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If you like dickens, how about Wilkie Collins - the woman in White, especially.
And what about Sherlock holmes??? |
Can it be that no one has mentioned Jane? It just doesn't get better than that for me!
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I agree, clbtx1! Jane Austen is the best for me, too!
Anything by Thomas Hardy would work, as well, though it might be kind of a downer. How about E.M. Forster (say, <i>Howards End</i>), or some short stories by Saki (H.H. Munro)? |
Sorry, penel! I forgot the London emphasis! How about <i>The End of the Affair</i> (Graham Greene)? Wartime London!
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Robert Rankin. Very funny and very British.
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Phillipa Gregory and Elizabeth Chadwick both write fantastic novels set mostly in medieval England. However, keep in mind thre are two writers named Elizabeth Chadwick, the other one is an American romance novelist, so if you see book by EC set in the American west, it's the "wrong" Eizabeth Chadwick.
If you were going to Scotland I'd recommend Diana Gabladon's Outlander series (even though they're fat books even in paperback), however parts of them do take place in England. |
"As the Crow Flies" by Jeffrey Archer
East End London around WWI book spans 60 years and is one of Archer's best. Paperback - 800 pages but is a very fast read. |
Another goodie, but biggie, is "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett, about medieval cathedral building. Rosalind Laker's "The Sugar Pavillion" is a fascinating look at the origins of the candy trade in Brighton.
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If you like mysteries and literary novels, I think you'll like Case Histories by Atkinson (cant remember her first name).
My local librarian recommended this to me and I fought her and fought her. I don't read mysteries and I am a total literary snob (but usually keep it to myself and only offer this here because it illustrates my story), and I really did not want to check this out. I read a lot of contemporary British novelist that I love, such as Penelope Lively and Jane Gardam, and from the previous generation, Muriel Spark and Beryl Bainbridge, and I was in the library looking for something from one of those authors. I was being such a snob, but the librarian told me to take this book, Case Histories, and just try it. A week later, I had to go to the library and apologize for being a snob and not trusting the librarian's recommendation. This was a good book, with mystery elements, but much more about loss and love and character and memory... but yet, a page turner. I will read more by this author. I looked Atkinson up, and her novel Behind the Scenes at the Museum won the Whitbread Prize. So a pretty good rec, there, I think. I think EM Forster's Howard's End would be perfect for travel. Set in London and the countryside, rich in everything good and delightful to read. For Trollope, maybe something set in London, such as The Three Clerks, or take a leap and begin the political series, starting with Can You Forgive Her. Kind of fat, though. Other Trollope that's thinner: Ralph the Heir; Ayala's Angel (so much London); Cousin Henry; The Vicar of Bullhampton...oh, there are dozens and dozens. For Hardy without too much misery, maybe The Mayor of Casterbridge. And if you haven't read Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, do. Another vote for I Capture the Castle; really a delight. I gave it to my brother for his turn to pick a book for his very intellectual NYC book club, and they all loved it. Dodie Smith is the author. An amazing and absorbing novel, written for young readers, but certainly intriguing to me, was How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff. Set in England. How about George Eliot? Daniel Deronda is largely set in London. I don't mention Jane, because I assume everyone has read all of Jane. If they haven't, what on earth are they waiting for?????? |
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, by Elizabeth Taylor (not the actress): a novel about a widow living in a residential hotel in London, and the friendship she strikes up with a young man. Was turned into a lovely movie that was released last year, with Joan Plowright in the title role.
Also, these three novels by Penelope Fitzgerald. (I love everything of hers I've read, but these three have particularly vivid depictions of London): At Freddie's (set in a school for child actors) Offshore (about a community of people who live in barges on the Thames, as Fitzgerald herself did for a time) Human Voices (life at the BBC during WWII) |
All excellent suggestions.
Atkinson's "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" is a brilliant work! (set in York) I just finished The Lambs of London by Ackroyd - very enjoyable read. Anything by Ackroyd is worth reading. The man is a genius. For a completely quirky and often hilarious read, try Jasper Fforde's Tuesday Wells series. Set in the 80s, but with a twist. The Crimea war is still going on, WW1 & II have never happened. Wales is independant and genetic engineering has restored the Dodo and the Neanderthals. The great literary giants, from Shakespeare to Lawrence, hold a place in popular culture occupied today by Madonna and the PussyCat Dolls. Now THERE is a novel concept! First in the series is The Eyre Affair. A great series for those who love English Literature. The Eyre Affair www.amazon.com/gp/product...06?ie=UTF8 The Well of Lost Plots (Thursday Next Series) www.amazon.com/gp/product...F8&s=books Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next Novels) www.amazon.com/gp/product...F8&s=books Something Rotten: A Thursday Next Mystery www.amazon.com/gp/product...F8&s=books |
Jane Austen
P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves books Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series Margaret Frazer's Dame Frevisse series Robin Paige's Death at Various English Locations series Lee Ann |
Two mystery writers who set their stories in the post WW1 years are Charles Todd and Rennie Airth.
Airth has just two Inspector John Madden books so far, River of Darkness and The Blood Dimmed Tide--both excellent. Todd, actually two american writers, does the Inspector Rutledge series set in the immediate years after WW1-they really give a flavor of what the survivors of the trenches had endured and how they then had to fit back into civilian life. Also a fun take on the Jane Austen novel is Melissa Nathan's Pride, Prejudice and Jasmine Field...a contemporary Londoner's real life mirror's Jane's novel... All are available in paper and not too large to tote. |
Some good ones mentioned already, so I won't repeat. I'm particularly fond of Brother Cadfael, Howard's End and anything Jane.
Would like to add W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage. This is one I got at a garage sale, started reading this and thought, "Hey, this is really well written." Looked it up and realized it was a classic. It takes place in various parts of England and a small part in Paris. Definite glimpses into London's past. Another coming of age novel, The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler, but of a young man going to Oxford and becoming a minister. Insight into the Victorian eras. A little slow in parts but it grew on me. |
Opps, sorry the Jasper Fforde books are about Thursday Next, not Tuesday Wells. I wonder where I got that from :( ?
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Toby Litt wrote a really funny book entitled "Finding Myself." It is light and very enjoyable reading.
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O'Reilly, Tuesday Wells was an American actress in the '60's or thereabouts. :)
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That's Tuesday Weld, I think, for what it's worth (yeah, I know, not much).
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I am glad 5alive mentioned Somerset Maugham, I think he is the English-est writer. Of Human Bondage is a little sad, Cakes and Ale was lighter and very amusing, probably my fave. Also, his collected short stories are perfect.
Another favorite is Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, by John LeCarre. I have read it many times and still find myself holding my breath at the denouement. I am enjoying P.D. James' The Lighthouse right now. Lots of good suggestions, here. Have a great trip. Olive Oil |
Possession, by A.S. Byatt. Byatt has written a multi-layered literary novel that deals with the story of a contemporary couple who discover in their research the affair of two Victorian lovers. I thought it was wonderful; check it out on amazon.com
I took this as a travel book to Provence several years ago and more recently read it again in my book club. |
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