Book Recommendations

[famvir]

This is an old one to bring back.

My granddaughter is 13 and just read Emma. She’d like more Jane Austen, but I want to make sure it’s young teen friendly. Any other books along this line from other authors would be appreciated.

I was more of a Hobbit, Lord of the Rings kid, do I can’t help her that much.

[Deleted]

Indiscreet by Jude Morgan is kind of a take off of Emma, as a I recall. It sounds like a bodice ripper, but absolutely isn't! G rated, absolutely. Any Austen fan is bound to like it.

She might like Marion Chesney recency romances. Some very mild references to sex, but absolutely no explicit scenes. (Like a slightly less chaste version of Georgette Heyer.)

I remember loving The Scarlet Pimpernel at that age, I thought it was amazingly romantic. Definitely no sex.

She might also like Mary Stewart romantic thrillers, I also loved those when I was that age. I think they are all back in print.

[famvir]

Apr 16, 2020 23:23:08 GMT -4 @stargirl said:

Indiscreet by Jude Morgan is kind of a take off of Emma, as a I recall. It sounds like a bodice ripper, but absolutely isn't! G rated, absolutely. Any Austen fan is bound to like it.

She might like Marion Chesney recency romances. Some very mild references to sex, but absolutely no explicit scenes. (Like a slightly less chaste version of Georgette Heyer.)

I remember loving The Scarlet Pimpernel at that age, I thought it was amazingly romantic. Definitely no sex.

She might also like Mary Stewart romantic thrillers, I also loved those when I was that age. I think they are all back in print.

Thanks for the ideas!

[Carolinian]

The Scarlet Pimpernel is an excellent suggestion!

[Deleted]

Also, once we are on the topic of Jane Austen, I have a recommendation for a brand new P&P spin off, called The Other Bennett Sister, by Janice Hadlow. It tells the story of Mary, and was so thoroughly enjoyable. Probably the best spin off I've read. (Usually they try too hard, way over use the term "archly" which drives me crazy or go over the top with titillating bedroom scenes. This didn't make any of those mistakes, and I thought it captured Austen's style in an authentic way.)

Just a lovely, sweet read. I don't know if a 13 year old would appreciate it, to be honest, but any long time Austen fan should.

[Carolinian]

It's interesting to me that so many authors enjoy writing in the P&P universe. A couple I've enjoyed are Longbourn by Jo Baker (exploring the life of the servants) and The Clergyman's Wife by Molly Greeley about Charlotte Lucas Collins's life. (While g-rated neither, I think, would appeal to a YA reader.)

The only other set of characters I can think of who've been treated like this are Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.

[Deleted]

I know I've read and enjoyed Longbourne. But I don't think I've read the other one mentioned. I will check it out!
(Some of the P&P spin offs are so bad, they are amusing in a "how over the top awful can you get?" Regardless of which, I'm a total sucker for them and am willing to give almost any a try.)

[Ladybug]

My coworker and I were laughing about the Men Writing Women twitter, and I was wondering are there any male authors you think write women well? Most of the male writers I read are non-fiction authors. For fiction I'm mainly drawn to women authors.

[Deleted]

Very few imo! One is Jude Morgan as mentioned a few posts prior. When I first read his Regency romances--he has written a few-- I had no clue it was a male author. (It's a pen name.) I was really shocked to find out otherwise!
The other one is Andrew Taylor. One of my favorite books of all time is Bleeding Heart Square, a historical novel of suspense. It has shifting povs, but the main one is a woman.

[madangela]

Am very much enjoying and yipping to “Unsheltered” by Barbara Kingsolver for many, many reasons.