Something like I capture the castle

[Iknownothing]

DD (17) has post gcse rediscovered her passion for reading. I gave her ‘I captured the castle’ which she loved. Also loved Little women. She’s asked for similar vibe books for Christmas- any recommendations? I was thinking some Jane Austen?

Cold comfort farm.
The Darling buds of May.
The railway children.
I love ' i capture the castle' , i think i know the style of writing you mean , i love the 3 i have listed there is a similarity in the writing style without them being 'slushy' which i cannot stand.

Michelle Magorian A little love song
The Go-between LP Hartley

'The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets' by Eva Rice. Very similar vibe.

I loved Rosalind Lehman’s Dusty Answer and Rummer Godden’s Greengage Summer at that age.

The Pursuit of Love
Love In A Cold Climate
Cheerful Weather For The Wedding (gloomy, not cosy, but same sort of era)

Have a look at Persephone books - what you’re looking for is middle brow interwar women’s fiction and they do that (and beyond) to perfection.

big second for Eva Rice above!

Clouds Among the stars by Victoria Clayton is just lovely/ quirky

The Morning Gift - Eva Ibbotson. I loved I Capture the Castle when I was your DD’s age (still do) and I read this at a similar time!

If she hasn’t read them:
The Secret Garden
A Little Princess
Anne of Green Gables
The Railway Children
Goodnight Mr Tom
are lovely coming of age children’s novels

Then maybe:
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
To Kill a Mockingbird
for a more adult novel

Not really a coming of age book but I also loved Watership Down about that age.

Second Cold Comfort Farm (my daughter was v nearly called Flora...), Persephone books and the Mitfords. Has she tried A Passage to India?

Placemarking because DD2 has similar tastes.

She liked Anne of Green Gables and wants the other series (Emily) by LM Montgomery but they’re supposed to be a bit darker, not got hold of them yet.

She might like Diary of a Provincial Lady.

Enchanted April
Daphne du Maurier

Yes, Nancy Mitford - Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate.

An Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamund Lehmann and seconding Dusty Answer.

I was going to recommend LM Montgomery’s Emily books.

How could I have forgotten cold comfort farm!
Thanks for all the suggestions!

The Cazalet Chronicles (Elizabeth Jane Howard).

The Pursuit of Love was my immediate suggestion if she likes I Capture The Castle too.

I'd also suggest Frost in May by Antnia White (and the remainder of the quartet - The Sugar House, The Lost Traveller and Beyond the Glass). They are darker than I Capture The Castle and the religious theme is harder to relate to for many people today but Clara is a portrait of a young woman struggling and ultimately succeeding to find herself which gives the books a timeless quality.

I love this. Provincial Daughter was disappointing though.

Sorry - that was to reply to the Diary of a Provincial Lady suggestion above!

Nancy Mitford was my first thought too, especially Pursuit of Love. Also Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford.

I'd also suggest Learning to Swim by Clare Chambers, and Brother of the more famous Jack by Barbara Trapido

Frost in May is wonderful!

Totally this!

Definitely The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets. I loved Diary of a Provincial Lady too but I don't know if a young person would appreciate it really, there's a lot about house management and child rearing (hilarious to those who have experienced it).

I really love Elizabeth Taylor, maybe your DD would like Angel? It's about a girl who becomes a famous author.

The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn. I loved it and it has exactly this sort of bohemian between the wars vibe (although then moves into WW2). Might read it again actually, I loved it.

Bilgewater Jane Gardam
Brother of the more famous Jack Barbara Trapido