Authors I'm Reading Completely: Part One

As I've begun to delve into classic and adult fiction I’m coming across lots of authors that I'm falling head over heels for, only to realise that they’ve got an epic backlist. Being so firmly entrenched in the YA world, that doesn’t happen too often!

So, here are a few of the authors that I’m planning on reading the complete works of:

 I've only read Wyndham’s most famous novel, ‘The Day of the Triffids’, but it was enough to get me to buy two more before I'd even finished my first and add the rest to my TBR. He was one of the original apocalyptic novelists and his stories also have a dose of science thrown in there. They’re very readable and feel remarkably modern considering Wyndham wrote during the 50s and 60s.

Ah, the Brontes, my new obsession. I read ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’ last year for the #2015ClassicsChallenge, and while I enjoyed ‘Wuthering Heights’, I wasn’t the biggest fan of ‘Jane Eyre’. I was a bit underwhelmed. And then I’ve read ‘Agnes Grey’ and ‘The Tenant of Wildfell Hall’ over the past few months and fallen in love with Anne Bronte. Now I’m determined to finish off Charlotte’s remaining novels – ‘The Professor’, ‘Shirley’ and ‘Villette’ – so I can officially call Anne my favourite.

Late last year I devoured ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’ in only two sittings. It was a creepy, unsettling, psychological twist of a novel and I adored every page of it. Though Jackson’s novels are short, they pack a serious punch. I've also read her short story collection ‘The Lottery and Other Stories’ and I'm eager to carry on with her novels. There aren’t a huge number though, so I’ll be taking my sweet time!

All I'd read from Adichie was ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ until I picked up her short story collection ‘The Thing Around Your Neck’ with my Christmas book tokens. I was blown away by her skill with creating characters with deep emotional depths and histories in only 40 pages. I immediately knew I'd have to read her novels too and bought a boxset of all three!

Daphne du Maurier is another author that I fell in love with during the #2015ClassicsChallenge! (You really should sign up for the #2016ClassicsChallenge – who knows what you’ll fall in love with!). My first of hers was ‘Frenchman’s Creek’ and I was really apprehensive, but honestly? Pirates, an 18^th century woman rebelling against her society and position and a gorgeous romance. Winner. Now I've read ‘Rebecca’ which blew me away and ‘Jamaica Inn’ which I thoroughly enjoyed. Luckily, du Maurier was really prolific and I have a good 17 novels to go!

I almost feel like I've grown up with Elizabeth Gaskell even though I only read ‘Cranford’ last year. My mum was a huge fan of her novels and the adaptations were a staple in our house on lazy Sundays. I’m hugely excited to read ‘North and South’, ‘Mary Barton’ and ‘Wives and Daughters’, and I’m sure she has a few more that are harder to get your hands on too! She wrote between Austen and the Brontes and I love her gentle romances and explorations of the industrial north of England.

These six authors are only just scratching the surface so look out for part two of the authors I’m reading completely coming soon!

Sophie