October ClassicsCAT: women's classics

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When you say classic women writers, you immediately think Jane Austen, George Eliot, the Bronte sisters, Mary Shelley, Maria Edgeworth, Fanny Burney, Katherine Mansfield, George Sand.

Maybe you have also come across Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Margaret Oliphant, Edna Ferber, or others who were dismissed in their own time as lightweight or not serious enough. In that case, the catalogue of Virago will prove a treasure trove to find a book for this month’s theme.

Selma Lagerlöf, Grazia Deledda, Sigrid Undset, Pearl S. Buck, Gabriela Mistral were Nobel Prize Winners before 1945.

If you want to be adventurous, you might try Sei Shonagon, Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Fanny von Reventlow, Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, Gertrud von LeFort, Vicki Baum, Anna Seghers, Nelly Sachs, Christine de Pizan, Colette, Germaine de Stael, Marguerite Yourcenar, Simone de Beauvoir, Bozena Nemcova, Emilia Pardo Bazán…

And there’s always a list to explore on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:19th-century_women_writers
Have fun discovering a new author or rereading an old favourite! And please remember the wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/ClassicsCAT_2023

ETA: Bearing in mind that we chose "published at least fifty years ago" as a cutoff date, the options for this month also include genre fiction like romance or mysteries. Try Georgette Heyer, Agatha Christie or one of their colleagues.

At the moment, I'm thinking of reading some of Nellie Bly's works or possibly something by Eudora Welty

I'm planning on reading Frost in May by Antonia White.

I'm planning on a reread of Jane Eyre.

I'll be reading something by Elizabeth Gaskell (not sure yet what) and re-reading Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte.

I have decided on something on the lighter side with The English Air by D. E. Stevenson originally published in 1940.

Elizabeth Gaskell for me too, as I already had North and South down for Victober.

>1 MissWatson: how far back would I need to go?

>8 fuzzi: When we first set up the group we agreed that books older than fifty years would meet the requirements. I sort of forgot about the first half of the 20th century and may add some suggestions later.

I found a book for teens written in 1948 and part of a beloved series I read when I was a child. Where the Heart Is by Janet Lambert.

I'm considering The Party at No. 5 by Shelley Smith that was published in 1954.

I'm thinking of reading something by Thea Astley, perhaps The Well-dressed Explorer, which won the Miles Franklin Award in 1962.

since it didnt fit as a historic fiction I chose bread givers Outstanding immigration memoirin the Lower East circe 1920. The background of the author is very interesting. immigrated from russia at a young age didnt get the chance to write coz of the I just finished the forward and notes'religious resticktions' aka what the father demanded. This was published briefly and only since the 70s since it was found and published (also reading this for RTT theme for October Traditions)

Finished The Devil Loves Me by Margaret Millar. A good read. First published 1942.

>9 MissWatson: So according to this standard, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn would qualify...published in 1943. I've never read it and its been on my Kindle for a few years. Maybe I can fit it in this month.

>15 beebeereads: Go for it!

Read another by Margaret Millar, The Listening Walls, 1959.

If you haven't chosen your read for this month and would like something short, there is a group read starting of 5 stories by Elizabeth Gaskell. October Bonus: these are considered some of her "gothic" tales.

Come join in here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/354038

I reckon I can fit a Heyer into the month.

been wanting to read thiw for a whil old new york

I completed Agnes Grey, a Bronte I had never read.

I'm going to read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I thought that I had read it, but it may have been in the pre-LT days. It's on the Kindle, so even if I start to remember it, it would certainly be worth rereading.

Finished Flowers for the Judge by Margery Allingham. Golden Age crime from 1936.

I read From this Dark Stairway by Mignon G. Eberhart and have started Vanish in an Instant by Margaret Millar. I'm combining the ClassicsCAT and GeoCAT this month with some classic crime novels by women from the US and Canada.

I read Grey Mask by Patricia Wentworth for a Bingo square before finding out it didn't fit (popular author's first book}. Luckily it fits this category so it's getting switched.

So far I've finished two books: Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte (1847), a re-read that was better the second time around; and Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell (1853), which is rather sad and complicated story of a "fallen" young woman and the reactions of those around her.

I just finished The Party at No 5 by Shelley Smith.
Mrs Roach, a genteel widow of limited means, is hired as companion for aging Mrs Rampage in her home filled with precious collectables, who calculates the value of everything to the penny. Altercations begin, as anyone might expect. While the situation of both women is dismal, their antics are comical, until it's not funny any more but tragic.

Thanks to DeltaQueen50 and Keating's list for the BB.

I've finished reading The Voyage Out, the earliest novel by Virginia Woolf. I plan to read some additional books for this challenge.

I read Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie
Even though I figured out the murderer, this was one of Christie's best.

I read The English Air by D. E. Stevenson. This was a great read set in England just prior and during the opening days of WW II.

I finished The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark, published in the 1960s.

I have read three stories of Elizabeth Gaskell, The old nurse's story, The Poor Clare and Lois the Witch. The last one was best, even if it is the grimmest in subject.

I have also finished Belinda which I enjoyed immensely. So many things I didn't expect in a novel published in 1802, and Lady Delacour was a delight.

I read The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe. It was a bit slow going and way over the top. Glad to have finally gotten around to this one.

>33 MissWatson: Back in 2019, Liz lead a group read of Belinda: https://www.librarything.com/topic/303254#6725255

You might be interested in reading the discussion, now that you've finished. There are some amazing things (for the time) in that book.

I just finished reading Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott, a fictional account based on her experiences as a hospital nurse during the Civil War.

The November thread is now up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/354563

>35 kac522: Thanks for that! I'll look it up tomorrow.

Finished Mr Campion and Others by Margery Allingham. Campion works quite well in short story format.

I have also finished Invitation to the waltz a lovely story about two young English debutantes and their first ball.

finished old new york and absolutely loved it. have read some Wharton but never looked at her shorter stories. will need to do that

COMPLETED The Building of Jalna by Mazo de la Roche, a novel from 1944 as the chronologically first in the Whiteoaks of Jalna series which appeared from 1927 to 1960.

I'm in the process of rereading The Annotated Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, annotated by David M. Shapard for my book club next month, but probably will not complete it this month.

I'm finally catching up with my reviews. In October, I finished Miss Carter and the Ifrit by Susan Alice Kerby. This is a book from the Furrowed Middlebrow line published by Dean Street Press, which is working at bringing back the work of women writers from the early-to-mid 20th century. This novel was published in 1945.