Beyond Jane Austin

[deb1]

A lot of women, myself included, like Jane Austen. But there are some lesser known female authors from her time up until the late 1800's who are very enjoyable to read. I thought that I would write a list for anyone who would like to discover some really good, but not well known female authors.

Please add to the list. I love to read, especially classical literature.

By the way, I have nothing against male writers-I love Tolstoy, Dickens and Wilkie Collins. I just thought that those who liked Austen might like a few additional female fictional authors


Elizabeth Gaskel I read a book by her entitled North and South. It is an excellent book-all these books are very good- and I believe that this book was portrayed on Masterpiece Theater.

Francies Burney Thus far my favorite author and guess what? Jane Austen liked her too. Burney was married to a Catholic and she is more sympathetic toward Catholics then some other writers of the time period.

Ann Radcliffe Many of her novels have what would be considered cliché's today; the wet, thundery night, eerie castles, possible ghosts, but that is because this lady helped invent such clichés. Just be aware when you read these books that the women have an annoying habit of fainting. Still, the books are very good

Marie Edgeworth I recently finished reading Belinda(1801) Another good book

Margaret Oliphant Currently I am reading a book entitled Hester by this woman. It is an interesting read because one of the characters, Catherine Vernon-a woman, of course- used to run a successful bank! Wait, I thought women couldn't do these things in the 1800s? Apparently they could in Oliphant's novels. She also wrote a very entertaining book that is more humorous then Hester. That book is Miss Marjobanks

Please add to my list. I am always on the look out for different books to read, especially books from before the 1900's.

[deb1]

If anyone notices that this thread temporarily appeared three times on the forum that is because my computer was running very slo...owly. So I hit the submit thread button several times. Much to my horror, three threads came up entitled, Beyond Jane Austin. I tried to delete two and my computer was again running slow. Luckily no one posted before I got the other threads deleted.

I hope I get some response on additional novels. I would like to find some other dorks, who like me, read novels no one else has ever heard of.

[leonie]

Thanks Deb, I'm a huge Jane Austen fan and I will definitely look for the authors you recommended.

[LilyM]

Frances (Fanny) Burney was an amazing woman - tough as they come. She wrote an absolutely harrowing account of undergoing a mastectomy, due to breast cancer (back in the days of no anaesthetic and no antiseptics, mind you) - which she survived, amazingly, and lived on for another 28 years!

And I believe it was Maria Edgworth who wrote "Black Beauty" which even the most remotely horsey girl absolutely falls in love with at some point

[mdzialo]

Hi:

I'm a guy and I'd rather be reading Jane Austin, too. When I met my wife, she was reading Jane Austin and so I started. We read all the books together. It was a lot of fun and a very meaningful way to spend our time, partly because Jane Austin was a great genius. We went on a writer's tour of England, including Jane Austin house. On a warm summers day we sat out in her backyard for a couple of hours, reflecting and watching our young kids run around and play with their plastic knight's swords. We had tea and scones at a sidewalk café across the street from Jane Austin house.

The new authors look interesting. Thanks.

[deb1]

Originally Posted by LilyM

Frances (Fanny) Burney was an amazing woman - tough as they come. She wrote an absolutely harrowing account of undergoing a mastectomy, due to breast cancer (back in the days of no anaesthetic and no antiseptics, mind you) - which she survived, amazingly, and lived on for another 28 years!

And I believe it was Maria Edgworth who wrote "Black Beauty" which even the most remotely horsey girl absolutely falls in love with at some point

I did not know that Maria Edgworth wrote Black Beauty! My daugher is reading that book right now and I read it as a young girl.

I knew that Francis Burney had undergone a mastectomy but I didn't know that it was done without anesthia. I never thought about the fact that they had no antibiotics or antiseptics.

ONe of the pleasures about reading books written a long time ago is that you see not only how much culture has changed but how much we as humans have stayed the same.

It also amazes me that books from before Freud could have so much insight into the various characters mind and emotional background.

Reading what women of the past wrote has given me a different take on our foremothers. Women were not all sitting around drinking tea and complaining of the vapors, as modern television sometimes depicts. They were everybit as complex and interesting as we are.

[deb1]

Originally Posted by mdzialo

Hi:

I'm a guy and I'd rather be reading Jane Austin, too. When I met my wife, she was reading Jane Austin and so I started. We read all the books together. It was a lot of fun and a very meaningful way to spend our time, partly because Jane Austin was a great genius. We went on a writer's tour of England, including Jane Austin house. On a warm summers day we sat out in her backyard for a couple of hours, reflecting and watching our young kids run around and play with their plastic knight's swords. We had tea and scones at a sidewalk café across the street from Jane Austin house.

The new authors look interesting. Thanks.

Yeah!

