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If you’re like me and you have exhausted all of your Jane Austen books and movie adaptions, then I have the list for you. I was making my way through the pages of Persuasion when I was overcome with a sadness that Jane Austen only had a limited number of books. If only there were more in her collection or more Jane Austen-like books in the world. I know, Jane Austen is indeed one of a kind, however, I have managed to create a list of books that are either based off of her stories or inspired by them. I have also included other historical books that have a similar feel. If you’ve read historical romance you will know that historical romance doesn’t always hit the same feelings as Jane Austen. It can be hit or miss. And then came Bridgerton.
I was actually in the middle of compiling this list when the Bridgerton Netflix series came about. I admit that I started reading the book almost a year before, but I couldn’t quite get into it. The plot was excellent and I loved the characters, but I wasn’t really into the way it was written or the dialogue itself. It felt too contrived and I couldn’t get absorbed into the storyline because it felt so stilted to me. I wasn’t drawn in, something that I find difficult to do when modern people try to write as if they’re from a historical time period and can’t quite pull it off. The television adaption on Netflix however is a gem, no; a treasure. I instantly fell in love with the series and wished there were more stories like that out in the world for me to escape into right about now. So I did a bit of research at my local bookstore and online and created this very special list for you. If you are also a fan of Bridgerton, then this list will also make you very happy indeed, dear reader 😉
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To be directed to a link for each book, simply click on the title. This post does contain affiliate links.
Books based on Jane Austen:
I found this book on clearance for $4 and thought I would give it a try the summer of 2016 during a lunch break at a job that I hated. Thank heavens there was a Barnes and Noble right next door to my office at the time. I figured, hey, I like Jane Austen so this could be fun. -It was hysterical. It was laugh out loud funny and it brought me all the joy I needed during a very difficult time.
This one has a unique plot, so I will let the product description fill you in:
“Jane Hayes is a young New Yorker with a real romantic problem: no man she meets can compare to her one true love—Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort for Austen fanatics, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined.
Dressed in empire waist gowns and torn between a sexy gardener and an actor playing the brooding Darcy role, Jane finds herself mastering the rules of etiquette and of the resort’s flirtatious games. But when it’s time to bid Austenland goodbye, can Jane really leave her fantasies—and the two men who’ve played into them—behind?
In this addictive, charming, and entirely delightful story, Shannon Hale brings out the Jane Austen obsessive in all of us.”
There is also a sequel, but it sounds a little spooky.
Undressing Mr. Darcy by Karen Doornebos
After reading Austenland I happened to discover this one quite by accident on another book clearance aisle. Of course I bought it. The plot seems almost similar to Austenland, with Austen-like actors. This one features a social media guru who helps her aunt create social media buzz for an “undressing Mr. Darcy” event. It had some really unexpected twists and turns.
“Thirty-five-year-old American social media master Vanessa Roberts lives her thoroughly modern life with aplomb. So when her elderly Jane Austen–centric aunt needs her to take on the public relations for Julian Chancellor, a very private man from England who’s written a book called My Year as Mr. Darcy, Vanessa agrees. But she’s not “excessively diverted,” as Jane Austen would say.
Hardbound books, teacups, and quill pens fly in the face of her e-reader, coffee, and smartphone…
…Until she sees Julian take his tight breeches off for his Undressing Mr. Darcy show, an educational “striptease” down to his drawers to promote his book and help save his crumbling estate. The public relations expert suddenly realizes things have gotten…personal. But can this old-fashioned man claim her heart without so much as a GPS? It will take three festivals filled with Austen fans, a trip to England, an old frenemy, and a flirtatious pirate re-enactor to find out…”
This book is on my summer reading list. The plot sounds very similar to that of Bridgerton with a forced marriage to protect a lady’s reputation because of a jerk. But it does sound promising. I’m already hooked and I have only read a few chapters.
“The cure for a willful wife . . .
Drusilla Clare is full of opinions about why a woman shouldn’t marry. But that doesn’t stop the rush of desire she feels each time her best friend’s brother, notorious rake Gabriel Marlington, crosses her path. So imagine her dismay when she finds herself in the clutches of a scoundrel, only to be rescued by Gabriel himself. And when Gabriel’s heartless–and heart-pounding–proposal comes, it’s enough to make Dru’s formidable resolve crumble . . .
. . . is a smitten husband.
She’s sharp-tongued, exasperating–and due to one careless moment–about to become his wife. Still, something about Drusilla has Gabriel intrigued. First there’s the delicious flush of her skin every time she delivers a barb–and then the surprisingly sensual feel of her in his arms. Gabriel even finds himself challenged by her unusual philosophies. And when he discovers a clandestine rival for Dru’s affection, his temperature flares even hotter. But the real threat to their happiness is one neither of the newlyweds sees coming. If they’re to save their future–and their very lives–they’ll need to trust in each other and their growing love.”
This book is a new release and I bought it with some high hopes. This story follows Jane as she is actually sent to the future before she becomes a writer. Will falling in love erase her from history?
I liked the plot and it started really strong. I felt like the middle was hard to push through, but I did adore the very end of the story. Still, I think this book could have gone in a completely different direction. I don’t want to give it away, so I’ll let you draw your own conclusions. Even though I liked the main characters, I actually loved the secondary character of movie star Sophia Wentworth so much more. She is a completely unlikable person (at first) but you find yourself rooting for her. I actually found myself rooting for her more than Jane. I liked this book for the possibilities and the creativity. If you wish there was more to know about One Austen herself, this is a book for you.
