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My Long Longlist of Epistolary Fiction
As I found out a year ago, February is the Month of Letters and I gladly seize the opportunity to present four epistolary novels here on Edith’s Miscellany on the coming four Fridays plus another letter-based book on Lagraziana’s Kalliopeion. Of course, these five reviews won’t remain my only ones this year with a focus on this old literary genre because I signed up for Jamie Ghione’s Epistolary Reading Challenge 2017 on Whatever I Think Of (»»» see my common sign-up post for all this year's reading challenges) and I’m determined to treat myself to a few more fictional or fictionalised correspondences for it.
Being a great enthusiast of the old-fashioned (snail mail) letter, I confine myself to books written entirely or at least substantially in this form rather than modern emails, instant messages, memos, blogs, or diaries although it’s not always easy to draw a sharp line or even to find out before reading. Luckily, writers have been penning heaps of fictional letters to produce full-length novels since the late seventeenth century, many of them forgotten today or considered antiquated, and to my great joy they continue to do so adapting the genre to the realities of modern life.
There is an interesting and detailed list of contemporary epistolary novels on Wikipedia, but I preferred to make my own list largely based on my 29 Book Suggestions for the Month of Letters 2016. Admittedly, my selection of 100 is a bit arbitrary and includes several books about which I know nothing except that they are epistolary. Moreover, one fifth of the novels dates from before 1900 and isn’t eligible for review on Edith’s Miscellany according to my own rules. I include them nonetheless for the sake of “completeness” along with the novels in letters that I already wrote about in the past. My reviews for the Epistolary Reading Challenge 2017 will be from the remaining.
And here’s my chronological Longlist of 100 Novels in Letters
(to be completed with links to my reviews):
Being a great enthusiast of the old-fashioned (snail mail) letter, I confine myself to books written entirely or at least substantially in this form rather than modern emails, instant messages, memos, blogs, or diaries although it’s not always easy to draw a sharp line or even to find out before reading. Luckily, writers have been penning heaps of fictional letters to produce full-length novels since the late seventeenth century, many of them forgotten today or considered antiquated, and to my great joy they continue to do so adapting the genre to the realities of modern life.
There is an interesting and detailed list of contemporary epistolary novels on Wikipedia, but I preferred to make my own list largely based on my 29 Book Suggestions for the Month of Letters 2016. Admittedly, my selection of 100 is a bit arbitrary and includes several books about which I know nothing except that they are epistolary. Moreover, one fifth of the novels dates from before 1900 and isn’t eligible for review on Edith’s Miscellany according to my own rules. I include them nonetheless for the sake of “completeness” along with the novels in letters that I already wrote about in the past. My reviews for the Epistolary Reading Challenge 2017 will be from the remaining.
And here’s my chronological Longlist of 100 Novels in Letters
(to be completed with links to my reviews):
- Juan de Segura: Processo en cartas de amores. Juan de Segura, A Critical and Annotated Edition of this First Epistolary Novel (1548) together with an English Translation, ed. and trans. Edwin B. Place, original Spanish title: Processo en cartas de amores
- Gabriel-Joseph de Lavergne, comte de Guilleragues: Letters of a Portuguese Nun (1669), orignal French title: Les lettres portugaises
- Aphra Behn: Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister (1684)
- Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu: Persian Letters (1721), original French title: Lettres persanes
- Samuel Richardson: Clarissa or, The History of a Young Lady (1748)
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Julie, or the New Heloise (1761), original French title: Julie ou la Nouvelle Héloïse
- Sophie von La Roche: The History of Lady Sophia Sternheim, Volume 1 and Volume 2 (1771), original German title: Geschichte des Fräuleins von Sternheim
