18 books like Women in Love
Abel Sánchez
Delve into three of Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno's most haunting parables. This essential Unamuno reader begins with the full-length novel Abel Sanchez, a modern retelling of the story of Cain and Abel. Also included are two remarkable short stories, The Madness of Doctor Montarco and San Manuel Bueno, Martyr, featuring quixotic, philosophically existential characters confronted by the…
Shares: Male friendship, Interpersonal relations, Romance
The Kite Runner
The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their…
Shares: Male friendship, Social classes
Wives and Daughters
The story is about Molly Gibson, the only daughter of a widowed doctor living in a provincial English town in the 1830s.
Shares: Social classes, Social conditions, British and irish fiction, Women
Vanity Fair
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 Amelia, however, longs only for caddish soldier George. As the two heroines make their way through the tawdry glamour of Regency society, battles - military and domestic - are fought,…
Shares: Social classes, British and irish fiction, Women, Classics
The House of Mirth
Beautiful, intelligent, and hopelessly addicted to luxury, Lily Bart is the heroine of this Wharton masterpiece. But it is her very taste and moral sensibility that render her unfit for survival in this world.
Shares: Social classes, Open_syllabus_project, Social conditions, Classic Literature
Basil
Basil is the second novel written in 1852 by the British author Wilkie Collins, after Antonina.
Shares: Social classes, Interpersonal relations, British and irish fiction, Classic Literature
Pelham
This is the tale of Henry Pelham. He falls in love with his best friend’s sister, and then learns that his friend is accused of murder. He must find the real killer in order to marry his love. The book really illustrates the manners, habits and lifestyles of the rich and famous in the first half of the 19th century. This is a very entertaining read!Please Note: This book is easy to read in true…
Shares: British and irish fiction, Classic Literature, Romance
Mapp and Lucia (Make Way for Lucia, Part 4)
Meet Mapp and Luciatwo of the most unpleasant, disgraceful women you're ever likely to encounter, in E.F. Benson's carefully observed tale of 1930s village life and social ranking Emmeline Lucas (known as Lucia to her friends) is emerging from mourning following the death of her husband. Pretentious, snobbish, and down-right devious, she feels her hometown of Riseholme offers no challenges and…
Shares: Social classes, Women, Classics
The Guilty River
During his lifetime, British fiction writer Wilkie Collins came to rival Charles Dickens in popularity and critical acclaim. Like Dickens, Collins often gravitated toward characters who overcame significant obstacles to learn important life lessons. The novella The Guilty River continues in this vein, recounting an against-all-odds love affair that blossoms between a couple that each…
Shares: British and irish fiction, Classic Literature
Tomorrow about this time
Half-sisters Silver and Athalie Greeves have grown up worlds apart. Silver is a humble, faith-filled young lady; Athalie is a flapper who takes after her socialite mother. When a chance visit suddenly reunites Silver and Athalie with each other and a father they’ve never known, will a true family emerge where only a family by name existed before? Terrance Bannard, the local minister, is soon…
Shares: Sisters, Romance
Emma
Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about youthful hubris and the perils of misconstrued romance. The novel was first published in December 1815. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England; she also creates a lively comedy of manners among her characters. Before she began the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a…
Shares: Open_syllabus_project, British and irish fiction, Classics, Classic Literature
No name
No Name is a 19th-century novel by the master of sensation fiction, Wilkie Collins. A country gentleman is killed in an accident and his wife dies shortly after him. The blow is double for their daughters, who discover that they were born before their parents were married. Their sudden illegitimacy robs them of their inheritance and their accustomed place in society.
Shares: Sisters, British and irish fiction, Classic Literature
The dynamiter
All fourteen-year-old Robbie Hendrick ever wanted was a family. Yet as another Mississippi summer begins, his wayward mother has run off again fearing a breakdown and he's left to burn the days caring for his half brother, Fess. As the deep days and nights pass without her return and with older brother Lucas dangerously in their lives again, Robbie must face the fact that his dream of a family…
Shares: British and irish fiction, Classic Literature
Within the tides
In the private editorial office of the principal newspaper in a great colonial city two men were talking. They were both young. The stouter of the two, fair, and with more of an urban look about him, was the editor and part-owner of the important newspaper.
Shares: British and irish fiction, Classic Literature
The Law and the Lady
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 exonerate him. Eustace could not bear the weight of her discovery; he fled to the continent, to live in anonymity. But Valeria knew her husband, and she loved him. She knew he was…
Shares: Social conditions, British and irish fiction, Women, Classic Literature
Herland
On the eve of WWI, three American male explorers stumble onto an all-female society somewhere in the distant reaches of the earth. Unable to believe their eyes, they promptly set out to find some men, convinced that since this is a civilized country--there must be men. So begins this sparkling utopian novel, a romp through a whole world "masculine" and "feminine", as on target today as when it…
Shares: Open_syllabus_project, Women, Classics, Classic Literature
Far from the Madding Crowd
Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues,…
Shares: Open_syllabus_project, British and irish fiction, Classic Literature, Romance
Sense and Sensibility
When Mr. Dashwood dies, he must leave the bulk of his estate to the son by his first marriage, which leaves his second wife and three daughters (Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret) in straitened circumstances. They are taken in by a kindly cousin, but their lack of fortune affects the marriageability of both practical Elinor and romantic Marianne. When Elinor forms an attachment for the wealthy…
Shares: Social classes, Sisters, Classic Literature, Romance