#2: A book you feel you should have read before now but keep putting off reading it.

[Tracey, Yorkshire White Rose.]

Please post the book you decide to read for this prompt. You can read a book independent of the group or join in with some of the group reads.

https://bookriot.com/100-must-read-cl...

https://www.abebooks.com/books/best-f...

[Allyson]

Lol! This is so Persuasion for me! 😂

[Tracey, Yorkshire White Rose.]

I will be reading Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain but will read it over 3 months.

[Clarissa]

I have read Maria Edgeworth's 'Castle Rackrent', which I have owned a copy of for years and is supposed to be the first historical novel in English. It is very short, but a still interesting glimpse at Irish gentry in the 1700s.

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

I didn't realise it was the first historical fiction. It has been on my radar for years, but I have never found the time, however, I might make a bit more of an effort now, especially as you say it's short. 😀

[Clarissa]

Tania wrote: "I didn't realise it was the first historical fiction. ."

Me neither! I am just going by what it said in the introduction :D Apparently Walter Scott very much admired and respected Maria Edgeworth, but like so many writers, she's little known now.
I think it is a novel worth having a look at, even though for me at least, it wouldn't rank as one of my favourite novels, it is interesting from the perspective of an early female writer reacting to the world around her.

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

I have been meaning to try her for a long time, so this looks like a good place to start. Thanks

[Clarissa]

Tania wrote: "I have been meaning to try her for a long time, so this looks like a good place to start. Thanks"

Again from the introduction, it said that 'Castle Rackrent' is her best work, and the only one she didn't write with her father apparently. It is such a nice one to dip into as it is so short, so many of the classic novels, like Middlemarch that was mentioned in another thread, take such a commitment....although they are worth it, but still nice to have a little palate cleanser that can be absorbed in a couple of days :D

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

I completely agree. I love a short classic. I'm thinking of re-reading Frankenstein: The 1818 Text for halloween. Also pretty short.

[Clarissa]

Tania wrote: "I completely agree. I love a short classic. I'm thinking of re-reading Frankenstein: The 1818 Text for halloween. Also pretty short."

Frankenstein is one of my favourites, Mary Shelley was so incredibly talented, but I can't off the top of my head remember what is different about the 1818 text?