I'm a big fan of contemporary writers writing Victorian or Regency -like novels, but I've already read quite a few. Can you think of any great ones I haven't read? Here's some of the notable ones I've read so far.
I loved:
Fingersmith and other early Sarah Waters
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
The Crimson Petal and the White
The Fraud
I've also enjoyed:
The other Bennet sister
Wide Sargasso Sea
Longbourne
A lot of Georgette Heyer's books
I really did NOT like:
The Quincux (oof. DNF)
A collection of short stories inspired by Jane Austen's works, but I don't remember the title
by Earlyadopter35
10 Comments
Do you also like actual regency/victorian novels? Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot, Dickens, Trollope, Thackeray are all great. Some like Austen, Gaskell, and some Dickens like Great Expectations are easy to read.
Good Fortune by CK Chau
Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jaladdin
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray
Most Ardently – a version of Pride and prejudice where Elizabeth is a trans guy. Quick read and just gay and fun!
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker is the only thing I have that might meet ur criteria
YES!!!
I am a huge fan of Victorian and Neo-Victorian novels.
Some interesting Neo-Victorians:
***Poor Things*** by Alisdair Gray
***To Say Nothing of the Dog*** by Connie Willis (so this is a time travelling book but to my surprise the vast majority of it is set during the Victorian era and the time travellers have to conform. I thought it was delightful and hilarious and included a lot of the stuff I love about Victorian era books so I’m including it).
Also not technically a neo-Victorian since it takes place in Canada but ***When We Lost Our Heads*** by Heather O’Neill is set in Montreal in the 1800s and is great. It reminded me a LOT of both Fingersmith and The Crimson Petal and the White which you both listed.
I’ve enjoyed most of the books you mentioned, and I love the Lady Emily mysteries by Tasha Alexander! It’s bite sized and not as gothic as Sarah Waters, but I find it more enjoyable than the typical dime store murder mysteries.
If you want some adventuring with an intrepid female lead, go read the Amelia Peabody mysteries by Elizabeth Peters. The first one is Crocodile on the Sandbank.
Have you read *The Luminaries* by Eleanor Catton? It’s written in a Victorian style and I really enjoyed it. It’s set during the gold rush in New Zealand and even though it’s over 800 pages I finished it in just over a week because I just had to know what happened!
Sarah MacLean writes really fun, fresh feeling regency/victorian romances. Highly recommend the Hell’s Belles series.
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
Possession by A.S. Byatt