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), original German title: Die Leiden des jungen Werther
- Ann Eliza Bleecker: The History of Maria Kittle (1779)
- Fanny Burney: Evelina. Or the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World (1778)
- Pierre-Ambroise-François Choderlos de Laclos: Dangerous Liaisons (1782), original French title: Les Liaisons dangereuses
- Sophia Lee: The Recess (1785)
- Marianne Ehrmann: Amalie and Minna (1787), original German title: Amalie und Minna
- Sarah Wentworth Morton: The Power of Sympathy (1789)
- Ugo Foscolo: The Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis (1802), original Italian title: Ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis
- Caroline Pichler: Agathocles (1808), original German title: Agathokles
- Fyodor Dostoevsky: Poor Folk (1846), original Russian title: Бедные люди
- Jane Austen: Lady Susan (1794/1871)
- Lucy Hamilton Hooper: The Tsar's Window (1881)
- Peter Rosegger: The Earth and the Fullness Thereof (1900), original German title: Erdsegen»»» read my review from 2018
- José Maria de Eça de Queiros: Correspondence of Fradique Mendes (1900), original Portuguese title: Correspondência de Fradique Mendes
- Laurence Housman: An Englishwoman's Love-letters (1900)
- Elisabeth von Heyking: The Letters Which Never Reached Him (1903), original German title: Briefe, die ihn nicht erreichten »»» read my review from 2018
- Jack London & Anna Strunsky Walling: The Kempton-Wace Letters (1903)
- Elizabeth von Arnim: Fräulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther (1907)
- Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Colours: Extracts from the Letters of a Man Who Returned (1907), original German title of the complete novel: Die Briefe des Zurückgekehrten (1907)
- Ricarda Huch: The Last Summer (1910), original German title: Der letzte Sommer
- Else Lasker-Schüler: My Heart (1912), original German title: Mein Herz
»»» read my review for the Epistolary Reading Challenge 2017 - Vasily Vasilievich Rozanov: Fallen Leaves, Volume I and II (1913/1915), original Russian title: Опавшие листья
- Elizabeth Cooper: My Lady of the Chinese Courtyard (1914)
»»» read my review from 2018 - Matilde Serao: Souls Divided (1914), original Italian title: Ella non rispose»»» read my review for the Epistolary Reading Challenge 2019
- Stefan Zweig: Letter from an Unknown Woman (1922), original German title: Brief einer Unbekannten »»» read my short review from 2016 on Lagraziana's Kalliopeion
- François Mauriac: Vipers' Tangle (1932), original French title: Le Nœud de vipères
»»» read my review from 2018 - Marcelle Sauvageot: Commentary (1933), original French title: Commentaire
- Kathrine Kressmann Taylor: Address Unknown (1938)
- C. S. Lewis: The Screwtape Letters (1942)
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: Letter to a Hostage (1944), original French title: Lettre à un otage
- Ingeborg Bachmann: Letters to Felician (1946/1991), original German title: Briefe an Felician
»»» read my review for the Epistolary Reading Challenge 2017
- Georges Simenon: Act of Passion (1947), original French title: Lettre à mon juge
- Thornton Wilder: The Ides of March (1948) »»» read my review for the Epistolary Reading Challenge 2019
- Marguerite Yourcenar: Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), original French title: Mémoires d’Hadrian
- Camilo José Cela: Mrs Caldwell Speaks to her Son (1953), original Spanish title: Mrs Caldwell habla con su hijo
- Bernard Binlin Dadié: An African in Paris (1959), original French title: Un Nègre à Paris
- Wolfgang Bauer: The Feverhead (1967), original German title: Der Fieberkopf
- Christopher Isherwood: A Meeting by the River (1967)
»»» read my review for the Epistolary Reading Challenge 2017 - Arno Schmidt: Bottom’s Dream (1970), original German title: Zettels Traum
- Natalia Ginzburg: Dear Michael (1973), original Italian title: Caro Michele
- Anne Stevenson: Correspondences. A Family History in Letters (1974)
- Hella S. Haasse: A Dangerous Affair or Daal-en-Bergish Letters (1976), original Dutch title: Een gevaarlijke verhouding of Daal-en-Bergse brieven
- Oswald Wynd: The Ginger Tree (1977)
- Elena Poniatowska: Dear Diego (1978), original Spanish title: Querido Diego, te abraza Quiela
