Bronte’s Jane Eyre, du Maurier’s Rebecca, Valerie Martin’s Mary Reilly, Jonatha Ceely’s Mina…I enjoyed these books very much.
All of these feature a narrator who is a shy, modest, sympathetic girl of low social standing who has a relationship (romance or friendship) with an older man who is socially superior.
I love this theme. I want to read more books like these. But…what are they?
[If I might further specify my request, I’m not interested in out-and-out romance novels (or rather, Romance, viz., bodice-rippers, etc.), and the important thing is that the narrator is likeable. Prep features a shy and inhibited narrator who has a relationship with a popular guy, but I hated that girl so much (SO MUCH) because she was abominably whiny and lifeless and cared about nothing (nothing!!) save her popularity. The second Mrs. De Winter is very reserved and doesn’t have much self-esteem at first, but she’s imaginative and tender-hearted and loves beauty…and therefore I like her.]
Have you read the less famous sister’s book…Tenant of Wildfell Hall? A pretty good read in my estimation.
Du Maurier wrote way more books than Rebecca-my favourite one is The King’s General, details the relationship between the shy, young beauty of one family and the rakish older gentleman of a nearby family (their relationship spans decades, however, and is not always pleasant, though very thrilling to read) Jamaica Inn is also really really good and I remember it being more in line with what you are looking for. I suggest you go to a library to find her books-I’ve noticed the major bookstores only carry Rebecca (my dad had all her books and gave them to me when I was young).
If you don’t mind that it’s a YA book, I strongly recommend Libba Bray’s “A Great and Terrible Beauty” followed the sequel, “Rebel Angels”. It incorporates a lot of different elements but it’s very gothic, very mysterious…though it crosses over with fantasy peppered with creme de Enid Blyton. Also the hero in that one is a babe. Shy young thing but her boo is actually her age. I think you’d like it, though, if you sort of like that gothic feel to books.
One of my favorite Du Maurier novels is My Cousin Rachel, although it’s not in the requested line.
The other Anne Bronte novel, which actually features a governess who finds love, is Agnes Grey. And, from Charlotte herself, there is Villette, about a British school-teacher in Belgium.
In the '60s and '70s there was a fad for Jane Eyre-esque romance novels. they were called ‘Gothic Romances’ and a gajillion of them were written. Most were cheap paperbacks with a girl in a nightgown fleeing a castle on the cover. And most of them were shit, of course. I had an affection for gothics, even the shitty ones. But they weren’t all shit.
Victoria Holt was the Queen of the gothics. She wrote 32 gothics, the best of which, IMO, was the first – Mistress of Mellyn. It has every attribute you mention and is a really fun read. You should go out and get it today – you could find it at just about any library or used bookstore. Given what you’ve said, I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll love it. And then you’d have all of the rest of Holt’s novels to choose from.
You might also like Carola Salisbury’s gothics – they are on the ‘not-shit’ short list of gothics. Also Nicole St. John. These two were not so prolific as Holt (there are only 3 St. John novels, 6 or 7 Salisbury ones) and should also be fairly easy to find at a public library.
Lastly, I’ll give a shout out for a particular favorite of mine – Madeline Brent, who was actually Peter O’Donnell, creator of Modesty Blaise. He wrote 9 books to cash in on the gothic romance craze and they are absolute favorites of mine. Wonderful, brave, resourceful heroines; sexy and interesting heros; fascinating , twisty plots and circumstances. I can’t recommend these books highly enough.
Quoting myself to add: Girl With a Pearl Earring was written by Tracy Chevalier. There’s a movie with Scarlett Johanssen to watch when you’re done too.
The all-time greatest sweeping epic tragic romance is Kristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid Undset. It’s a thousand pages I reread every few years, and it’s never anything less than overwhelming. It out Jane-Eyres Jane Eyre by a factor of like 17.
Second Jess’s Victoria Holt recommendation – and if you like those, check out similar books by Barbara Michaels (which is a pen name of Barbara Mertz, who writes the Egyptology-themed Amelia Peabody mysteries as Elizabeth Peters).
Another Victoria Holt novel I liked in high school along those lines is The Shadow of the Lynx. It’s set in Australia. I came in to mention Rebecca, but I see it was way, way too obvious.
Harriet Vane isn’t shy or an ingenue, but have you read Dorothy Sayers’ Peter Wimsey mysteries? Gaudy Night is more about Harriet than Peter, and you might really like it. (Well, I’m sure you’d like it anyway because it’s an awesome book, but it might ring your “older sophisticated man” bell.) It’s a mystery set in Harriet’s old college, where she’s there for an alumnae weekend, and she calls Peter Wimsey in for help. The mystery is really a sideline to their relationship.
I came in to recommend two books that have already been listed (Agnes Grey and Girl with a Pearl Earring), and instead, I’m walking away with three books I have to go track down. I don’t feel very helpful, but at least I’m not leaving empty-handed!
Laurie R. King has written several books in which a young American woman named Mary Russell marries the great detective Sherlock Holmes, and they solve mysteries together. Here is a list. I’ve found these books to be delightful reading, and I recommend them highly.
And it’s been awhile since I did my undergrad work on the Brontes, but as I recall, I think The Professor was the first novel she wrote, and which was rejected, before she started on Jane Eyre. Villette was later on.
I haven’t read the books, but I loved the British mini-series based on the Poldark books by Winston Graham.
Demelza, the heroine, isn’t particularly shy, but she loved a man of higher social standing, and it took him freakin’ forever to figure out that he loved her too.