[deb1]

Originally Posted by leonie

Thanks Deb, I'm a huge Jane Austen fan and I will definitely look for the authors you recommended.

Try Francis Burney. She's my favorite on the list and one that doesn't get a lot of attention today.

One of my favorite books of her is-I think- called Camilla. Being a totally southern girl, I was surprised to see that flirting was not considered proper during those times.

But I was also amazed how the book had a class of people who were considered the "in' people. Of course, Burney did not use the term, "cool" but that is sort of the type of people that she was describing. They were shallow people, who made snide comments about everyone and everyone wanted to join their group. Remember these types of people from highschool? The main character, Camilla(darn I can't remember if I have the name correct) isn't shallow at all but she does come in contact with this group. Its been a long time since I read the book, but I was just amazed that those in Burney's day had the ' cool' people also.

[LilyM]

Originally Posted by deb1

I did not know that Maria Edgworth wrote Black Beauty! My daugher is reading that book right now and I read it as a young girl.

Ewps, my mistake It was actually Anna Sewell. And my niece was reading it a few months ago

It also amazes me that books from before Freud could have so much insight into the various characters mind and emotional background.

Heck yeah - Jane Austen would have been a brilliant psychologist. Some very real-life touches, like Jane not believing that Elizabeth has fallen in love with Darcy in Pride & Prej

Reading what women of the past wrote has given me a different take on our foremothers. Women were not all sitting around drinking tea and complaining of the vapors, as modern television sometimes depicts. They were everybit as complex and interesting as we are.

more people change the more we stay the same, eh

[puzzleannie]

Originally Posted by LilyM

And I believe it was Maria Edgworth who wrote "Black Beauty" which even the most remotely horsey girl absolutely falls in love with at some point

Anna Sewell wrote Black Beauty, which became kind of the Silent Spring of her day, and really did pave the way for laws against animal cruelty, which was her intention.

Maria Edgeworth I only know from her being mentioned by some of Jane's heroines like Catherine who are addicted to sensation or thriller novels of the day, as satirized in Northanger Abbey.

[Sr Sally]

Where did you find the books? I have been looking for books by these authors for several years. My public libarary only has a title or two. I'm not to into the gothic (dark, scary castles) style, but I would like to read more by woman authors of that time.

[Zooey]

The best places to look for books from the past like this are publishers that specialize in reprinting books that have gone out of copyright.
The one that comes to mind is Dover Books. I am sure there are others.
And lots of wonderful books are available online through sites like the Gutenberg Project.

My own favorite is from after Jane Austen--long after: Georgette Heyer. While still a teenager, Miss Heyer became frustrated that Jane had written so few books, & she proceeded to write a whole passel herself. While they are "lighter" reading, they are nevertheless a delightful look into the past. My favorite of hers is "The Spanish Bride", which was based on a real person, the very young (& Spanish) wife of an officer who fought under Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars.

I am going to subscribe to this thread now, in the hope of gathering more ideas for reading!!

[deb1]

Originally Posted by Sr Sally

Where did you find the books? I have been looking for books by these authors for several years. My public libarary only has a title or two. I'm not to into the gothic (dark, scary castles) style, but I would like to read more by woman authors of that time.

I get them on Amazon.com. I realize that many people have issues with Amazon but it is the only place that I can find such novels.

Amazon also has an interesting feature. When you type in a particular book that you wish to search for, beneath the said book will be a little segment that says: Customers who bought this book also bought: and then there is a little button that says similar Items. I click on the similar items button and am sent to a page of different books and authors who are similar to the ones I enjoy. That is how I discovered many of these authors.

If I ever get wealthy then I am going to buy a group of the best novels and donate them to small rural libraries.

[lizaanne]

Originally Posted by deb1

Ann Radcliffe Many of her novels have what would be considered cliché's today; the wet, thundery night, eerie castles, possible ghosts, but that is because this lady helped invent such clichés. Just be aware when you read these books that the women have an annoying habit of fainting. Still, the books are very good.

I suppose if we had to be trussed up like turkeys these days, we would be doing a lot of fainting as well!!

I've heard of Radcliffe, and would love to read some of her work, as well as they others. They all sound wonderful!!

Thanks for the list!

~Liza

[Jason Hurd]

I am surprised that no one has yet mentioned the Bronte sisters: Emily, Charlotte and Anne. When I saw the original post asking about nineteenth-century authoresses, the Brontes were the first ones who came to mind. Emily's 'Wuthering Heights' is of course famous from the many films that have been based on it(there is even an opera!), but my own favorite is Charlotte's 'Jane Eyre'. George Eliot, Georges Sand and Elinor Glyn are some other novelists of the period in question. My own favorite writer, male or female, is Miss Shirley Jackson, but she is firmly ensconced in the twentieth century. However, as the 1900's are fast receding into the mists of history, perhaps her work would be of interest as well.