Shirley vs The Great Shadow: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: Napoleonic wars, Fiction

Cover of Shirley

Shirley Charlotte Brontë · 1800 ★★★★☆ 3.8 640 pages · ≈ 11 h 51 m · Demanding Find on Amazon

vs

Cover of The Great Shadow

The Great Shadow Arthur Conan Doyle · 1892 ★★★★☆ 3.8 134 pages · ≈ 2 h 29 m · Challenging Find on Amazon

The verdict

Ratings are close: 3.8 vs 3.8 — either is a safe pick by score.
The Great Shadow is the quicker read — about 2 hours vs 11 for Shirley.
The Great Shadow is the easier read (Challenging), Shirley more demanding (Demanding).

Side by side