Jane Austen
Persuasion: what to read next?
Books close in genre, era, author or reading level, to read in bilingual editions.
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 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
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…By the same authorSame genreSame era
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
Alfred OllivantOne WomanAn English novel, the second part of “a Romance of Sussex”. In 1908, in a seaside town in the south of England, Ruth, a former housemaid, marries Ernie Caspar, a working man who raises little Alice, born before their marriage, as his own daughter. The years pass: more children…Same countrySame genre
Emily BrontëWuthering HeightsAn English novel from 1847. In the windswept hills of northern England, at the end of the eighteenth century, Mr Earnshaw brings home from Liverpool an abandoned child, who is named Heathcliff, and raises him in his old, isolated farmhouse alongside his own children, Hindley…Same countrySame genreSame era
Charles DickensA Tale of Two CitiesCharles Darnay, a French aristocrat, renounces his origins to live a fairer life in England, while Sydney Carton, a disillusioned lawyer, struggles with his own inner emptiness. Their destinies intersect against the backdrop of the French Revolution, where social tensions erupt…Same countrySame genre
Alice RiceBilly Goat HillAn American novel. In Kentucky, early in the twentieth century, the old Thornwood mansion stands on Billy-goat Hill, a hill that the nearby city is slowly taking over. Colonel Bob Carsey lives there with his daughter, nicknamed Miss Lady, a free and joyful girl who has educated…Same genre
Thomas HardyA Pair of Blue EyesAn English novel by Thomas Hardy, published in 1873. One winter day, Stephen Smith, a young assistant to a London architect, arrives in an isolated coastal village in the west of England to survey the old church, which needs restoring. Lodging with the vicar, he falls in love…Same countrySame genre
Robert Louis StevensonCatrionaDavid Balfour, a young Scot seeking justice and stability, becomes entangled in political intrigues after events that have shaken his life. Alongside Catriona, a strong and determined woman, he navigates dangers, plots, and moral dilemmas. Their relationship evolves in an…Same countrySame genre
Thomas HardyTwo on a TowerIn the English countryside of the nineteenth century, Lady Constantine lives alone on her estate while her husband hunts lions in Africa. She has promised him to see almost no one, and she is bored. At the top of an old tower she finds Swithin St Cleeve, a young man of twenty…Same countrySame genre
Mary WollstonecraftLove Letters to ImlayLetters written between 1793 and 1795 by the English writer Mary Wollstonecraft to Gilbert Imlay, an American doing business in France. It all begins in Paris during the Revolution: to escape the prison that threatens the English, she takes the name “Mrs Imlay” and lives with…Same countrySame genreSame era