What can I read that has a nostalgic feel to it?!

[Nows]

I'm feeling the need to escape from modern life! What can I read that has similar vibes to The Diary of a Provincial Lady, Nella Last's War, The Cazalet Chronicles, Agatha Christie etc? I've read quite a few of the Persephone books too but can't remember titles!

Very grateful for any and all suggestions. Thank you :)

Alexander McCall Smith series Ladies No.1 Detective Agency is great

That's one that I've been meaning to
read for ages but haven't got round to doing so - thank you :)

I always reread Mave Binchey when I want something undemanding and comforting. Great characters!

The Miss Reed series always feels nostalgic and comforting to me.

Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym is jolly good.

What about Georgette Heyer, I recently read Arabella

Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee.
Gerald Durrell books.

I like diaries too, like Few Eggs and No Oranges (a Persephone book), Virginia Woolf's selected diaries, Alan Clark's deliciously awful diaries. Alan Bennett's are good too. I have also lined up Nella Last, Chips Channon and Patricia Highsmith's diaries to read.

Other good series I've enjoyed:
PG Wodehouse
Mapp & Lucia
Georgette Heyer
Just William (not just for kids!!)
The Nicolas stories (also not just for kids)
The Georges Simenon novels
Murder mysteries by the other 3 "golden age" writers alongside Christie: Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham. Ruth Rendell also great as is PD James.

I Capture the Castle

The Old Filth series by jane Gardam. They get better and better. The ones with Filth's childhood is beautiful, and Veneering's backstory, and what happens between them towards the end of their lives.

Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers

Miss Silver books

The Little House on the Prairie series is easy going and nicely nostalgic!

Oh wow - so many replies. Thank you very much.

I love Georgette Heyer, I've read and re-read all her books. I so wish she had a worthy successor but I've not found anyone comparable yet.

I've read all Gerald Durrell's too, love his books. But there are lots of suggestions here that I haven't read so I will look into those.

The Shell Seekers 😍

Mrs Miniver (Jan Struther)
Anything by EH Young or FM Mayor
One Fine Day (Mollie Panter-Downes)
Anything by Elizabeth Taylor - I like A Game of Hide and Seek and At Mrs Lippincote's
The Village (Marghanita Laski)
Family Roundabout (Richmal Crompton)
A London Child of the 1870s (Molly Hughes)
Some of the above are Persephone books, so maybe you've already read them.

I second both Miss Read and Maeve Binchy. Also Rosamund Pilcher..

Ah. This is my specialist genre i think. What about (in addition to those mentioned:)
The pursuit of love and sequels by Nancy Mitford
The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice
The Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson

The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn is a new book but has a nostalgic feel similar to the Cazalet chronicles

Elizabeth Peters?

I was going to suggest Georgettr Heyer too.

I was going to suggest that! Years since I read it, but I think I'll give it another go soon. I enjoyed it enormously. I liked September too. Can anyone recommend any other Rosamunde Pilcher books?

I've just re-read South Riding by Winifred Holtby, one of my all-time favourite novels. I don't know that it's a comforting easy read, exactly, but it's extremely readable and very much of its time (early to mid 1930s).

These are both lovely books:

https://www.wob.com/en-gb/books/tracy-chevalier/single-thread/9780008153816?cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=19553274428&cq_con=&cq_med=pla&cq_plac=&cq_net=x&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImsDjk82PggMVu5SDBx11cAKkEAQYAyABEgLq6_D_BwE#GOR009990746

https://www.wob.com/en-gb/books/nina-de-gramont/christie-affair/9781529054170?cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=18082217234&cq_con=&cq_med=pla&cq_plac=&cq_net=x&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI48XEzM2PggMVwgeLCh1ILwNdEAQYASABEgKqefD_BwE#GOR012132762

Miss Pettigrew lives for a Day is a delight.

Also, I've never read it, but on the strength of the recent Radio 4 adaptation I plan to get hold of Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson.

Also, l have discovered Mr. Finchley Discovers His England. There are two sequels. These books were written in the 1930s by Victor Canning and tells the story of Mr. Finchley, a clerk, who takes his first holiday but falls into misadventures. A lovely, gentle read. Another is The Fortnight In September by R. G. Sheriff, written at a similar time. A more modern feel good book is The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce, which is my favourite of all her books.

Seconding @Xiaoxiong 's suggestion of the George Simenon novels. I love Maigret and the supporting characters- Sargent Lucas and Madam Maigret, and the setting of post war Paris.