Sewell Ford
Torchy and Vee: what to read next?
Books close in genre, era, author or reading level, to read in bilingual editions.
L. M. MontgomeryThe Blue CastleValancy, a young woman stifled by an authoritarian family and a monotonous life, learns she may be seriously ill. This news acts as a trigger: she decides to finally live by her own rules. She breaks away from conventions and meets Barney, a marginal and free-spirited man who…Same genreSame era
Maria DaviessBluegrass and BroadwayIn Kentucky, young Patricia Adair must save Rosemeade, the family home where her grandfather lives. She writes a play drawn from her great-grandmother’s love letters. In New York, the producer Godfrey Vandeford buys it without reading it: he wants it to fail, to teach his star…Same countrySame genreSame era
H. De Vere StacpooleThe Blue LagoonIn the nineteenth century, on the Pacific Ocean, the sailing ship carrying two eight-year-old cousins, Dick and Emmeline, towards San Francisco catches fire at sea. The children escape in a small boat with Paddy Button, an old Irish sailor, and the fog separates them from the…Same genreSame era
Harold MacGrathThe Place of HoneymoonsAn American romantic novel. Edward Courtlandt, a wealthy American, returns to Paris after two years in the jungles of Burma to see Nora Harrigan again, an Irish-American soprano who sings at the Opera under the name Eleonora da Toscana. When he forces his way into her…Same countrySame 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 countrySame genreSame era
George GriffithA Honeymoon in SpaceAn English adventure novel first published in 1901. On 5 November 1900, in the middle of the Atlantic, a flying ship of metal and glass draws alongside an American liner. Its owner, Lord Redgrave, a wealthy Englishman, built it from an invention by the father of Zaidie Rennick,…Same genreSame era
Arthur StringerThe Prairie WifeA novel by the Canadian writer Arthur Stringer, published in 1915 and written in the form of a diary. A young woman from New York high society, suddenly ruined, marries almost without thinking Duncan McKail, a Canadian of Scottish descent, a former engineer who now grows wheat…Same 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…Same genre
Mark TwainThe Prince and the PauperTom Canty, a poor child living in misery, accidentally meets Prince Edward, who looks strikingly like him. For fun, they exchange roles but become trapped in lives that are not their own. Tom discovers the constraints of power, while Edward faces the harshness of the streets.…Same countrySame genre
Marah RyanThat Girl MontanaA novel of the American West. Around 1890, on the banks of the Kootenai River, near the border between Canada and the United States, a sixteen-year-old girl who lives alone among the Native Americans dives into the icy water to save a child. Dan Overton, a guide respected…Same countrySame genreSame era
L. M. MontgomeryAnne of Green GablesAnne Shirley, a lively and imaginative orphan, is mistakenly sent to Marilla and Matthew, a brother and sister who were expecting a boy to help on the farm. Despite her blunders and passionate temperament, Anne gradually wins their hearts and those of the people around her.…Same genreSame era
Elizabeth GaskellCranfordAn English novel published in 1853. Cranford is a small country town where nearly every house is kept by ladies, often poor, who never speak of money. The narrator, Mary Smith, who comes from the large town nearby, makes long stays with Miss Matty Jenkyns, the gentle and timid…Same genre