All About Books discussion

Hello, I am having a bit of difficulty finding books that will help me get away from it all. What I am looking for: Something along the lines of "The Shell Seekers" and later books by Rosamunde Pilcher. I guess some would call these Aga sagas. ;) I don't want anything too dumbed down. I have read the Cazalet chronicles and liked them a lot. Liked "The Summer Before the War" as well. I just want that feeling of being in England (where I've visited many times, but can't go right now), in the past (WWII is OK), warm and comfortable and nothing to do with the pandemic and all the he** surrounding my job and finances. Gotta stop now b/c I am starting to cry.

thank you.

If you've liked the Cazalet Saga, have you tried the Lavette?
On the other side of the ocean, but as nice, in my opinion:
The Immigrants
Second Generation
The Establishment
The Immigrant's Daughter
The Legacy
An Independent Woman

No, I haven't. Thank you, LauraT.

They do look cool, esp. since my family emigrated to the U.S. in the late 19th century.

But I'm really interested in books that take place in England.

Any other suggestions?

This is an old (and long) series set in Canada that is a relaxing family saga over a century: The Building Of Jalna (Book #1).

An interesting series that gives a sense of the culture of India is the Vish Puri: The Case of the Missing Servant (Book #1). These are fun reads.

Have you read the Outlander series, Sandra? True entertainment and a good story to boot. It starts with Outlander.

For a feel good feeling, you can't go much wrong with the Andy Carpenter series. There is some history of the characters by starting with the first book, but each book is quite comfortably a stand-alone book.

Petra wrote: "This is an old (and long) series set in Canada that is a relaxing family saga over a century: The Building Of Jalna (Book #1).

An interesting series that gives a sense of the culture..."

Didn'tt know neither of them; I'll look into them
Thanks Petra

Miss Read is fun if you're looking for gentle fluff, set in small town England.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'll look into them.

Laurel wrote: "Miss Read is fun if you're looking for gentle fluff, set in small town England."

LOVE her!!!!!

Sandra wrote: "Hello, I am having a bit of difficulty finding books that will help me get away from it all. What I am looking for: Something along the lines of "The Shell Seekers" and later books by Rosamunde Pil..."

A book I enjoyed that is set in England is The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise - North American title, aka Balthazar Jones and the Tower of London Zoo It has wonderful characters and some humour mixed in. It's my favourite book by Julia Stuart (I have mixed review on different books of hers, but I also loved The Pigeon Pie Mystery).

My review (not time to do a fancy link) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and for The Pigeon Pie Mystery https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...



If you liked The Summer Before the War have you also read her book, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand which I shelved "comedy of manners"? https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The End of the Point by Elizabeth Graver. Also Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan

If you are a fan of British comedy, Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld series is very agreeable and humorous light reading.

Genre-wise completely different but it is set in England: Rivers of London (low fantasy, young police officer who's life takes a turn after he took the statement of a ghost... really fun!)

I love the Hamish MacBeth series (but those are set in Scotland, 1st book: Death of a Gossip ), so I'm sure that the Agatha Raisin books by the same author are great, too (1st book: The Quiche of Death). Think Miss Marple for both series.

Or some Romance? I really liked The Duke Who Didn't.

LauraT wrote: "Laurel wrote: "Miss Read is fun if you're looking for gentle fluff, set in small town England."

LOVE her!!!!!"

I also love her! Another similar author is Angela Thirkell whose Barchester series is set in the fictional area created by Anthony Trollope. The series starts in the 1930s and goes to the late 1950s but each book can be read independently (though the later books gain in enjoyment from previous knowledge of some of the recurring characters). The first book is High Rising.

Leslie wrote: "LauraT wrote: "Laurel wrote: "Miss Read is fun if you're looking for gentle fluff, set in small town England."

LOVE her!!!!!"

I also love her! Another similar author is [author:An..."

I need to look for her. It's been a while since I first heard of her...

I think you would like those books very much Laura!