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Category Archives: General adult audience
A Victorian novel about decision paralysis: Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope
Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope has a name that is a bit off-putting. It suggests an obnoxious main character who will be hard to sympathise with. I didn’t find this to be the case. The main character, Alice … Continue reading
Posted in Classic, General adult audience, Novel, Novel of Manners, Romance, Social Novel, Victorian
Tagged 100/500/100, 19th Century, Anthony Trollope, authors with day jobs, British, character-driven, classic, decision making, decision paralysis, drama, exam period friendly, fiction, historical, humour, marriage, Palliser Novel, politics, relationships, society, Victorian Era
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Hooray! A Christian book on singleness that I can recommend without caveats: Single-Minded by Kate Wharton
Single-Minded by Kate Wharton is a biblical, readable and well-rounded book on singleness. As a general book on singleness, it is definitely my top recommendation, replacing Al Hsu’s The Single Issue, which is excellent but has become quite dated. It … Continue reading
The best book I’ve read on the church and singleness: The Plausibility Problem by Ed Shaw
The Plausibility Problem: The Church and Same-Sex Attraction by Ed Shaw answers the uncertainty and embarrassment Christians can feel about the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality. In our sex- and relationship-obsessed world it can seem unreasonable to expect Christians with same-sex … Continue reading
A book on marriage that’s helpful for singles too: Married for God by Christopher Ash
Married for God by Christopher Ash is a book on marriage from a Christian perspective that is essential to read whether you are married or single. Rather than focussing on how to improve marriage or what marriage actually is, this … Continue reading
An insightful Christian analysis of modern sexual ethics: Sex and the iWorld by Dale S. Kuehne
Sex and the iWorld by Dale S. Kuehne is an insightful and helpful book for understanding the rapid changes in how western society thinks about sex and sexuality since the sexual revolution in the 1970s. Tracing these changes back to … Continue reading
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion features an unusual hero on a mission to find a wife. To increase the efficiency of the process, Don Tillman develops a lengthy questionnaire that will allow him to quickly eliminate women who would … Continue reading
A Country Gentleman and His Family by Margaret Oliphant
A Country Gentleman and His Family by Margaret Oliphant is surprisingly well written. Mrs Oliphant was a Victorian authoress who wrote novels to support herself and several dependents so was prolific but variable in quality. This book had skillful characterisation … Continue reading
Posted in British, Classic, Family Drama, General adult audience, Novel of Manners, Pastoral novel, Romance, Social Novel, Victorian
Tagged 100/500/100, 19th Century, British, character-driven, classic, domestic realism, drama, exam period friendly, fiction, marriage, relationships, remarriage, siblings, society, talent, widowhood, women
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Esther Waters by George Moore
Esther Waters by George Moore strives for realism as it portrays the choices and struggles of Esther, a house servant, as she seeks to provide for her illegitimate son. Esther herself is a strong character but by no means flawless. … Continue reading
Posted in Classic, General adult audience, Novel, Realism, Social Novel, Victorian
Tagged 19th Century, British, character-driven, classic, domestic realism, drama, exam period friendly, fiction, injustice, realism, servants, single mothers, society, women
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Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
Mary Barton is a story that looks at the difficulties of lower class people in manufacturing towns during the Industrial Revolution. It has some really engaging characters and charming story-telling. My enjoyment was up there with North and South and … Continue reading
Posted in British, General adult audience, Romance, Social Novel, Victorian
Tagged 19th Century, British, character-driven, classic, coming-of-age, drama, fiction, industrial revolution, realism, society, working class
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Letters from England by Karel Čapek
Letters from England by Karel Čapek is a book I picked up for $5 in New Zealand, one of those high points of secondhand-bookshopping. As suggested by the title, it’s a collection of letters from the Czech author’s travels in … Continue reading →