Victorian literature was always my favourite era of literature to study when I was a student, I studied Victorian Popular Fiction and Victorian Gothic in the final year of my undergraduate degree and loved it, but I don't read much of it now that I'm no longer a student. There are so many more contemporary writers, particularly non-British, LGBT+ and poc writers, whom I'd rather devote my reading time to.
Having said that, I do still enjoy classics when I pick them up so I thought I'd join in and try to read a bit of Victorian literature this October alongside all of the other books I want to read this autumn!
There are five challenges:
- Read a Victorian book by a Irish, Scottish or Welsh author
Read a Victorian book that was recommended to you- Read a supernatural Victorian book
Read a lesser known Victorian book- Read a Victorian book by a female author
I'm only going to attempt three of them, because I don't want Victorian literature to completely take over my reading month, so the challenges I've crossed through are the ones I won't be tackling.
Read a Victorian book by an Irish, Scottish or Welsh author // I'm going to re-read The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen, because I think I need to read it again to appreciate it. It's described as one of the best horror stories ever written but I remember being left a bit disappointed with it, so I'd like to give it another try. Arthur Machen was a Welsh author who focused on supernatural/horror stories, so he's worth checking out if you're into Victorian Gothic.
Read a supernatural Victorian book // Another re-read, this time of one of my favourite pieces of Victorian literature: Carmilla. Carmilla is a vampire story that pre-dates Dracula and I really, really enjoyed it when I had to study it for university. It'd be nice to read it again just for the pure enjoyment of it.
Read a Victorian book by a female author // I love Anne Brontë, but I've never read her masterpiece the whole way through. I've read bits of it here and there and I understand the social importance of it, but I want to read it properly so I can appreciate the often forgotten Brontë's genius. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is the book I'd like to focus my attention on for this read-a-thon.
Are you taking part in #Victober? What are some of your favourite Victorian novels?
