10 Must-Reads for Die-Hard Jane Austen Fans

Barbara Pym and Austen fans are what Emma Woodhouse would’ve called a perfect match. In her book Jane and Prudence, Pym’s riff on the eponymous spinster is called Jane Cleveland. Like Emma, she enjoys playing matchmaker for her younger, unlucky-in-love best friend— Prudence—only to see her plans foiled. As Jane continues to meddle and Prudence sets her sights on a married man, the novel becomes a witty comedy of manners, family, and female friendship. 

Hailed by the New York Times as one of the most underrated authors, Pym’s work reminds us all that “life is full of mild, durable disappointments [and] it can even be funny.”

Related: 11 Books Like Emma, Jane Austen's Romantic Comedy of Errors 

Lovers of Austen will enjoy the slightly darker story of Jane Eyre. The novel follows Jane throughout her troubled childhood being brought up by abusive relatives, as she finds comfort tutoring the young ward of the brooding Mr. Rochester. Misunderstanding and mystery all play into this Gothic novel.

Middlemarch follows four intersecting stories of the people living in the fictional town of Middlemarch, located in the Midlands region of central England. The different characters all have plots of their own—which include love, scandal, and disgrace—much like many of Austen’s story lines.

This popular contemporary romance novel centers around three Brown university students in the 1980s. English major Madeleine Hanna is writing her senior thesis on Jane Austen and George Eliot’s ‘marriage plots’ that lie in their great English novels. But as real life unfolds and Madeleine is torn between two suitors of her own, the trio is forced to reevaluate real life in comparison to these age-old tales.

The very recently published modern day retelling of Pride and Prejudice gives us sisters Liz and Jane, a magazine editor and yoga instructor, respectively, living in New York City. After their father has a health scare, the two sisters return to their childhood home in Cincinnati. Much to their mother’s delight, a new eligible doctor with an interest in Jane has moved in next door—though Liz finds his neurosurgeon friend to be anything but charming.

Thomas Hardy’s most famous novel follows the life of Bathsheba Everdene, as she filters through a seemingly endless line of suitors. Though loved by many, she finds that her pride gets in the way of accepting help—much like Austen’s characters. Deceit, proclamations of love, and dramatic gestures all play a part in this classic book.

This follow up to Pride and Prejudice checks in with the Darcys during their first year of marriage. Can two seemingly incompatible souls work it out? Readers reunite with favorite characters, including Jane, Bingley, and Colonel Fitzwilliam, as Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy learn some much needed lessons about married life.

While some may not enjoy zombies being added to their favorite book, Seth Grahame-Smith’s take on Pride and Prejudice is more comedy than anything. The book follows the Bennet sisters, who are trained zombie-fighters, as they try and keep the English countryside safe. Who has time for romance when there are zombies on the loose?

Samantha Moore is used to reading her favorite stories, and in turn has forgotten to write her own. But when an anonymous benefactor, calling himself Mr. Knightley, offers to put the 23-year-old through Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism—with the catch of writing him frequent letters detailing the progress—Sam must learn how to tell a story of her own. The modern-day take resonates with anyone who has ever gotten lost in Austen.

Though Frederick Greenwood finished the story due to Gaskell’s untimely death, it is still one of her finest novels. The life of Molly Gibson is the focus of Wives and Daughters, as she is sent to live with a wealthy family and soon befriends their youngest son Roger. Much like Austen’s novels, there are several women trying to wed eligible men, and the themes of status, love, and loss all play large parts in this book.

Another Brontë sister makes our list, but probably not the one you were expecting. The lesser-known novels of Anne Brontë have similar tones to Austen’s novels. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall takes place during the arrival of a mysterious widow, Mrs. Helen Graham, and the book’s narrator Gilbert Markham is intrigued by her story. Though she has a troubled past, Gilbert is still drawn to her in this story full of love and mystery.