“Bath, England, 1803. At 28, Jane Austen prefers walking and reading to balls and assemblies; she dreams of someday publishing her carefully crafted stories. Already on the shelf and in grave danger of becoming a spinster, Jane goes searching for a radical solution—and as a result, seemingly by accident, time-travels. She lands in…
Bath, England, present day. The film set of Northanger Abbey. Sofia Wentworth is a Hollywood actress starring in a new period film, an attempt to reinvent her flagging career and, secretly, an attempt to reinvent her failing marriage. When Sofia meets Jane, she marvels at the young actress who can’t seem to “break character,” even off set. And Jane—acquainting herself with the horseless steel carriages and seriously shocking fashion of the twenty-first century— meets Sofia, a woman unlike anyone she’s ever met before. Then she meets Fred, Sofia’s brother, who has the audacity to be handsome, clever, and kind-hearted.
What happens when Jane, against her better judgement, falls in love with Fred? And when Sofia learns the truth about her new friend Jane? And worst of all, if Jane stays with Fred, will she ever achieve her dream, the one she’s now seen come true?”
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Historical romances to devour:
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
This is another historical hate to love romance. If you love Lizzy and Mr. Darcy you will love Margaret and Mr. Thornton.
“As relevant now as when it was first published, Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South skilfully weaves a compelling love story into a clash between the pursuit of profit and humanitarian ideals. This Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction by Patricia Ingham. When her father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience, Margaret Hale is uprooted from her comfortable home in Hampshire to move with her family to the North of England. Initially repulsed by the ugliness of her new surroundings in the industrial town of Milton, Margaret becomes aware of the poverty and suffering of local mill workers and develops a passionate sense of social justice. This is intensified by her tempestuous relationship with the mill-owner and self-made man John Thornton, as their fierce opposition over his treatment of his employees masks a deeper attraction. In North and South Gaskell skilfully fused individual feeling with social concern, and in Margaret Hale created one of the most original heroines of Victorian literature. In her introduction Patricia Ingham examines Elizabeth Gaskell’s treatment of geographical, economic and class differences, and the male and female roles portrayed in the novel. This edition also includes further reading, notes and a useful glossary. Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-65) was born in London, but grew up in the north of England in the village of Knutsford. In 1832 she married the Reverend William Gaskell and had four daughters, and one son who died in infancy. Her first novel, Mary Barton, was published in 1848, winning the attention of Charles Dickens, and most of her later work was published in his journals, including Cranford (1853), serialised in Dickens’s Household Words. She was also a lifelong friend of Charlotte Brontë, whose biography she wrote. If you enjoyed North and South, you might like Jane Austen’s Persuasion, also available in Penguin Classics. ‘[An] admirable story … full of character and power’ Charles Dickens”
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
This story follows the lives of four sisters in New England during the Civil War era. It has some romance, but for the most part is follows the relationship between these sisters. I love the story and I have often felt that Louisa May Alcott is the Jane Austen of the United States. They are two completely different women and authors, but they are both deeply beloved authors with strong female characters and notions about romance. and marriage.
Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
“In Thomas Hardy’s first major literary success, independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, the soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy, and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. One of his first works set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex, Hardy’s novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships.”
“Frances Burney’s first and most enduringly popular novel is a vivid, satirical, and seductive account of the pleasures and dangers of fashionable life in late eighteenth-century London. As she describes her heroine’s entry into society, womanhood and, inevitably, love, Burney exposes the vulnerability of female innocence in an image-conscious and often cruel world where social snobbery and sexual aggression are played out in the public arenas of pleasure-gardens, theatre visits, and balls. But Evelina’s innocence also makes her a shrewd commentator on the excesses and absurdities of manners and social ambitions–as well as attracting the attention of the eminently eligible Lord Orville.”
A Room With A View by E. M. Forster
“This Edwardian social comedy explores love and prim propriety among an eccentric cast of characters assembled in an Italian pensione and in a corner of Surrey, England.
A charming young Englishwoman, Lucy Honeychurch, faints into the arms of a fellow Britisher when she witnesses a murder in a Florentine piazza. Attracted to this man, George Emerson—who is entirely unsuitable and whose father just may be a Socialist—Lucy is soon at war with the snobbery of her class and her own conflicting desires. Back in England, she is courted by a more acceptable, if stifling, suitor and soon realizes she must make a startling decision that will decide the course of her future: she is forced to choose between convention and passion.”
Movies and shows to satisfy your period drama addiction:
I am not including the Jane Austen adaptions or Bridgerton series in this list because I suspect you have already binged each and every movie and episode. This is a list of shows and movies that you may want to consider outside of the Austen hemisphere.
North and South (A BBC adaption based on the book)
I loved this mini series. It is filmed so well and I instantly fell in love with the characters. This is based on the historical book, which was also inspired by Pride and Prejudice.
Austenland (A film based on the book by Shannon Hale)
There are some parts of the book where I like the plot better, but other tidbits in the movie that are not in the book really make this an enjoyable watch. I love the book and the film equally, event hough they are both pretty different.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
“Elizabeth Bennet a master of martial arts, and Mr. Darcy, a fierce zombie killer, must swallow their pride in order to conquer the undead.”
Lost in Austen (A BBC mini series)
Bored bank worker Amanda Price ends up in her favorite novel, Pride and Prejudice. She has switched places with Lizzie, but now she is stuck in the novel while Lizzie is out in the modern world. Not only that, but she is messing up the plot of her favorite book and no one is who they seem. Mr. Darcy can’t fall in love with her -he is meant to be with Lizzie!
A 1993 film following the love story (and tragic death) of poet John Keats.
I hope that this list was helpful for my fellow Austen lovers. Do you have a favorite Jane Austen-like book or film that needs to be on this list? Name them in the comments. I would love to check them out.
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