- Mariama Bâ: So Long a Letter (1979), original French title: Une si longue lettre
»»» read my review for the Epistolary Reading Challenge 2017
- John Barth: Letters (1979)
- Miyamoto Teru: Kinshu. Autumn Brocade (1982), original Japanese title: 錦繍
»»» read my review for the Epistolary Reading Challenge 2017 - Alice Walker: The Color Purple (1982)
- Myriam Warner-Vieyra: Juletane (1982), original French title: Juletane
- Herbert Rosendorfer: Letters Back to Ancient China (1983), original German title: Briefe in die chinesische Vergangenheit
- Natalia Ginzburg: The City and the House (1984), original Italian title: La città e la casa
»»» read my review from 2016 - Ana Castillo: The Mixquiahuala Letters (1986)
- Amos Oz: Black Box (1986), original Hebrew title: קופסה שחורה
»»» read my review for the Epistolary Reading Challenge 2017
- Paul Auster: In the Country of Last Things (1987)
- Edith Bruck: Letter to My Mother (1988), original Italian title: Lettera alla madre
- Lee Smith: Fair and Tender Ladies (1988)
- John Updike: S. (1988) »»» read my review for the Epistolary Reading Challenge 2019
- Nick Bantock: Griffin and Sabine. An Extraordinary Correspondence (1991)
- Hilda Hilst: Letters from a Seducer (1991), original Brazilian Portuguese title: Cartas de um sedutor
- Susanna Tamaro: Follow Your Heart (1994), original Italian title: Va dove ti porta il cuore
»»» read my review from 2013 - Rashid al-Daif: Dear Mr. Kawabata (1995), original Arabic title: عزيزي السيد كواباتا
- Jostein Gaarder: Vita Brevis. A Letter to Saint Augustine (1996), original Norwegian title: Vita brevis »»» read my short review from 2017 on Lagraziana's Kalliopeion
- J. Nozipo Maraire: Zenzele. A Letter for My Daughter (1996)
- Dacia Maraini: The Violin (1997), original Italian title: Dolce per sé
- José Eduardo Agualusa: Creole (1997), original Portuguese title: Nação Crioula
- Hope Keshubi: Going Solo (1997)
- Carmen Martín Gaite: Variable Cloud (1997), original Spanish title: Nubosidad variable
- Alfredo Bryce Echenique: Tarzan's Tonsillitis (1998), original Spanish title: La amigdalitis de Tarzán
- Sylvia Iparraguirre: Tierra del Fuego (1998), original Spanish title: La Tierra del Fuego
»»» read my review from 2016 - Stephen Chbosky: The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999)
- Matthew Kneale: English Passengers (2000)
- George Plimpton: Pet Peeves or Whatever Happened to Doctor Rawff (2000)
- Gina Mercer: Parachute Silk (2001)
- Antonio Tabucchi: It's Getting Later All the Time (2001), original Italian title: Si sta facendo sempre più tardi
- Tiziano Terzoni: Letters Against War (2002), original Italian title: Lettere contro la guerra
- Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt: Oscar and the Lady in Pink (2002), original French title: Oscar et la Dame rose
- Luísa Coelho: Monique (2003), original Portuguese title: Monique »»» read my review from 2018
- Mikhail Pavlovich Shishkin: The Light and the Dark (2005), original Russian title: Письмовник
- Martin Amis: House of Meetings (2006)
- Ülo Mattheus: The Love of India (2006), original Estonian title: India armastus
- Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger (2008)
- Maya Angelou: Letter to My Daughter (2008)
- John Berger: From A to X. A Story in Letters (2008)
- Mo Yan: Frog (2009), original Chinese title: 蛙 »»» read my review from 2018
- Nicola Barker: Burley Cross Postbox Theft (2010)
- Amélie Nothomb: Life Form (2010), original French title: Une forme de vie
- Jay Griffiths: A Love Letter From a Stray Moon (2011)
»»» read my review for the Epistolary Reading Challenge 2017
- Tatiana de Rosnay: The House I Loved (2011)
- Carlene Bauer: Frances and Bernard (2013)
- Yvette Walker: Letters to the End of Love (2013)
- Ava Dellaira: Love Letters to the Dead (2014)
- Iona Grey: Letters to the Lost (2015)
- Anne Youngson: Meet Me at the Museum (2018)
»»» read my review for the Epistolary Reading Challenge 2019
What a list! I have read 5 of them: 84 Charing Cross Road, The Color Purple, The Historian (she has a new novel coming out this year!), The White Tiger, and The Guernsey Literary...
ReplyDeleteAnd I could easily have made it an even longer list! But then I "Monkishly" thought that 100 was a nice round number. Otherwise, I'd have had to find another 901 novels in letters to make it 1001 ;-).
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