And (drumroll)…here they are:
1. A.S. Byatt, The Virgin in the Garden. An earlier book and not so well known as Possession.
2. Ah, so near and yet so far…Daniel Deronda by George Eliot.
3. Well done, Elena, who was almost there, and who will be allowed to sharpen pencils today–Villette, by Charlotte Bronte. That one was my favorite, too. Wow.
4. And the romance excerpt, from Beast by Judith Ivory.
Janet
Janet:
Thanks for not keeping us in suspense for too long! And I am so impressed with Elena’s savvy guess…I have read that A.S. Byatt, too, but since her vocabulary far outstrips mine, I can’t remember much. I did love Possession, though.
Oh, and I’ve read Daniel Deronda and Beast, too. So much for retaining any kind of knowledge as one gets older (see what you have to look forward to, Cara and Amanda?)
Wow, how instructive. I’ve read all but the Byatt and didn’t have a clue — though the Eliot and the Bronte were a zillion years ago.
I really liked the Daniel Deronda (faux regency) excerpt — and may go back and reread only the Gwendolyn Harleth parts (the Deronda parts are dreary beyond belief). Eliot would have liked to be a flirt, I think, ‘neath all that high seriousness.
Thanks for the answers, Janet! Not that I’m feeling particularly clever with 1 out of 4.
But my CP should be delighted to know that Judith Ivory reminded me of her!
Elena 🙂
Oh yes, and Therese W. gets to sharpen pencils, too! She guessed the Judith Ivory.
I’ve always felt about DD, Pam, that it’s rather like Thanksgiving dinner, i.e. hold the turkey. In this case, hold dreary Daniel and let’s have more Gwendolyn and her sexy beast of a bad husband (the gravy, stuffing, cranberries, sweet potatoes and all the good gooey delicious stuff).
Janet