Before I write anything else, this cake-related link has made me laugh more than anything in ages…. enjoy!
I was very impressed by everyone in the quiz, I don’t think I’d have done nearly so well, even though I did pick books I’d read, mostly. Between you, all the answers were found. For those still wanting to have a go, look away now…
1. Antony and Cleopatra – William Shakespeare
2. Pamela – Samuel Richardson
3. Emma – Jane Austen
4. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
5. Shirley – Charlotte Bronte
6. Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
7. Lady Windermere’s Fan
8. Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
9. Lady Chatterley’s Lover – DH Lawrence
10. Mary Poppins – PL Travers
11. Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
12. Mrs. McGinty’s Dead – Agatha Christie
13. Lolita – Vladimir Nabakov
14. Cider With Rosie – Laurie Lee
15. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Muriel Spark
16. Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? – Edward Albee
17. Angela’s Ashes – Frank McCourt
18. Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
19. Charlotte Gray – Sebastian Faulks
20. The Jane Austen Book Club – Karen Joy Fowler
21. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox – Maggie O’Farrell
Well done all!
Now, to open it up, which books in your collection did I miss out?
Others I could have included from my bookshelves…
Miss Hargreaves – Frank Baker
Lesley Castle – Jane Austen
Lady Susan – Jane Austen
Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day – Winifred Watson
Lady Rose and Mrs. Memmary – Ruby Ferguson
Miss Ranskill Comes Home – Barbara Euphan Todd
Mariana – Monica Dickens
Enter-Patricia – Richmal Crompton
Naomi Godstone – Richmal Crompton
Felicity Stands By- Richmal Crompton
Millicent Dorrington – Richmal Crompton
Mrs. Frensham Describes A Circle – Richmal Crompton
Marriage of Hermione – Richmal Crompton
The Odyssey of Euphemia Tracey – Richmal Crompton
Matty and the Dearingroydes – Richmal Crompton (you get the idea with RC!)
Liza’s England – Pat Barker
Mapp and Lucia – EF Benson
Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma – Diana Birchall
Mary Barton – Elizabeth Gaskell
Ruth – Elizabeth Gaskell
Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Truman Capote
Fenny – Lettice Cooper
Mrs. Harter – EM Delafield
Messalina of the Suburbs – EM Delafield
Sister Carrie – Thomas Dreiser
The Memoirs of Letitia Horsepole – John Fuller
Eustace and Hilda – LP Hartley
Winsome Winnie and other nonsense novels – Stephen Leacock
Chloe Marr – AA Milne
Michael and Mary – AA Milne
Clara Hopgood – Mark Rutherford
Vanessa and Virginia – Susan Sellers
Cluny Brown – Margery Sharp
Young Mrs. Savage – DE Stevenson
Mrs. Miniver – Jan Struther
At Mrs. Lippincote’s – Elizabeth Taylor
The Ballad of Sylvia and Ted – Emma Tennant
Miss Bunting – Angela Thirkell
Sylva – Vercors
Miss Mole – EH Young
From my collection :
Evelina – Fanny Burney
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
Sula – Toni Morrison
Lyra’s Oxford – Philip Pullman
Angel – Elizabeth Taylor
Antigone – Jean Anouilh
I added a few titles to my lists, some first lines were really good !
Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon
Jasmine’s Tortoise
… and all the Lucia novels, of course!
Sylvia’s Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell
Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe and Rozana by Daniel Defoe
What is The Ballad of Sylvia and Ted by Emma Tennant like by the way?
Never read The Ballad of S and T, actually! Bought it in a charity shop a few years ago, one day I’ll read it… I suspect it might horrify Ted or Sylvia experts, but I don’t know that much about either of them.
Apart from some books you mentioned in this post:
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
Automated Alice – Jeff Noon
Lolly Willowes – Sylvia Townsend Warner
Good Evening, Mrs Craven – Mollie Panter-Downes
Mistress Masham's Repose – T.H. White
The End of Alice – A.M. Homes
Lilian's Story – Kate Grenville
The Everlasting Story of Nory – Nicholson Baker
Aurelia – R.A. Lafferty
Praxis – Fay Weldon
Eloise – Kay Thompson
Charlotte Sometimes – Penelope Farmer
Charlotte's Web – E.B. White
Peter Pan & Wendy – J.M. Barrie
These were translated so they probably don't count:
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands – Jorge Amado
Sophie's World – Jostein Gaarder
Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
I would love to know what you think if you ever do read it. I did not get on with Tennant's Pemberley. After you mentioned the Ballad of S & T I googled for a review and the Observer calls it "tasteless, but also compelling" which leaves one not knowing whether to read it or not!
How about Moll Flanders and The Princess Casamassima?
But even more fun might be titles that only seem to be about women. You’ve made a good start with Breakfast at Tiffany’s/