost Map (Steven Johnson, about the man who discovered cholera was spread via water) are excellent.

ScribblingPixie · 29/09/2023 09:56

The Quincunx by Charles Palliser.

highlandcoo · 29/09/2023 10:21

@CrossPurposes I also read The Way We LIve Now - a long time ago. Melmotte was a fantastic character. With all his financial shenanigans, politicking and frantic social climbing I'm sure it would resonate nowadays as much as it did 150 years ago. I should reread it; thanks for the reminder. Love Trollope.

I worked my way through the Barsetshire Chronicles during lockdown. The Warden is a little slow. but once you get into the rest they're a great read.

FuzzyCaoraDhubh · 29/09/2023 10:21

Place-marking for interesting recommendations.

highlandcoo · 29/09/2023 10:24

@ScribblingPixie I've had The Quincunx in my bookcase for over twenty years and I'm not at all sure why I haven't read it yet. On paper it's everything I like in a novel. I think I hesitated as I thought it might have a tricksy rather than a straightforward narrative style. I should give it a go though.

drspouse · 29/09/2023 10:34

Tiger in the Smoke

Lamelie · 29/09/2023 10:36

Manchester not London but Mary Barton, Elizabeth Gaskell.
Also North and South which isn’t London either 🤔

BitOutOfPractice · 29/09/2023 10:36

I also was going to suggest Wilkie Collins. I love The Woman in White so much!

Cinnamonandcoal · 29/09/2023 10:43

Such good suggestions. Love the Crimson Petal and the White. And Possession.

The Five also brilliant non fiction.

If you like fun fantasy stuff then Anno Dracula by Kim Newman. Alternate fantasy history with lots of real people as characters.

HoHoHoliday · 29/09/2023 10:46

A Child of the Jago by Arthur Morrison. It's fiction but set in a real place, the old jago in east London, thought to be the worst slum in Victorian London.
Several other books and short stories by Arthur Morrison set in the same period.

Cinnamonandcoal · 29/09/2023 10:49

And Sherlock Holmes, of course.