Suggestions for books set in the Victorian era .. please , no romances ?
Suggestions for books set in the Victorian era … please , no romances ?
64 Answers
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Suggestions for books set in the Victorian era … please , no romances ?
Anything about Jack the Ripper would fall in that time period!
Yes , I especially love anything Jack the Ripper !
Not fiction, but Agatha Christie’s Autobiography gives a beautiful view of being a child during the late Victorian era and goes on through the social changes that followed. She writes as if she is in a chair next to you just having a great conversation
I’ll have to look it up , I enjoy autobiographies
I LOVE this book. I read it once a year. Her descriptions and insights are very clever (as expected) but don’t expect a traditional autobiography. She explains that in the first chapter. Enjoy!
that does sound very interesting. What is it called?
Autobiography by Agatha Christie (literally the title is Autobiography-not very original but an excellent book)
no. not at all original!
The Silent Companions, The Turn of the Screw, The portrait of Dorian Grey, The Essex Serpent, Sherlock Holmes especially A Study in Scarlet and The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Lie Tree, Remarkable Creatures.
I’ve read lots of Sherlock Holmes …. Loved Dorian Grey
Yes! I would definitely recommend Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw have me the proper heebeegeebees? In a similar vein, I think The Woman in Black is set in the Victorian era ? Anne Granger’s Lizzie Martin-Inspector Ben Ross series of books are. The 4 Charles Horton books by Lloyd Shepherd (The English Monster, Savage Magic etc) are a bit earlier but they are a cracking read? There was a book I read that I can’t remember the full title of…something about glasseaters ? The Honours…that’s a weird story?
Opps The Honours is a bit later than Victorian but it has the feel of The Essex Serpent, I think.
Definitely going to look these up !!
The Royal Mob by Theresa Sherman, a fictionalized version of the life of Victoria, Marchioness of Milford Haven (née Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine), granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
Sherlock Holmes
Edgar Allan Poe and the London Monster
Just looked this up , definitely is my kinda book ! Thanks for the suggestion .
I really enjoyed it. There’s also one set in Bedlam asylum- ‘The Bedlam Detective’, but I’ve not read it yet!
The Quick
Charles Dickens was a Victorian writer, wasn’t he?
Sherlock @Holmes
Sarah Waters books
Love her books !
Anne Perry has written two Victorian mystery series.
The William Monk novels are set in the “early” Victorian era (1860’s) and the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt novels are set in the “late” Victorian era (1880’s.)
(There is some romance in the books, but they are more mystery books.)
I’ve read quite a few of the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt books, I’ll have to try out the Monk series..
She has another series that is set during WWI, but I haven’t read it at all yet.
I am so glad you mentioned these wonderful books!! I scrolled down to make sure someone did!! Lol!
@Anne which books are those?
@Peggy, sorry, I don’t have that info, I haven’t even started tham yet.
Robert Falconer
The Crimson Petal and the White -Michael Faber. In my top 3 books of all time ?
I’ve read that one , loved it
Anything Sherlock Holmes :):):)
The Thomas and Charlotte Pitt and William Monk series by Anne Perry. The Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters.
Will Thomas’ Some Danger Involved and subsequent books. Victorian “private inquiry” agency
Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem by Peter Ackroyd is a fab read.
Sarah Waters has written beautifully about the darker side of the Victorian era. There is romance, but not conventionally so. I found “Fingersmith” enthralling. ” Tipping the Velvet” is possibly her most famous novel, but not necessarily her best. “Affinity” (which I haven’t read yet) is also set during the Victorian era.
I’ve read Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet , really loved that one !
Loads of Anne Perry out there
Victorin Cities by Asa Briggs, if you want nonfiction.
Anne Perry has two mystery series: 1) Charlotte and Thomas Pitt; 2) William Monk. The first of the Pitt books has SOME romantic elements, since that’s the one in which they meet.
The Invisible library Series! Think, Sherlock Holmes type mysteries but with world-hopping, an interdimensional neverending library and a constant threat of death of the main characters…. They are fab!
Those sound great , I will definitely look them up !!
@Starla without spoiling it… The ‘main world’ is actually one of the many versions of victorian London that crop up in the books, and the characters are for the main part, Victorian. The lead character is female, but her sidekick is male, and the on-world detective that she becomes associated with is basically another version of Holmes, so the similarities are striking. I loved the whole series!
Oooh sounds good. How many are in the series?
@Sylvia four i think. The latest one, The Lost Plot, was only out in December.
I really enjoy Anne Perry’s books because I learn so much about social conditions at that time. Her writing is sometimes repetitive, but her characterizations are good.
I’m going to mention my book here; the Last Gala. It’s not a romance. It’s a historical thriller about a battered wife who hires an assassin to kill her husband and it all goes oh so wrong.
Stalking Jack the Ripper has some romance but its not the focus of the story.
I have just started reading that one.
Oh oh oh….my favorite era for historical mysteries… I have dozens and dozens of favorite series set here. Some of my tippy-top favs would be… Two series by Anne Perry. The Thomas and Charlotte Pitt books are set in the latter half of the century and the William Monk series, set more mid-century is the darker of the two. The Monk series is darker, grittier and begins with the protag becoming conscious but having no idea who he is! Good but I prefer the Pitt series. They meet when Charlotte;s sister is murdered. They are among the upper eschelon of London society while Pitt….isn’t. So there is some romance but it doesn’t take up very much of the storyline. Both set in London. First book in the Pitt series is The Cater Street Hangman. First in the Monk series is Face of a Stranger.
Murder on Astor Place is the first in the Gaslight series by Victoria Thompson. Set in NYC near the end of the century. Sarah Brandt is a mid-wife and a young widow. Another strong-minded woman who married for loved rather than wealth or status, as her wealthy & powerful father wanted. There is a slow-building romance trying to blossom throughout the first 10 books of the series at least. I LOVE this series too!
My husband enjoys this series too. By Wil Thomas…the Cyrus Barker, a Scottish private enquiry agent, and his assistant, Welshman Thomas Llewelyn, in late 19th century London, England. Neither of us could hardly book the down! First book in the series is Some Danger Involved.
Wuthering Heights.
Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens, if you want authentic period literature.
Ruler of the Night, Inspector of the Dead and Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell
The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters.
True History of the Kelly Gang-Peter Carey
Gail Carriger writes steampunk Victorian and Supernatural Victorian. Her Finishing School Series doesn’t have any romance and is pretty good.
Thank you one and all , I have a lot of books to add to the TBR .. I LOVE IT ! A few of them I have already ordered due to excellent suggestions of all you awesome people ???
My favorite – Bleak House
If you are a mystery fan, Mrs. Jefferies series by Emily Brightwell.
You also might like Carole Nelson Douglass’ novels following the great operatic beauty, Irene Addler, the woman who bested Sherlock Holmes. Starting with the novels: Good Night, Irene; and Good Morning, Mr. Holmes (I think that the titles have been changed as the series continued.)