If You Like….
If you like L.M. Montgomery’s The Blue Castle, you’ll probably also like:
— Colleen McCullough’s The Ladies of Missalonghi, which is basically The Blue Castle with a twist;
— Robin McKinley’s Beauty, with its reclusive hero and heroine just learning to come into her own;
— Eva Ibbotson’s A Company of Swans, where the heroine must run away to become herself;
— and Susan Wiggs’ The Charm School, since Valency’s family appears to have a great deal in common with Isadora’s.
Any other suggestions?
If you like If You Like, what other “If You Like” posts would you like to see here? Are there books or movies you’ve been looking to duplicate?
As a read-alike for The Blue Castle, I’d suggest Miss Lacey’s Last Fling by Candice Hern (recently reissued digitally). I haven’t read it but I know that it begins with the same premise as The Blue Castle–the heroine is diagnosed with a fatal disease.
Two books that I’d like to find read-alikes for are The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. While I can think of read-alikes for both books, I haven’t found ones that I’ve enjoyed as much as the two originals.
I love this feature! I’ve heard good things about Eva Ibbotson but haven’t read any of her books yet.
Oh how I love the Blue Castle! And LoM, the recommendation for which I found on here! I just reread Company of Swans and I’d like to throw in The Countess Below Stairs also by Eva Ibbotson because it has the same gentle but wised-up tone that Blue Castle boasts and it’s very fun.
Other read-alikes—honestly I just reread Meg Cabot’s Queen of Babble series and (love it of course) it reads like a cleverer/less infuriating Shopaholic series. Very strong similarities in the confident but misguided heroines and their good intentions helping them out of bad situations of their own making. Okay, and I like the guy in Babble way better than stuffy old Luke Brandon.
I’m afraid I haven’t read The Blue Castle, so I have no read-alikes for this week. But I will definitely be adding a lot of these suggestions to my Wish List!
For a future “If you like . . .” column, how about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby? That book is one of my favorites and I am always desirous of finding other books set in that time period (the Roaring Twenties.) Also, books with a hero who carries a torch for the heroine for an extended period of time (like Gatsby did for Daisy to his detriment) would be good.
Open Season by Linda Howard. Romantic suspense about a woman living with her aunt and mother who decides she needs to make changes in her life so she can start dating. Really hilarious story!
This is a great feature!
I’d love to find read-alikes for any of Judith Merkle Riley’s books, in particular “A Vision of Light.”
I love the “if you like this..” part of the website can one of the upcoming “if you likes” feature a Judith McNaught section? I love her books and I am always looking for books with a similar feel
Loved The Blue Castle! “If You Like” has become my favorite feature on your site, and there are so many books that I’d love to find more with the same topics. As a big Outlander fan, I’m always searching for quality historical time travel novels. I’d also love to find more exotic romance novels similar to Zemindar or Trade Wind.
Other books by L M Montgomery
Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer
(@Lauren its Valancy not Valency)
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Thank you so much for your “If You Like… Mary Stewart” – you’ve introduced me to Elsie Lee, and for me that’s like finding out about a horde of previously unknown Mary Stewarts. Difficult and expensive to find, but wonderful.
Thinking of other authors I love but who didn’t write/haven’t yet written enough, how about:
Josephine Tey
Dorothy L Sayers
Julia Ross (I know that’s a pseudonym for Jean Ross Ewing, but the Julia Ross books have a distinctive style)
Someone else who’s read Montgomery’s non-Anne and non-Emily works? Awesome!
My favorite of those is _Jane of Lantern Hill_. I love the quiet domesticity of the book, and I love the way the parents’ love story is relayed through Jane.
Love the Blue Castle and really enjoyed Charm School after your recommendation, so I’ll be sure to check the others out.
How about Jasper Fforde? I really enjoy both his Thursday Next and Mystery Crime series but don’t know about anything similar out there.
I’m glad you did an If You Like for this one – it’s definitely a rereadable favorite. Others I would recommend for this type of post:
The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Sorcery and Cecilia, anything by Mary Hooper. Marie-Louise Jensen is a British author, but her historical YA fiction is superb.
For myself, and d say if you Love The Blue Castle as much as do. You nay equally enjoy Jane Eyre and Persuasion if you haven’t read them already. And yes Ladies of Missalongi.