I’ve been reading Verne, Tolstoy, and Hemingway. Tolstoy definitely being my favorite
I want to read more from people of color and women to expand my horizons a bit. I’ve read Ottessa Moshfegh, Mary Renault, and Leila Ahmed. But just looking for good suggestions
by OrdinaryOwl6719
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Assuming you’re okay with classics by white *women*, are you familiar with the works of Jane Austen? If not, definitely give h{{Pride and Prejudice}} a read, it’s one of my favorite literary classics and a genuinely great read.
Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
Frankenstein by Mary Shelly
I love Emma Donoghue’s historical fiction.
The Count of Monte Cristo or the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Jane Austen (my favorites are Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion)
Elizabeth Gaskell (my favorite is North and South)
Louisa May Alcott (my favorite is Little Women)
Frances Hodgson Burnett (my favorites are The Little Princess and The Secret Garden)
L.M Montgomery (the Anne of Green Gables series)
Daphne Du Maurier (my favorite is Rebecca)
Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre)
* Creating this list I realized I don’t think I have really read much by POC authors, so I am also interested in what others can suggest that would fit that category
We have always lived in the castle by Shirley Jackson
Anything by Agatha Christie but especially Murder on the Orient Express
The Secret Garden
The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule if you’re into true crime
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Beloved by Toni Morrison
There are several classic works of Japanese literature that were written by women in the 10th and 11th centuries. *The Tale of Genji* by Murasaki Shikibu is a novel, while the rest are autobiographical works. Of those, I’d recommend *The Pillow Book* by Sei Shōnagon, Murasaki Shikibu’s own *The Diary of Lady Murasaki*, *The Gossamer Years* by the Mother of Michitsuna, and *As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams* by Lady Sarashina. (Note that the latter two’s titles are invented by their English translators, and the authors’ personal names are unknown.)
The Buru Quartet by Pramoedya Anata Toer is a dramatic and soulful series of four novels based on the early history of Indonesia that must be read in order to get the full story: This Earth of Mankind, Child of All Nations, Footsteps and House of Glass. This is historical fiction about the birth of Indonesia as a nation and national identity, told through the eyes of young student Minke, half Dutch, half Indonesian, who is based on the father of Indonesian journalism. The author Pramoedya Anata Toer was a political prisoner when he told this as oral stories to fellow prisoners who were not allowed to read and write at the notorious Buru prison. Minke’s has an identity crisis. His trials and tribulations are uplifting and heartbreaking.
The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature, is a historical novel about the Dominican Republic under Trujillo, his assassination and the aftermath. The first person narrative shifts from the daughter of a powerful Senator who hates her father (you find out why at the end), the Senator, Trujillo and his assassins. There are graphic, violent torture scenes at the end and some rapey scenes throughout. This is outstanding literature with rich characters and historically accurate.
Dragonfruit by Malia Mattoch McManus.
Not a classic, but historical fiction set in Korea and Japan during Japan’s colonization in Korea: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. IMO, should be read by everyone in the west to bring awareness of the Korean-Japanese conflict and to learn East Asian culture. Incredibly sad, tragic, and beautiful book. One of my favorite books this year.
All the works of Toni Morrison and James Baldwin. I’d also suggest Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.
I enjoy Fiona Davis’ dual-narrative historical fiction, usually centered around a New York City building.
I really liked The Air You Breathe by Francesca de Pontes Peebles, set in 1930s or 1940s Brazil, about a lengthy, sexually charged friendship between two girls who grow up to become a musician and Hollywood star, and her manager.
I guess Cantoras by Carolina de Robertis counts as historical fiction. It starts in 1970s Uruguay, which has fallen into fascism, and follows a group of gay women who become a found family to each other over decades.
I’m a little surprised to be the first to suggest Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Two Ghanian sisters are torn apart when one is sold into the Cross Atlantic slave trade. Each chapter follows a descendant of the women to the present day.
Vanessa Riley has several books set in Carribean nations. I think she’s a Black author, as well.
Some classics by Black American women: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, anything by Toni Morrison.