Today is Victoria Day. It is a distinctly Canadian holiday, though a lot of people I talk to have no idea why or even what it is. We all just call it "May Long" and think about it as the unofficial start of summer in Canada.
Usually it snows.
Technically, if you are curious, today is Victoria Day, a federal holiday in celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday. This is one of those things that we've kept from the days before we were even a country; the first celebration dates back to her actual birthday in 1845.
Nowadays, the nickname is "May two-four", and it is the first weekend when I typically have to wait an agonizingly long time to cross the highway, what with all of the trailers headed out for the first time. People are dusting off their lawn chairs, cleaning out their yards, planting, packing away their winter coats, and looking forward to the sunny days ahead.
This May long weekend, we were camping.
Did I mention that it usually snows?
In honour of this unofficial start of summer, I thought I would come up with a list of some of the many amazing books from the Victorian Period (1837 - 1901). I had a really hard time narrowing it down to just five. In fact, I learned something in this process: apparently I like a lot of Victorian literature!
Clicking on the image or title will take you to the associated goodreads page.
So here, in no particular order, is my effort to educate you about Victoria Day, or rather, the books that were released during that time. I bet you have already read some of them, or at least, know the story.
Though I grew up watching the Disney animated version, I never actually read this until a "Children's Lit" course in university. "Jabberwocky" is now one of three poems I have memorized.
If you haven't read it, do it. It is fantastical, and weird, and wonderful. Then, once you have, if you are not already aware of the story about how Carroll wrote this story, and the controversy surrounding him, look that up.
Whether you read this as a great allegory, or just a silly story, you should definitely read it.
One of my all-time favourite books, this tale following four sisters as they move from adolescence to adulthood pulls at the heartstrings, and is one of my favourite examples of love, sisterhood, family, and female identity, particularly in historical America.
I always personally identified with Meg more than Jo, but I always admired Jo greatly.
This book made my lis of great books to read for mothers and daughters, which you can check out here.
It was the first classic I ever read - perhaps even the first "grown up" book. It was the summer before I went into the fourth grade; maybe even the beginning of that school year. I already knew at that point that I loved to read. But I did not know that words could sound like that; that they could be so beautiful.
Jane Eyre, an orphan, is subjected to a lot of pretty terrible things, but she remains a strong spirit. There is a love story here, and the gothic romance and passion, and eerie landscape, and a formidable heroine with not many options available to her.
I have revisited this a few times since that first reading, if possible, I think I love it even more now.
I am sure that one day I will do a Halloween-themed list of recommended reads, and I know that this book will be on it. But you know what? I don't care. I am including it on this list anyway.
This was the book that I was reading when I met the man who eventually became my husband. It was the first book one of my two favourite university professors assigned for us to read, and it was the book I stayed up late to read my first nights away from the farm I once called home. Granted, part of the reason I stayed up late to read it was because I did not yet have TV, phone or Internet set up in my basement suite, I did not know a soul in that town, and I was too frightened of what I was reading to leave it only halfway finished.
This is a quintessential gothic novel, and a quintessential Victorian novel. This beautiful story - and it is beautiful; creepy but beautiful - questions the space between science and superstition, the interplay between femininity and masculinity, and the role of sexuality.
When I got to this part of today's blog, I faced a dilemma: How do I choose just one Dickens? Though my Christmas-loving heart will always love Tiny Tim's tale the most, Great Expectations might be Charles Dickens' best novel, and it is a close second favourite, so I went with that one.
I have only read this twice, but if you are looking for rich characters and serious commentary on social class in Victorian England, this book delivers. Pip is a fantastic hero without being too cheesy, who unwinds the question of what it means to be a gentleman, and Ms. Havisham is just fantastic. She is terrible while still being somehow symbolic. So much of her leaves me sad, and hollow, and wishing for something better for her.
This is Dickens at his best, so if you haven't read it yet, you should. (And, if you have the sense of humour that would appreciate it, maybe check out South Park's version of this tale when you are done.)
So there you have it. Five of my recommendations for Victorian reads. I am interested to hear about what Victorian books are your favourites. I missed so many!
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