# Recommend a book along the lines of "Jane Eyre" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 8, 2006, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872 "2006-09-08T02:57:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/1 "2006-09-08T02:57:21Z")
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.] ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/2 "2006-09-08T05:06:02Z")
_ **Pride and Prejudice** _ leaps immediately to mind. Have you immediately dismissed **Jane Austen** for some reason? ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/3 "2006-09-08T05:21:48Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/4 "2006-09-08T09:34:43Z")
[QUOTE=gallows fodder] 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? [/QUOTE] Charles Dickens’ **Bleak House.** ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/5 "2006-09-08T10:40:48Z")
[QUOTE=anu-la1979] 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). [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/6 "2006-09-08T13:06:14Z")
A more recent one you might enjoy is **Girl With a Pearl Earring**. I second the recommendation of anything Jane Austen. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/7 "2006-09-08T13:49:22Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/8 "2006-09-08T14:10:43Z")
[QUOTE=yellowval] A more recent one you might enjoy is **Girl With a Pearl Earring**. I second the recommendation of anything Jane Austen. [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/9 "2006-09-08T17:06:49Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/10 "2006-09-08T17:14:21Z")
In the not so rarified literary vein, (but still a good read) is Mary Stewart’s _Nine Coaches Waiting_. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/11 "2006-09-08T17:27:36Z")
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). ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/12 "2006-09-08T17:51:52Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Twinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Twinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twinkie)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/13 "2006-09-08T19:21:19Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/14 "2006-09-08T19:37:28Z")
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](http://www.geocities.com/sherlockiana/book/pastiche/laurie_king.html). I’ve found these books to be delightful reading, and I recommend them highly. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/15 "2006-09-08T19:54:21Z")
Barbara Michaels, as above. Though she often has magical/mystical elements. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/16 "2006-09-08T20:09:57Z")
How about Charlotte Bronte’s real masterpiece, the book she was trying to write when she wrote Jane Eyre, **Villette**? ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/17 "2006-09-08T20:15:07Z")
[QUOTE=Sattua] How about Charlotte Bronte’s real masterpiece, the book she was trying to write when she wrote Jane Eyre, **Villette**? [/QUOTE] Um… Already mentioned (See post #5.) 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. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/18 "2006-09-08T21:22:35Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] 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. [/QUOTE] I. Love. This book. (My favorite Wimsey book is the final one, _Busman’s Honeymoon_. Also heavy on the Vane.) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/19 "2006-09-08T21:57:43Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] I. Love. This book. (My favorite Wimsey book is the final one, _Busman’s Honeymoon_. Also heavy on the Vane.) [/QUOTE] I love it too, but Harriet just doesn’t strike me as the right heroine for the OP. She’s had lovers! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872/20 "2006-09-08T22:13:40Z")
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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-along-the-lines-of-jane-eyre/371872.md?page=2)