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 :)

Love this thread. Here are some of my suggestions:
elizabeth Gaskell - North and South
Children’s books - my all time favourite is Back Home by Michelle Magorian

thanks to the poster who mentioned Camomile Lawn on BBC sounds. I’m always looking for new shows or audiobooks to listen to on that, but sometimes they disappear so quickly.

Laurie Graham has lovely nostalgia, lots of it is US-based but some is this side of the pond as well.

You mentioned a successor to Georgette Heyer OP. Have you tried Dorothy Mack? Sub-Heyer (of course!!) but acceptable, safe reading with reliably happy endings. There's about 20 so plenty to go at. More recently, Sophie Irwin has written 'The Lady's Guide to...' both Fortune-Hunting and Scandal. Thoroughly enjoyed both!

All Creatures Great and Small

Another vote for Maeve Binchey.

Mapp and Lucia

Brideshead Revisited ir other Evelyn Waugh, any Nancy Mitford (Pursuit of Love/ Love in a Cold Climate, Larkrise to Candleford, North and South, Edith Wharton books - The Age of Innocence.

Yes too to classic children’s literature - Joan Aikin - Wolves of Willoughby Chase, KM Peyton - Flambards, Pennington, Arthur Ransome, Family at One End Street.

Enjoy!

Mary Stewart books! Love her!
Also highly recommend Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers. It's one of my top reads of this year.

You mentioned a successor to Georgette Heyer OP. Have you tried Dorothy Mack? Sub-Heyer (of course!!) but acceptable, safe reading with reliably happy endings

I see there are some Dorothy Mack available for 99p on Kindle.

If you like Georgette Heyer then try Jane Aiken Hodge. She was hugely inspired by Heyer, and also wrote a great biography of her.

Penny Vincenzi, Rosamund Pilcher, both comforting, nostalgic authors.

Second Mrs Tim books by DE Stevenson; like Provincial Lady its a diary.

Which leads on to Diary of a Provincial Daughter by RM Dashwood; EM Delafield's daughter!

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell covering the year 1982.

Lord Peter Wimsey books by Dorothy L Sayers, particularly the Wimsey-Vane books starting with Strong Poison.

London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins - like reading a classic black and white film. (It was made into a film)

Lord Peter Wimsey books by Dorothy L Sayers, particularly the Wimsey-Vane books starting with Strong Poison.

Gaudy Night would be one of my desert island books - but Strong Poison and Have His Carcase should be read first, to understand the relationship between Peter and Harriet.

Of the Wimsey-only books, I think Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club and The Nine Tailors are my favourites.

One of my absolute favourites - Mariana by Monica Dickens

Yes! I was joining this thread to say this very thing. In fact, anything by Monica Dickens, who deserves to be re-discovered, but especially Mariana.

I've just finished I Leap Over the Wall, by Monica Baldwin. It's the true story of a nun who lived in an enclosed order for thirty years, and left the convent in WWII, after thirty years totally isolated from the world. It's a brilliant book, and absolutely fascinating.

Someone mentioned Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym. I second that, and I'd say you need ALL of Barbara Pym, OP. Everything - especially Excellent Women, which is my favourite of hers.

Novels with a little more edge, but which are so nostalgic they're like time-travel: Late Call, Anglo-Saxon Attitudes and The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot, by Angus Wilson

Yes I'm very fond of Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club. Creates a strong atmosphere of place, time and people @HonoriaLucastaDelagardie

Still haven't read Nine Tailors so have to defer to you there Dowager Duchess!

Still haven't read Nine Tailors so have to defer to you there Dowager Duchess!

😁

I like it not just for the plot, but for the way DLS uses the landscape, which she knew well.

And the Rev. Theodore Venables is said to be a portrait of her own father.

Oooh such nice books - glad to see my Anne of Green Gables user name clocked!

The Skylarks War and the Swallows Flight by Hilary McKay are amazing - children's books technically but so, so good.

On the theme of books that are technically for children but are wonderful for nostalgic adults, I would heartily recommend Tales from the End Cottage by Eileen Bell (there's also a second book called More Tales from End Cottage). They are about a lady called Mrs Apple who lives in a wee cottage in the countryside with her dogs, cats and chickens. They are no longer in print but you can still find them secondhand. I adore them and they are total wonderful escapism. Beekeeping, jam making, baking bread all become delightful adventures. They have lovely illustrations too.

I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Penelope Lively - Road to Lichfield. Takes you right back

RF Delderfield - The Dreaming Suburb. It's a story of the families living on a street in a south London suburb during the years between WW1 & WW2. There's a sequel, The Avenue Goes to War, about what happened to them all during WW2

I loved this.

Just returning to thank everyone for their wonderful suggestions. I have:

• spent a fortune
• discovered that I actually had quite a few of the recommendations buried in the depths of my kindle *
• got a long(er) list of books I want to read

I also wandered into Waterstones last week and picked up Lucy Worsley's biography of Agatha Christie. I haven't started it yet but I have high hopes :).

Thanks also for the suggestion of Dorothy Mack - I hadn't heard of her but now have one of her books to try. The nearest successor found to Georgette Heyer was an author called Clare Darcy. I don't know if anyone has read her? I stumbled upon a whole load of her books in a charity shop some years ago and bought them all very cheaply. When I tried to buy more of her books, I discovered they were out of print and secondhand copies were ridiculously expensive. But I checked on Amazon recently and they're now available very cheaply.

Thanks again for all the fab suggestions, really appreciate everyone's time.

The Whalebone Theatre.

Bournville