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Original poster

If she loved Hamnet and has read most of Dickens...

21 replies

ChillyFeets · 19/12/2023 10:12

What next? For MIL.
Only slight issue is she is caring for FIL so doesn't have so much time/headspace for a chunk of reading time.

So is there anything she can dip into, maybe short stories or articles. But with some depth.

Any help gratefully received

OP posts:
Threewheeler1 · 19/12/2023 11:23

Maybe a collection of short novels by Henry James? I read them years ago and I think they're still in publication. If she likes Dickens, she may well enjoy them.

Original poster
ChillyFeets · 19/12/2023 11:39

Thank you! I'll check that out 😊

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Rocknrollstar · 19/12/2023 12:12

Thomas Hardy, Mrs Gaskell, Wilkie Collins, Edith Wharton. Maybe the Sherlock Holmes stories?

Cappuccinfortwo · 19/12/2023 12:21

If she loved Hamnet then maybe she would like "I am, I am, I am" by Maggie OFarrell. Its an amazing book and in short chapters which dont have to be read in order.
*sorry cant do apostrophes!

Original poster
ChillyFeets · 19/12/2023 14:44

rocknrollstar thank you. She's been trying to read a Wilkie Collins recently (normally would've loved it) but it's just to big and dense and no good as she's so frequently disturbed and pretty exhausted tbh 😞

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Original poster
ChillyFeets · 19/12/2023 14:46

Cappucinofor2 that sounds like a good bet. I'll have a look 😊 thank you
Am off book shopping tomorrow

OP posts:
Original poster
ChillyFeets · 19/12/2023 14:47

Cappucinofortwo sorry I used a 2 instead of two above so don't think you'd have got the acknowledgment 😊

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Wallabyone · 19/12/2023 14:48

I loved 'The hand that first held mine' by Maggie O'Farrell, and 'The vanishing act of Esme Lennox' if she hasn't read them already 😊

Original poster
ChillyFeets · 19/12/2023 14:52

Wallabyone thank you! I'll add to the list

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Floopani · 19/12/2023 14:54

Might be a bit leftfield, but I found Hamnet to have a touch of the fantasy genre about it. Would she be interested in the northern lights trilogy or anything Neil Gaiman like Stardust or Ocean at the End of the Lane? There are also quite a few fantasy novels that are set in different time periods of the past.

The reason I mention it is because I find these to be usually easy dip in and out reads, that have enough to engage you, but dont generally feel like hard going emotionally in the way some more realism books can when you are coping with a lot in your life. Hope that makes sense!

MILTOBE · 19/12/2023 14:58

Has she read anything by Anne Tyler or Carol Shields?

What about Sara Collins? The Confessions of Frannie Langton was really good.

OwlWeiwei · 19/12/2023 15:00

How about Demon Copperhead?

Or something by Essie Fox whose Victorian novels are very Dickensian. The latest, The Fascination, has a very beautiful cover so makes a nice present.

Original poster
ChillyFeets · 19/12/2023 15:16

Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate all your input. Will go through all the suggestions with dh this evening before shopping tomorrow

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Throthetowelin · 19/12/2023 15:22

Kate Atkinson life after life?

Changingplace · 19/12/2023 15:25

All of Maggie O’Farrell’s other books are great, look up Kate Atkinson too.

MrsWobble3 · 19/12/2023 15:44

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters felt quite Dickensian to me so might work.

JaneyGee · 19/12/2023 19:06

Henry James short stories? Kipling and H. G. Wells also wrote some good short stories, and so did M. R. James.

The Brontes? George Eliot? Jane Austen? Trollope? (Has she read Jane Eyre?)

erm…Sherlock Holmes is a good one. Wodehouse is my go-to when I feel low, along with the travel writer Patrick Fermor, especially A Time of Gifts.

Anthony Burgess wrote a beautiful novel about Shakespeare. Harold Bloom considered it a masterpiece. It’s called Nothing Like the Sun. If she liked Hamnet she might enjoy that. He also wrote a good one on Marlowe.

Oh, Thomas Hardy wrote some great short stories as well.

LydiaGwilt · 20/12/2023 15:04

Mrs Gaskell's 'Cranford', although a longer novel is easy to read. Gaskell also wrote short stories.

Att1cusPund · 20/12/2023 15:15

I was coming on to say Demon Copperhead and I see someone else has mentioned it too! It's by Barbara Kingsolver (author of the also brilliant Poisonwood Bible) and is loosely based on David Copperfield. Can only half recommend as I'm only halfway through 😉 but it's really good.

Original poster
ChillyFeets · 21/12/2023 08:07

Thanks again everyone for some great suggestions.
We bought the Henry James short stories and W. Somerset Maugham too.
MIL def can't manage anything big or too detailed or in-depth atm as FIL takes every ounce of her energy.
But am keeping a list of these suggestions for future reference. So thank you all.

Oh and for those suggesting Demon Copperhead... my dd bought me that recently and is next on the tbr pile 😊 so lots of ideas for me too!

OP posts:
Threewheeler1 · 21/12/2023 08:32

ChillyFeets · 21/12/2023 08:07

Thanks again everyone for some great suggestions.
We bought the Henry James short stories and W. Somerset Maugham too.
MIL def can't manage anything big or too detailed or in-depth atm as FIL takes every ounce of her energy.
But am keeping a list of these suggestions for future reference. So thank you all.

Oh and for those suggesting Demon Copperhead... my dd bought me that recently and is next on the tbr pile 😊 so lots of ideas for me too!

Love a good book thread! Lots for the list here, so thanks OP & thanks all! 😁

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