Writers who should be better known

12 years ago

I suspect we all have a few favorites that we think more people should be reading. On and off I think about Judith Merkle Riley, author of six novels mostly historical but with a very light overlay of fantasy. I love her command of period, her humor, and her vivid drawing of the characters. These books are very satisfying to read.

Another one comes to mind, Gillian Bradshaw. Most of her novels are historical, and most of those are set in the classical world, though recently she has been writing more contemporary novels, even a couple of SF novels. I haven't read all her books, and I haven't loved everything I've read, but several were very good. Still I rarely see her mentioned. I would recommend The Wolf Hunt or for SF, The Wrong Reflection. I have not yet read her Authurian-inspired trilogy beginning with Hawk of May, but I'm thinking of looking it up soon.

Are there any writers you would like to add to the list?

Folly

This post was edited by rosefolly on Fri, Feb 14, 14 at 22:43

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Comments (13)

carolyn_ky
12 years ago
I have sung her praises on here before, but Janice Holt Giles is one of my favorite authors.

The only Gillian Bradshaw books I have read are the Arthurian trilogy, and I remember liking them.
janalyn
12 years ago
I had forgotten all about Riley - I have read the Margaret Ashbury books and a couple of the others. I must have missed The Glass Oracle so have put that on the library list. She died in 2010. I agree with you about the quality of her writing.
I have somehow totally missed Gillian Bradshaw.

I am still thinking about your topic question. Continuing with the SFF theme, I suggest Guy Gavriel Kay and Charles de Lint.

It is so much easier to think of well known writers who do not deserve their reputation....
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woodnymph2_gw
12 years ago
Helen Waddell, Jill Paton Walsh, Sigrid Undset, O.E. Rolvaag, Knut Hamsun, Alain-Fournier.
yoyobon_gw
12 years ago
Beverley Nichols was a delightful writer from the early 1900's.
I read his "Down The Garden Path" triology and have three others piled to be read.

Here is a link that might be useful: more about Beverley Nichols
phoebecaulfield
12 years ago
I'd like to put in a word for Harriet Doerr. Her Stones for Ibarra and Consider This, Senora are fine stories.

She published her first novel at the age of 73.

Here is a link that might be useful: Harriet Doerr
phoebecaulfield
12 years ago
I'd like to put in a word for Harriet Doerr. Her Stones for Ibarra and Consider This, Senora are fine stories.

She published her first novel at the age of 73.

Here is a link that might be useful: Harriet Doerr
twobigdogs
12 years ago
George Gissing, of course. For fictional accounts of life in the Victorian Era in London, no one beats George. This very fact, however, could be the reason he is NOT as well known as Dickens. Gissing did not sugar-coat his characters. Some folks like their Victorian writings with a nice frosting on top. Just my guess, of course.

PAM
friedag
12 years ago
I think I've run across only one RPer familiar with Bryher, pseudonym of Annie Winifred Ellerman. Her father was richer-than-sin John Ellerman and she was a contemporary of Stein, Hemingway, James Joyce, and the Paris crowd. Don't let that put you off, though. Bryher wrote, among other things, some very vivid historical novels set in Britain. The ones I've read: Roman Wall (1954), set during the Roman Empire; Ruan (1960), set after the Romans pulled out of Britain; and This January Tale (1966). I'm afraid that most of her novels are out of print but they ought not be.

I seldom see mention of Wallace Breem anymore, but if you like historical novels set during the Roman Empire, Breem's Eagle in the Snow is excellent, I think.
woodnymph2_gw
12 years ago
I agree about G. Gissing.
georgia_peach
12 years ago
Along with Breem and Bryher, I'd add Naomi Mitchison.

I read Merkle Riley's The Oracle Glass earlier this year and really liked it. I've got her Ashbury books on my wishlist.
sheriz6
12 years ago
I'll second Beverley Nichols, his garden books are delightful. I'm also a big fan of Barbara Pym, who seems well-known here on RP, but not among anyone else I know.
timallan
12 years ago
There are almost too many to name.

My favorite book of this year (so far) is Christiane Ritter's Arctic memoir, A Woman in the Polar Night. Published in Germany in 1938, it is still widely-read there. I convinced an acquaintance to read it, and she was similarly amazed by it.

I'm also a big fan of Mrs. Henry Wood (Ellen), a surprisingly skilled and original writer of Victorian melodramas. Anne Hereford continues to be one of my favorite 19th century novels. Is Mrs. Henry Wood truly great art? Probably not. Is she still a lot of fun to read? Absolutely!

I have Ada Leverson's Love's Shadow on my 2014 TBR. She is mostly remembered now as a close friend of Oscar Wilde, remaining fiercely loyal in his sad last years. She was also a writer in her own right. Leverson was also Jewish, which as far as I know, makes her the only 19th century Anglo-Jewish woman writer I've ever heard of.

Some writers, perhaps not well-known, are fortunate to attract cult followings, like Denton Welch, one of my favorite writers. As a of classic British mysteries, I admire the novels of Josephine Tey. I wish she was more widely-read.

Does anyone remember the novel Raintree County? Its author, Ross Lockridge, committed suicide shortly after its publication. It was at one time a best-seller, but I can't seem to find a reasonably-priced copy for love nor money. It appears to be only available as a ludicrously expensive softcover, complete with a truly hideous cover. What a shame this famous book has been allowed to mostly disappear.
woodnymph2_gw
12 years ago
Robert Hellenga, author of "The Sixteen Pleasures" and "The Fall of a Sparrow."

Writers who should be better known

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