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U.S. women's fiction and U.K. women's fiction


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I just joined the forum and am looking forward to getting to know other readers who enjoy women's fiction. I'm English but have lived in the U.S. since dinosaurs roamed the earth. My favourite authors are (gasp :lol:) English, namely Joanna Trollope and Elizabeth Buchan, though I also love books by Jodi Picoult and Elizabeth Berg, among many others.

 

This June, I'll be flying home with an empty suitcase and plan to fill it with books to bring back. While Trollope and Buchan are published in the U.S., many wonderful U.K. authors of women's fiction are not. If any of you have recommendations for U.K. authors whose novels are similar to Trollope, Buchan, etc., I'd love to hear about them. I particularly enjoy novels that feature older women, say in their late 40s and 50s, who're strong and spunky and who tackle life head on.

 

(FYI: Maeve Binchy, Katie Fforde, Marian Keyes, Rosamund Pilcher are all published in the U.S., so I already know about them).

 

In return, I'm glad to list some U.S. women's fiction authors whose books have been published in the U.K. but who might not be very well known. Here are a couple of my favourites:

 

Jeanne Ray, author of JULIE AND ROMEO (among others)

Carrie Kabak, author of COVER THE BUTTER

 

Julie and Romeo is a romantic comedy about a pair of 60-somethings who've been rivals (both personal and professional) for years until they meet at a business seminar and find out they have more in common than their antagonism. The book gave me many laugh-out-loud moments.

 

Cover the Butter, written by an Englishwoman who lives in Kansas City, Missouri, follows an English teen into middle-age as she tries to cope with a love-hate relationship with her domineering mother, a loveless marriage, while trying to please everyone but herself. Set in England, this novel is beautifully written and hard to put down.

Edited by Maggie Dana
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I'm not sure if she's published in the US, but I would definitely recommend Mavis Cheek. I've only read three of her books, but all of them have followed the story of the older woman, and have been very enjoyable reads. I intend to catch up with the rest of her books as well, but I started with Mrs. Fytton's Country Life, and I've also read Pause Between Acts and Three Men On A Plane.

 

You can find out more about these and her other books at http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/mavis-cheek/

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This is fabulous. I'm going to have an impressive list by the time I land with my empty suitcase, but I shall have to make sure there's a bit of room left for Marks & Spencers loot that I can't get over here. I believe M&S tried opening a shop somewhere in the U.S. but it didn't fly. Probably got run out of town by an American retailer.

 

Michelle, I checked out some of Linda Gillard's titles. They look like the sort of books I enjoy. I found a Kate Atkinson at my library and started it last night. Another good read.

 

Thank you for these, and please keep them coming.

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I'm not sure if she's published in the US, but I would definitely recommend Mavis Cheek. I've only read three of her books, but all of them have followed the story of the older woman, and have been very enjoyable reads. I intend to catch up with the rest of her books as well, but I started with Mrs. Fytton's Country Life, and I've also read Pause Between Acts and Three Men On A Plane.

 

I would also recommend Amenable Women, which entwines the story of a modern older woman with that of Anne of Cleves. I haven't read any other Mavis Cheek books yet but if this is anything to go by then she's very good! :-)

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Hello Avid Reader, and welcome. This is a great site. I joined only a few days ago and am happily collecting recommendations left and right.

 

I checked reviews on The Amenable Woman and it does sound fascinating. I enjoy this sort of fiction when a real historical person (and their story) is woven into a modern narrative. Kind of like The 19th Wife that I just finished. I loved the book, but was a little let down by the ending of the contemporary story.

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Looking at my bookshelves, I've just remembered another one of my favourites, Mary Wesley. Jumping The Queue was the first book I read by her, and it's a great read, and is about a recently widowed woman. Quite a few of her books tell the story of women either when they're older and looking back at their early adulthood, or tell of their entire life, rather than just concentrating on one particular episode.

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Thanks, folks, for recommending my books. ;)

 

Welcome, Maggie! When you are in London try to make time to go to the Persephone Bookshop. You can check out the stock online and then buy the books while you're over here. These are all beautiful reprints of books written mostly by women betweeen the 2 wars. See www.persephonebooks.co.uk (Be warned: buying these can be addictive. :roll: )

 

One of my favourite books about an older woman - a nun, actually - is Adrienne Dines' SOFT VOICES WHISPERING. A slowish start, but it really grips later. Wendy K Harris' THE SORROW OF SISTERS is another compelling family story. (To anyone who enjoyed my books - you might like these two.)

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Thanks, everyone, for chiming in here. My book wishlist is growing by leaps and bounds. Some of these I can get from Amazon in the US; others I'll pick up when over in England this June.

 

If any of you enjoy romantic comedy, especially with more mature (aka older) protagonists, you might like JULIE AND ROMEO by Jeanne Ray. It came out about 7 years ago and was also published in the U.K.

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