Lately I’ve been digging through the Classics. If you’ve read Dear Mr. Knightley or now 
Lizzy & Jane, you know I keep returning to these beloved favorites.
And I think they are relevant here, on a contemporary blog, because most of these were not written as historical fiction (not that we don’t love historical fiction), but were cutting-edge works that often pushed the boundaries of both storytelling, setting and character. In fact, Jane Eyre is accredited for single-handedly ushering in the more emotional, character-focused novel. Today we’d call it “literary fiction.”
Here are some I’ve been reading lately:
My copy. Picture taken in my hallway. :)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula. How did this one ever pass by my radar? I’m loving it! It’s deliciously creepy and I love that a book written in 1897 can still make my skin crawl.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. This is an absolute favorite of mine and I’m using for research for the my next novel.
This copy I received when I was about 12… Still love it. Great pictures.
Jane is a fascinating character – full of change, passion and vulnerability. But it’s Bronte’s secondary characters, such as Rochester and St. John, who keep me coming back again and again.
This is the copy I used for research so I figured it deserved the pic.
Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Yes, I know I make some allusions to this one in Lizzy & Jane so you’d think I would have had enough of it; but Austen is brilliant at laying out a huge character struggle within a single line. There is such pressure on Anne Elliot, the main character, that I keep revisiting her story to find out how Austen made me feel all the tension without spoon-feeding it to me.
What are some of your favorites?
Or do you read Classics at all?
I’d love to know what you think and what’s on your bedside table these days…
Katherine Reay is a wife, mother, runner, and avid chocolate consumer. She has enjoyed a life-long affair with the works of Jane Austen and her contemporaries and, at the encouragement of her family, recently began an affair with food – cooking that is – and this new passion strongly influenced her next novel, Lizzy and Jane, which will release in October 2014. After living all across the country and a few stops in Europe, Katherine and her family live in Seattle, WA. You can also find Katherine at www.katherinereay.com and lurking somewhere within the pages of her first novel, Dear Mr. Knightley.
Well, you’ve convinced me. I’ve never cared for literary novels. I’ve never read any of the ones you have pictured above. I’m not sure I’ve ever read any Jane Austen novel (don’t choke on your coffee). But after reading Lizzy and Jane (which I HIGHLY recommend), and this post, I might have to dig through my library and find copies of these (yes, I have them, just don’t read them LOL).
PS. MINI REVIEW: I’m going to say this again, I LOVED Lizzy and Jane. It was so thought-provoking and well, it will probably be one of the books I read again, and that’s REALLY rare for me. Congrats on a second great book, Katherine.
I am a diehard Dickens fan. Yeah, he’s a little dark, but I LOVE his books. And of course Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Thomas Hardy, George Elliot, I could go on, I was an English major…I can’t wait to read Lizzy and Jane!
Ginger, Thank you so much. I’m thrilled you loved the sisters. I must say — I was fairly certain at times I was the only one who would like them. :) Yes, dig into a few classics — Austen is brilliant for as much as what she says and what she doesn’t. Have fun!
Cathy, I think I missed my major in college; but I love history so perhaps not. I love Dickens too and all the others mentioned… Dracula has been a surprise for me. :) If you have any great suggestions I might not have come across — PLEASE pass them along!
Katherine, I love Persuasion. The book and the film. Such sweet romance in a distant sort of way, yet it makes me bubble with anticipation every single time, even though I know it’s a happily-ending tale.
Right now, I’m participating in NaNoWriMo, so I don’t have as much free time to read outside of proofreading jobs and writing my own stories. However, I have been reading novellas. I find they’re short enough to be squeezed in in small doses (like during commercials of the Dallas Mavericks or Dallas Stars games that I watch.) I just finished A Cowboy for Katie by Debra Clopton yesterday, and I began A November Bride by Beth K. Vogt today. Up next after that will be a full-length novel. It will be by either Jody Hedlund (a first for me, I’m so excited! She’s been on my wish list for a while now) or by Julie Klassen (one of my all-time favorite authors, probably because she writes instant classics, tales that will span the ages, just like her [and your] inspiration: Jane Eyre and all things Jane Austen). But with NaNo, it’ll probably take me a while to finish whichever one I choose.
Blessings,
Andrea
Just choked on my coffee (a little). Go read Jane Austen, Ginger. You will fall in love. I read all of her work as a teenager, but I can tell you I have a different appreciation now, as a mom. I bet you would too. If you have trouble getting into her writing, try an audio book. There are some free versions available on Librivox. (Bonus: You will love and appreciate both of Katherine’s books even more after you have read Austen.)
Katherine, there is so much to love about the classics. They are accessible to almost everyone, being readily available in public libraries and in electronic format. Their characters still speak to us even after the passage of a century or two. Jane Eyre and Anne Elliot are two of my favorite women in literature, so I am happy you are getting to spend a little time with them lately.
What a great endeavor! Best wishes with NaNoWriMo!
Me too… And you are right, they are so accessible these days. I love that as I have rediscovered the library in our new town and it’s a wonderful one.
Thanks, Katherine!
I do love the classics. I love classics, historical, romance, Amish, historical fiction.