Literary Houses:Ten Famous Houses in Fiction

by Rosalind Ashe

Offers an imaginative visual reconstruction of the houses that played a critical role in "Rebecca," "Dracula," "Great Expectations," "Jane Eyre," "Northanger Abbey," and other fictional works

Genres: Nonfiction

139 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1987

Reviews

[Kathleen]

I found this book while cleaning out my bookcase. I bought it years ago. Although I have glanced through it many times, I never took the time to actually read it. Rosalind Ashe delves into ten classic novels. Through the written descriptions of each fictional home, she creates illustrations and representations of the individual rooms and landscapes of the famous places. Unfortunately I have only read six of the ten books. So four of the chapters did not have the same significance. I did enjoy reading and actually seeing Ashe's depictions of Manderley and Thornfield Hall. I wonder if her other books include Pemberley.

[Jess Dollar]

Very fun to read over the course of an evening, especially having just finished Northanger Abbey.

[Alison Stegert]

My fascination with literary houses started with The Secret Garden's Thistlethwaite Manor and Pippi Longstocking's curious cottage called Villa Villekulla. My favourite Nancy Drew mysteries took place in houses with secret passageways and creepy attics. I love the sly possibilities offered by priest holes, widow's walks and gargoyles.

This book offers insights into ten of literature's most intriguing houses, from Rebecca's Manderley (my favourite) to Count Dracula's castle. The houses of my imagination come alive with colour renderings of the exterior and interiors, floor plans, snippets from the text and some interesting facts. My three-star rating has to do with the dated illustrations. (The book was first published in the 80s. I'm sure they were state of the art then.) I would have liked photos of the inspiration or real house behind the story. And for those books that were made into films, photos of the movie sets would be interesting.

I think a new book is called for and it should cover the fabulous houses in The Little Stranger, The Fingersmith, Dragonwyck, The Thirteenth Tale, The Shadow of the Wind, The Forgotten Garden, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Anne of Green Gables, I Capture the Castle, and Buckshaw Manor from the Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

I'm going to start a new shelf in honour of this book: Books with Memorable Houses. If you know of any great literary houses, please comment so I can chase down the book.

[Monica]

This book was set aside for me by my friends who own a book shop. They knew for sure that I would love it - and I do! I'm also excited to find out that there is a second in the series. I'd read nearly all of the 10 books who's houses are illustrated in this book. It inspired me to read "Rebecca" for the first time with my heroines book group, though. And I'm also reading "The House of the Seven Gables" by Hawthorn. Each book was brought to life by a variety of artists who drew floor plans and, interior rooms and outdoor spaces based on the original novels. Easily a favorite book that I'll visit again when these novels come up.