Listmania on the Victorian Era

[Divia]

Here is a Listamania list that I created on the Victorian Era

http://www.amazon.com/Historical-Fiction-during-the-Victorian-Era/lm/R13OLNB3F6VO8N/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full

[michellemoran]

I really enjoyed Deanna's Silent in the Grave. And Crimson Petal and the White took my breath away with its period detail.

[Divia]

I havent read either :o They are on my TBR pile..which seems to be growing and growing by the day!

[michellemoran]

Oohhhh... start with Silent in the Grave. If you like mysteries, you won't regret it!

[LCW]

Cool! We should start a thread with all our Listmania's and screen names for other websites!!

[Divia]

I agree about the listmania. That could be helpful and didnt we have a thread like that over on the other forum.

[diamondlil]

Oohhhh... start with Silent in the Grave. If you like mysteries, you won't regret it!



I second that! Silent in the Grave is a really fun read!

[Vanessa]

I absolutely loved Crimson Petal and the White, The Meaning of Night (both of which I found very atmospheric) and The Tea Rose. I have The Observations, Kept, Fingersmith, Affinity and Silent in the Grave on my TBR pile. I can remember enjoying Shadow of the Moon years ago, I still have an old copy of it. There are several on that list which I must make a note of - on my wish list they go!

[lama]

Oh, you'll love Affinity if you like atmospheric!

I can hardly wait to read Crimson Petal and the White.
www.lebutler.net

[Vanessa]

I've never read a book by Sarah Waters, but loads of people rave about them. I shall bump Affinity up my TBR pile!:)

[Margaret]

Divia, I see that Emma Donoghue's The Sealed Letter is #1 on your Victorian listmania. I just finished reading it and posting a review at http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Sealed-Letter.html. For a book with no gunfire, knife fights or other mayhem in it, I found it a pretty effective thriller! In the Victorian era, losing one's reputation was the next worst thing to a death sentence.

[Kasthu]

There are some good books on the list! The Meaning of Night and The Glass of Time are some of the best books I've read this year. Other really good Victorian-era fiction include the Tomas Pitt series by Anne Perry; Girl in a Blue Dress, by Gaynor Arnold (set to come out here in the US next week); Posession, by AS Byatt; and there's a new book coming out in February called Drood, by Dan Simmons, which looks excellent ("narrated" by Wilkie Collins, it's about the last days of Charles Dicken's life).

Ditto on the Deanna Raybourn novels--she really knows how to tell a good story. And may I say that I have not just the slightest crush on Nicholas Brisbane?

[Kasthu]

There's also The Far Pavilions, by MM Kaye, about the British Raj in India. Literally a doorstopper of a book (955 pages), but well worth reading.

[boswellbaxter]

There are some good books on the list! The Meaning of Night and The Glass of Time are some of the best books I've read this year. Other really good Victorian-era fiction include the Tomas Pitt series by Anne Perry; Girl in a Blue Dress, by Gaynor Arnold (set to come out here in the US next week); Posession, by AS Byatt; and there's a new book coming out in February called Drood, by Dan Simmons, which looks excellent ("narrated" by Wilkie Collins, it's about the last days of Charles Dicken's life).

Ditto on the Deanna Raybourn novels--she really knows how to tell a good story. And may I say that I have not just the slightest crush on Nicholas Brisbane?

Welcome, Kasthu! I'm looking forward to the Drood book.

[Misfit]

There's also The Far Pavilions, by MM Kaye, about the British Raj in India. Literally a doorstopper of a book (955 pages), but well worth reading.

Kasthu, welcome to the board. FYI, The Far Pavilions is going to be our January book of the month. I think everyone voted for it just to stop me from nominating it every month :o:)

PS, if you want to read more like TFP mosey on over to the India thread.

[Celia Hayes]

Oh, I hope everyone loved The Far Pavilions, and Shadow of the Moon, as well ... very Kiplingesque, the both of them. Shadow of the Moon is almost a family saga, and finishes up with a bang during the Sepoy Mutiny ... which is about there The Far Pavilions begins. Yes, they are both doorstoppers, but well worth it.

[Lady Macbeth]

Gotta love a bit of Vic Lit.:D

Not read too many on that list. Have read The Observations and really enjoyed it - very funny. I read Fingersmith a few years ago now and was completely floored by the twist in the middle of the novel - totally didn't see that coming. The adaptation was OK but not as good as the book.

Has anyone read Kept by D J Taylor? For some reason, the cover really appeals to me but I just haven't gotten around to picking up a copy yet.

[diamondlil]

I cannot tell you how many times i have picked up Kept and then put it down again. I think next time I will just go ahead and buy it.

[Leo62]

Has anyone read Kept by D J Taylor? For some reason, the cover really appeals to me but I just haven't gotten around to picking up a copy yet.

I have. It's very atmospheric, but don't expect heart-stopping action. :D

[Kate Quinn]

Has anyone here ever read Brenda Jagger? She wrote a terrific set of books set in Victorian England, generally dealing with the clash of the newly-rich millowners, the aristocracy, and the desperately poor mill-workers. They are the best Victorian-era books (outside the classics) that I have ever read, and yet she is relatively unknown. "A Song Twice Over" is my favorite of hers.

[annis]

Yes, I read the Barforth series back in the day and really enjoyed them. BJ also wrote two very good historicals set in ancient Rome which are hard-to-come-by rnow- "Antonia" and "Daughter of Aphrodite"

[Kate Quinn]

Those are good too, but I think she really found her footing in the Victorian period. The Barforth trilogy and the others are better, in my opinion.

[Divia]

I haven't but I may give them a go. :) Being the Victorian freak that I am I'm always looking for new stuff.

[Kate Quinn]

Jagger really gets the mentality of the Victorian era - these middle-class wealthy girls who got married young and then wondered just what they were supposed to do next. "Verity" is a great one to start with; a girl who marries her cousin at sixteen and rather slowly builds a relationship with him while handling adultery, children, family troubles, etc.

[djunamod]

Thank you for this list. I am new to historical writing and I've read a lot of Victorian novels written during that time (think: Dickens, Eliot, James, and the like :D), I've been looking for historical fiction set in the Victorian era but written in modern times to see how modern writers handle the historical detail and background. So this is very helpful!

Djuna