Amy in TX Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Dd 12 loves Jane Austen and is wondering what else to read when she has finished all of them. She wants "light, funny, from the same time period." She finds Jane Eyre to be "a little dark" in comparison to Austen. Suggestions? TIA, Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnitWit Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Well, since you mentioned Charlotte Bronte's work, are you familiar with Elizabeth Gaskell? She was a contemporary and friend of Bronte, in fact, she wrote a biography of Bronte. You may enjoy "Wives and Daughters" or "North and South", both written by Gaskell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liza Q Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Georgette Heyer! There was a thread on her books a few months ago....here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in TX Posted July 21, 2010 Author Share Posted July 21, 2010 Thanks for both of these suggestions. I just remembered that I have Cranford upstairs somewhere; I'll give her that and look into Heyer as well. Other suggestions welcome... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 The trouble is, Jane Austen was pretty special for her day. Novels were longer, wordier, and either very bawdy (Tom Jones!) or very very moral (Clarissa!) or all gothic. You could try Evelina by Fanny Burney, but it isn't funny and the heroine is aggravatingly passive, and it's an epistolary novel. Georgette Heyer is 20th century, but she is light and funny, and mostly wrote Regency novels with wonderful dialogue and historical detail. You could try Frederica, but you should know that Heyer novels do mention sex a little more than Austen did. They're not graphic or anything. I can't think of many 19th century authors to try besides Mrs. Gaskell. You might like Lark Rise to Candelford by Flora Thompson--there's a BBC movie out now and I hear it's great, but I read the book in college and loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi @ Mt Hope Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Thanks for both of these suggestions. I just remembered that I have Cranford upstairs somewhere; I'll give her that and look into Heyer as well. Other suggestions welcome... :) Have you read Cranford? I'm asking because it is quite different than Gaskell's other books. My personal opinion? It was a random book about a bunch of silly old women with no plot or point. I don't know that it would appeal to a 12 yo. (I didn't even care for the movie....) I'd highly recommend starting with Wives & Daughters or North & South. (Both have excellent movie adaptations, too!) Ruth was a wonderful book, but more serious (about the stigma placed on an unwed mother back in those times--pretty severe). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi @ Mt Hope Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 If she is interested in trying something a little more gothic/mystery, try Wilkie Collins' Moonstone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnitWit Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 LOVE "The Moonstone"! And "The Woman in White" is one of my favorite mysteries! (Also by Collins) I second the review of Cranford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in TX Posted July 21, 2010 Author Share Posted July 21, 2010 The trouble is, Jane Austen was pretty special for her day. Novels were longer, wordier, and either very bawdy (Tom Jones!) or very very moral (Clarissa!) or all gothic. So true! I couldn't think of anything to suggest off the top of my head, other than the gothic-type stuff, which isn't really what she's in the mood for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in TX Posted July 21, 2010 Author Share Posted July 21, 2010 Have you read Cranford? I'm asking because it is quite different than Gaskell's other books. My personal opinion? It was a random book about a bunch of silly old women with no plot or point. I don't know that it would appeal to a 12 yo. (I didn't even care for the movie....) I'd highly recommend starting with Wives & Daughters or North & South. (Both have excellent movie adaptations, too!) Ruth was a wonderful book, but more serious (about the stigma placed on an unwed mother back in those times--pretty severe). You're right, I haven't read it. I was hoping it would be like Wives & Daughters, which I also haven't read but was looking for in Half Price Books when I came across Cranford, lol. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma23peas Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 If your daughter needs a penpal, let me know, you just described my daughter! :) We got our Nook last Friday, she's read Pride and Prejudice/Sense and Sensibility since then! :) She too thought Jane Eyre was too dark but I she's willing to pick it up again and re-read it (my daughter is also 12) Here are her favorites: Pearl Maiden Mara Daughter of the Nile My Antonia Seven Sons and Seven Daughters Ivanhoe Mandy series Hope these help a bit! Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in TX Posted July 21, 2010 Author Share Posted July 21, 2010 LOVE "The Moonstone"! And "The Woman in White" is one of my favorite mysteries! I'm going to suggest these, but I think she's really after light & funny at the moment. Once they're on her radar, though, she may come back to them later. Thx... