E. F. Benson
Miss Mapp: what to read next?
Books close in genre, era, author or reading level, to read in bilingual editions.
Oscar WildeThe Importance of Being EarnestTwo young men of high society lie to escape their obligations. Jack, a serious guardian in the country, has invented a younger brother whose name he takes when he goes to London to enjoy himself; Algernon has invented a sick friend, Bunbury, whom he claims to visit whenever a…Same genreSame era
Oscar WildeThe Canterville GhostThe Otis family, American and practical, buys an English manor said to have been haunted for three centuries. The ghost of Sir Simon multiplies apparitions, chains and bloodstains, without drawing from the newcomers the terror he expects. Humiliated by tenants who scrub away…Same genre
Natsume SōsekiBotchanAn unloved younger son, blunt to the point of rudeness, a young man from Tokyo takes a post as a mathematics teacher in a small town on Shikoku. His pupils put him to the test from his very first weeks, in class and then during his first night on duty at the school, and the…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
Machado de AssisThe AlienistBack from Europe, Dr. Simão Bacamarte settles in the small town of Itaguaí, in Brazil, and later founds an asylum there, the Green House, to study madness scientifically. His criteria widen week by week: first a respected citizen, then so many residents that the asylum ends up…Same genre
Jane AustenEmmaEmma Woodhouse, young, rich and sure of her judgement, has made a pastime of arranging the marriages around her. Convinced she is working for the happiness of others, she guides a friend of no fortune and reads everyone's intentions in her own way. Her arrangements slowly turn…Same countrySame genre
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…Same countrySame genre
Nikolai GogolThe Overcoat · The NoseThese two Petersburg stories each follow a minor official whom the capital overwhelms. Akaky Akakievich, a copying clerk mocked by his colleagues, goes without for months to pay for the new overcoat that finally earns him some regard. Collegiate assessor Kovalyov wakes up with…Same genre
VoltaireCandide, or OptimismRaised in a Westphalian castle, Candide learns from his tutor Pangloss that all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. Driven out for kissing Cunégonde, he passes through war, the Inquisition, the Lisbon earthquake and the colonies of the Americas. Each disaster…Same genre
Mark TwainAdventures of Huckleberry FinnHuckleberry Finn, a young boy seeking freedom, escapes an oppressive life and travels down the Mississippi on a raft with Jim, a runaway slave. Together, they face dangers, unpredictable encounters, and moral dilemmas. Huck begins to question the rules of the society he was…
Jules VerneAround the World in 80 DaysPhileas Fogg, a methodical gentleman, bets that he can travel around the world in eighty days. Accompanied by Passepartout, his resourceful servant, he moves from one mode of transport to another while facing unforeseen events across several continents. But a police inspector…
Sewell FordTorchy and VeeSeventeen linked comic stories, told by Torchy in the everyday speech of New York. Once a red-haired office boy, now private secretary to the president of a large company, Torchy is married to Vee and has a baby. The stories take place in 1918 and 1919, in New York and its…Same era