Accessible classics 18th or 19th century

[Ddimynswr]

I've read a bit of George Elliot and am really enjoying it. I only downloaded it as it was free on Audible but it's been great so far and I was surprised how much I could relate to it.

I'd love some recommendations of other authors or novels from 19th or 18th century that are still accessible to modern reader and paint a vivid picture of the time.

I'm guessing Dickens should be on the list - the only thing that puts me off is the fact his works have been depicted in countless films and I wonder if that will spoil it as all Ill see in my head are The Muppets if I read a Christmas Carol. It would be great to find some hidden gems that perhaps aren't as famous

I loved The Moonstone (Wilkie Collins) when I read it. It’s early detective fiction and just swept me along. Also by him I’ve read No Name and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Jane Eyre is my other all time favourite.
North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell. I keep meaning to read more of hers because I enjoyed this one so much.

Cranford and North and South as already mentioned by Elizabeth Gaskell are two of my favourites!

Jane Austen is very accessible as is Little Women

I adored Jane Eyre, it almost felt like it could've been written this century.

Dickens is quite tough to read, mostly as it was written as a serial, so there's a lot of repetition.

Bleak House.

The Mayor of Casterbridge.

Wuthering Heights.

The Scarlet Letter.

then I’d take a break from ‘self-improvement’ and read something lighter!

Anthony Trollope! Especially the Barchester series. Timothy West is perfect on audible.

I liked the Brontë sisters, Wuthering Heights was my favourite followed by Jane Eyre. Although it's been done to death I love Oliver Twist, Hard Times is one of Dickens shorter novels and one of my favourites.
I personally can't stand Jane Austin, but appreciate that's just me!
I liked reading Far from the Madding crowd, but found the Mayor of Casterbridge and Tess of the D'urbervilles quite hard going.
I like the Gothic horror authors Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hide, Bram Stokers Dracula, Mary Shelly Frankenstein, Edgar Allen Poe The fall of the House of Usher.
I love Oscar Wilde, audible do a lovely collection of children's classics which include Wilde and top narrators (Stephen Fry, Judy Dench, Derek Jacobi...at least I think it's Jacobi).
Slightly out of your time frame, but I love Noel Coward and JB Priestly.
I'm not sure if he'd be considered a classic in the traditional sense but who doesn't love a bit of Sherlock Holmes?!
Daniel Defoe, Wilkie Collins, and Falkner all wrote some fast paced novels, the women in white is brilliant.

Another vote for the Woman in White.

Also Vanity Fair, Jane Eyre, Villette, Anna Karenina. Even War & Peace is actually very readable and you can skim-read the battle scenes without detracting from the main plot.

Definitely Trollope. The titles are horrid but the novels are frequently wonderful. Try Can You Forgive Her?, The Warden, Dr Thorne.
Slightly later, but Edith Wharton is wonderful.
Hard pass on Dickens for me but agree with PP that Elizabeth Gaskell’s North & South is a great read.

Thomas Hardy was hugely influenced by George Eliot. I found his plots compelling, but his prose can be clumsy & awkward, so I don't know if you'd call it 'accessible' or not. He's a far better poet than a prose stylist in my imho.

Some good suggestions above. I also find Arnold Bennett very readable. The Old Wives" Tale and the Clayhanger novels are great.

A bit later, but South Riding by Winifred Holtby has a similar feel.

Austen

If you can read George Eliot you can read any of the popular 19th-century writers. Don’t be intimidated OP. They wrote to entertain, not to annoy! Read them and let them work their magic. The classics are classics for a reason.

Dickens’ David Copperfield is a must. Personally, I prefer it to Great Expectations. The whole of life is there.

Wuthering Heights has a wonderful power. And Pride and Prejudice is every bit as touching and romantic today as it was in the 1820s. Lizzie Bennet is astonishingly vivid and alive.

Thomas Hardy is a wonderful storyteller, though a bit clunky in style, as someone has already said. But absolutely worth reading. Try The Mayor of Casterbridge.

Definitely Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White is fantastic, fast paced, lots of twists and turns. One of those 'it's 1am but I'll just read one more chapter...' kind of books.

It’s children’s fiction really but Moonfleet by J Meade Falkner is another exciting and pacey read.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - features a sexy but dark and debauched protagonist. What's not to love?

Never thought of Hardy as clunky before but I was going to say Tess of the D’Urbervilles and the Mayor of Casterbridge. Jane Eyre. The Count of Monte Cristo.

I never could get on with Dickens.

Another vote for Dumas - COunt of Monte Cristo is my favourite followedby The Black Tulip.

Anything by Mrs Gaskell and Jane Austen. Fanny Burney's Evalina is quite sweet.

Austen's Northanger Abbey is funny and lovely. Pride and Prejudice is hilarious and powerful. Persuasion is the most gorgeous love story.Sense and Sensibility and Emma are both great stories, beautifully written.

Cranford is charming and readable.
I adore Jane Eyre and Villette, both quite feminist novels in their way.

I love Jekyll and Hyde. It is a gripping, atmospheric story.

Did you read Silas Marner? I reread it recently and thought it was beautifully written.

Imo, Dickens' most accessible novel is Hard Times. Hardy's is The Woodlanders, though Far From the Madding Crowd is wonderful. Tess and Jude are really heartbreaking and Mayor of Casterbridge is a bit heavy, but if you get into him, they are good stories.

Vanity Fair is a blockbuster, so good. You will whizz through it.

Agree anything by the Bronte sisters or Gaskell. Personally not a Trollope fan. A Tale of Two Cities is a shorter Dickens and good read. Manon Lescaut has a feisty female of her times. Heart of Darkness is atmospheric but as racist as you would expect. I like Little Women but maybe it's a fondness from my youth.

Thanks everyone! Some great recommendations to add to my library!

I've been listening to Adam Bede by George Elliot and over halfway now. Enjoying it much more than some of the clichéd chick flicks I've read previously so figure I'll look for similar novels after this

Was just about to say this. And the series with Nigel Hawthorne and Alan Rickman was perfect. Geraldine McEwan as Mrs Proudie hissing 'Misssssster Slope!' is up there with Edith Evans' handbag

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Barchester-Chronicles-DVD-Nigel-Hawthorne/dp/B000LXHJJG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=IEOZSPFHSF57&keywords=barchester+chronicles+dvd&qid=1700077248&sprefix=barchester%2Caps%2C143&sr=8-1

Another vote for The Moonstone, Barchester Chronicles including the above mentioned TV series. And I would recommend Shirley.

Wilkie Collins is a great recommendation. One of those 19th-century writers (like Trollope) who tend to be forgotten.

The History of Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. It is funny but long.

+1 for war and peace. I think I went with the ‘less high’ translation (not Maude but correct me if wrong) and it’s honestly a delight, especially if you like realism.

it’s really not a difficult read, it just takes a while :)

Audiobooks are a great way to “read” the classics.

If you want to hear the lovely voice of Alan Rickman, he read The Return of the Native, which is a less well known book by Thomas Hardy. I don’t think he read any others, sadly.

I recently went to Marseille, and thought I’d listen to The Count of Montecristo before visiting the Château d’If. It’s about 30 hours long, so snatching 30 hours to actually read a book would take ages. But with audiobooks, you can listen while doing boring chores, so you get through them in no time.