The Law and the Lady vs Vanity Fair: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Married women, Married people, British and irish fiction, Women, England, Fiction
The Law and the Lady
“In offering this book to you, I have no Preface to write.”
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Three years ago, her husband stood accused of murder -- and the verdict that came in from the jury was the Scottish Verdict, Not Proven. The jury had not evidence enough to convict him -- nor enough to comfortably…
Vanity Fair
“WHILE the present century was in its teens, and on one sunshiny morning in June, there drove up to the great iron gate of Miss Pinkerton's academy for young ladies, on Chiswick Mall, a large family coach, with two fat horses in blazing harness, driven by a fat coachman in a three-cornered hat and wig, at the rate of four miles an hour.”
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No one is better equipped in the struggle for wealth and worldly success than the alluring and ruthless Becky Sharp, who defies her impoverished background to clamber up the class ladder. Her sentimental companion…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Law and the Lady is the quickest read — about 7 hours vs 12 for Vanity Fair.
- Vanity Fair has the widest readership — 135029 ratings behind its score.
- The Law and the Lady reaches further in scholarship and criticism — cited 22 times.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The Law and the Lady | Vanity Fair | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (3504) | 3.8 (135029) |
| Hardcover | 3.1 (5) | 3.6 (111) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (59) | 4.0 (22) |
Reception
| The Law and the Lady | Vanity Fair | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 3504 | 135029 |
| Editions | 384 | 200 |
| Citations | 22 | 15 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 4296 | 182818 |
| Reading it now | 286 | 7681 |
| Written reviews | 361 | 5313 |
| Wikipedia attention | 1529 | 14116 |
| Pages | 392 | 699 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The Law and the Lady or Vanity Fair?
Vanity Fair has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Vanity Fair 3.8/5, The Law and the Lady 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: The Law and the Lady or Vanity Fair?
The Law and the Lady is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Law and the Lady (392 pages, ≈ 7 h 16 m); Vanity Fair (699 pages, ≈ 12 h 57 m).
Which is harder to read: The Law and the Lady or Vanity Fair?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Law and the Lady: Demanding; Vanity Fair: Demanding.
Have both books been made into films?
The Law and the Lady: no film adaptation on record; Vanity Fair: 5 film adaptations.