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. I absolutely loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi @ Mt Hope Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 I'm going to suggest these, but I think she's really after light & funny at the moment. Once they're on her radar, though, she may come back to them later. Thx... I loved The Woman in White, but it is fairly dark. The Moonstone is gothic, but I personally found it hilarious, particularly when the butler was narrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keptwoman Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Definitely Georgette Heyer :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CactusPair Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 how about George Eliot? Might be too much for a young girl, though. Maybe some of Charlotte Bronte's other books: Shirley, Villette. I haven't read these, though, so I don't know how appropriate they are. I 2nd the Wilkie Collins books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Well, since you mentioned Charlotte Bronte's work, are you familiar with Elizabeth Gaskell? She was a contemporary and friend of Bronte, in fact, she wrote a biography of Bronte. You may enjoy "Wives and Daughters" or "North and South", both written by Gaskell. I love Gaskell too. I love love love Wives and Daughters. Hands down my favorite book of all time. Beware that her Mary Barton is quite, quite dark. I think Wilkie Collins is a good choice. Most of them are 'mysteries' but I find he has quite the sense of humor :) Love The Moonstone and The Woman in White. Some of his lesser known works are actually pretty satirical and funny. I just read A Rogue's Life and really really enjoyed it. EF Benson is another one to check out. He was 'recommended' to me because of other Kindle purchases I've made. I've read Queen Lucia and Miss Mapp so far. They were written in the 1920s and very lighthearted/satirical about small town British life. Dorothy Canfield Fisher's Understood Betsy is very cute and sweet too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 The trouble is, Jane Austen was pretty special for her day. Novels were longer, wordier, and either very bawdy (Tom Jones!) or very very moral (Clarissa!) or all gothic. You could try Evelina by Fanny Burney, but it isn't funny and the heroine is aggravatingly passive, and it's an epistolary novel. If she'd like 19th century and really very funny, try Three Men On A Boat. My sister relates staying up all night laughing and being sore, sore, sore the next day, aged 14. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in TX Posted July 21, 2010 Author Share Posted July 21, 2010 So many suggestions--thank you all! I am going to bed now, but will be checking all of these out tomorrow. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 how about George Eliot? Might be too much for a young girl, though. Silas Marner is fine for someone who can read Jane Austen - although there are dark parts, it's a very satisfying novel with a happy ending. Not funny though. The Mill on the Floss is a strange novel: the first third is a wonderful picture of country life and the dreadful scrapes that an intelligent, bookish girl gets herself into. The last two-thirds of the novel takes the heroine into adulthood, and is very dark. Middlemarch - I'd leave until later. I haven't read any others of hers. I assume that your daughter has read lots of children's classics? I ask because Calvin is reading solidly adult books, but still enjoys dipping back into childhood classics. I find that the puffin classics usually give me good ideas on what I might have missed. They vary in reading level, but there are some really meaty reads in there. Great favourites have been France Hodgson Burnett and E Nesbit, as well as Elizabeth Goudge's A Little White Horse. Best wishes Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 If she'd like 19th century and really very funny, try Three Men On A Boat. My sister relates staying up all night laughing and being sore, sore, sore the next day, aged 14. She might like to look into Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest and also PG Wodehouse (from a later period but with a similar feel). Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in TX Posted July 21, 2010 Author Share Posted July 21, 2010 I have written every one down and will be searching them out at the library today. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweed Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Wives and Daughters is great, but the only thing is that the book doesn't end. Mrs. Gaskell died before finishing it, and that may be frustrating for a 12year old. I think Charlotte Bronte's Shirley is excellent but a mixed bag if you want humor. It has some of her funniest writing, along with some of her most melodramatic. I really liked Margaret Oliphant's Miss Marjoribanks. If your dd likes Emma, she may like Miss Marjoribanks. One book that I read to my children that had us holding our sides with laughter was E. Nesbit's The Phoenix and the Carpet. The chapter where the phoenix finds his "temple" is one of the funniest things I think I ever read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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