WeBuzz

Reader discussion: East Lynne

Public reader discussion about East Lynne in the WeRead Catalog by Mrs. Henry Wood.

Dark, Gothic Literary Fiction That Explores The Female Experience

By espressowonder2006

Hi! Rebecca is honestly my favorite book ever, and I’m on the hunt for more novels—preferably newer/more modern—that give off a similar vibe: mostly domestic, kind of eerie/gothic (not always straight-up horror), with an intense focus on the female experience—identity, all the ways patriarchy messes with women’s lives and relationships. I want something that’ll stick with me and kind of haunt me. If any of this is true, I’d be extra excited: - complicated relationships between women (sisters/friends/mother-daughter/lovers—whatever) - magical realism or something fabulist - nature feels important, like it’s being used symbolically, or there’s really lovely nature description - an isolated setting with a small cast - main characters who are messy and flawed (a lot) I don’t want the whole “women are helpless victims” thing, or anything that’s super on-the-nose about feminism. I’m more into stories that dig into how gender and patriarchy get complicated and ugly in everyday life—especially in dark or cramped family settings. Think stuff like Sharp Objects, The Changeling, Sisters, that kind of feel. Also I’m craving character-driven books, but with a setting that makes your skin crawl. Like Atwood’s sharp take on womanhood set in some crumbling country estate, or My Brilliant Friend vibes but with darker magical realism. Thanks so much!

Literary classic by a female?

By TGrand8

I’d say I’m pretty well read in American lit, but when I look at what I’ve actually read it’s mostly the guys—Hemingway, Steinbeck, London, Fitzgerald, Salinger, Bradbury, King, Vonnegut, that kind of thing. I do love Orwell, Rushdie, Dostoyevsky, Joyce, and more too. But I’m missing a lot on the “classic” side, especially women writers. I really liked The Bell Jar, The Haunting of Hill House, and Beloved. Now I’m kinda realizing I haven’t read a bunch of the big ones like Jane Eyre, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Virginia Woolf, and honestly I haven’t read much by the Brontës or Austen either. Based on what I’m into, what women’s classic would you suggest I start with? (Also—sorry, adding this: I’ve read To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple, Frankenstein, and The Handmaid’s Tale.)