Jane Austen
Emma: what to read next?
Books close in genre, era, author or reading level, to read in bilingual editions.
Jane AustenPride and PrejudiceElizabeth Bennet, the second of five sisters, belongs to a family of minor English gentry where marriage decides a daughter's future. The arrival of a wealthy neighbour and of his friend Darcy, thought haughty, unsettles the whole neighbourhood. Between gossip and hasty…By the same authorSame genreSame era
Jane AustenNorthanger AbbeyA novel by Jane Austen, published in 1817, that gently mocks the tales of terror so widely read at the time. Catherine Morland, a seventeen-year-old clergyman’s daughter who devours such books, travels with neighbours to Bath, a spa town of balls and promenades. There she…By the same authorSame genreSame era
Jane AustenPersuasionEight years earlier, Anne Elliot broke off her engagement to a penniless naval officer on the advice of those closest to her. Now the overlooked daughter of a family ruined by vanity, she sees Captain Wentworth return, wealthy and much admired. Meetings multiply within a narrow…By the same authorSame genreSame era
Jane AustenSense and SensibilityElinor and Marianne, two sisters with opposite temperaments, face the social and emotional constraints of their era. Elinor embodies reason and restraint, while Marianne follows her feelings with intensity. Their romantic experiences confront them with disappointment,…By the same authorSame genreSame era
Henryk SienkiewiczQuo VadisUnder Nero, the patrician Vinicius falls in love with Lygia, a royal hostage raised in a Roman household and secretly Christian. Used to getting his way, he has her claimed for the palace; she escapes, and he discovers a community living by rules opposed to his own. When Rome…Same genre
Nikolai GogolDead SoulsChichikov arrives in a provincial town, charms everyone who matters, and calls on the landowners nearby. He offers them a peculiar bargain: to buy the serfs who have died since the last census but still stand on the registers and are taxed to their owners. From estate to estate…Same genreSame era
Alphonse DaudetLetters from My WindmillSettled in an abandoned windmill in Provence, the narrator sends his Parisian readers stories of the country and its people. Among them are Monsieur Seguin's goat, the priest of Cucugnan, Corsican lighthouse keepers and an old couple forgotten in their village. The pieces move…Same genre
Miguel de CervantesDon QuixoteA gentleman of La Mancha has read so many books of chivalry that he sets out as a knight errant under the name Don Quixote. On a broken-down horse, with Sancho Panza, a talkative and practical farmer, he takes inns for castles and windmills for giants. His expeditions end in…Same genre
Victor HugoThe Hunchback of Notre-DameParis, 1482: the gypsy Esmeralda dances on the Place de Grève while the city keeps the Feast of Fools. Quasimodo, the cathedral's misshapen bell-ringer, and Claude Frollo, the archdeacon who raised him, are both overcome by her. Between cloister, Court of Miracles and pillory,…Same genreSame era
F. Scott FitzgeraldThe Great GatsbyJay Gatsby, a wealthy and enigmatic man, throws lavish parties in the hope of reconnecting with Daisy, a woman he loved in the past. Nick, his neighbor, observes this world of luxury, illusion, and ambition. Beneath the glittering surface, desires and lies intertwine, revealing…Same genre
Prosper MériméeCarmenAn archaeologist travelling in Andalusia meets a wanted bandit, Don José, and then a Romani woman who tells fortunes in Córdoba. Several months later he finds Don José in prison, on the eve of his execution, and hears his confession. Once a corporal with a promotion in sight,…Same genreSame era
Alexandre DumasThe Count of Monte CristoIn 1815 Edmond Dantès, a young first mate promised a command and a bride, is denounced on the day of his betrothal. Imprisoned without trial in the Château d'If, he meets the abbé Faria, who teaches him and tells of a hidden treasure. Under the name of the Count of Monte…Same genreSame era