Looking back on 2017, I see a wonderful list of books and honestly I can’t say that I regret reading a single one of them. In this particularly good year of reading (52 books in the year) a few stood out to me.
These are the ten books that left the most indelible impression on me in 2017:
1. Mariana by Monica Dickens
A coming of age novel dealing with a young girl’s quest to find the perfect love. Though the body of the novel is well written and engaging, it is the beginning and ending of the novel that elevate the quality of the story in my opinion, making it truly memorable. There are echoes of Tennyson’s poem ‘Mariana’ in this book.
2. Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson
What a delight of a novel. The characters are excellent, the plot immaculately constructed and the writing is very funny.
A young woman, Miss Barbara Buncle opts to become a novel writer when her annual dividends are not as lucrative as usual. As the young lady has no imagination whatsoever, she writes completely from experience, portraying the people and incidents occurring in her rural corner of England. When the village people read the book and discover themselves (in an unflattering light) in the pages of the story, they determinedly set out to uncover the identity of the perpetrator of the village crime.
3. My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
This might be my new favourite du Maurier novel alongside Rebecca. It kept our book club continually guessing (we are still unsure to this day). Apart from the suspenseful aspect of the novel, I enjoyed the Cornish setting and the gothic feel of the story.
4. One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
This was such a quiet, wistful novel, spanning the events of one particular day. It deals with the struggles of the post-WW2 upper-middle class, coming to terms with the loss of their glorious past and changing domestic situations.
5. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
A suspenseful, fast-paced Victorian novel and a pre-decessor of the modern day thriller, although in my opinion, much better written than most of the modern-day bestsellers.
6. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Hard to describe Mrs Dalloway. Perhaps to me- it strikes as a poem of a novel talking about deep-seated issues – some of them related to mental health. The descriptions of London in the novel are glorious.
7. Earth and High Heaven by Gwethalyn Graham
Set in Toronto during World War 2, Earth and High Heaven deals with the then frowned upon love affair between a Canadian English woman and a Canadian Jewish man. The book is an elaborate social commentary on racial prejudice. It shows how people born into a fixed social pattern can overcome centuries of difference, in an overwhelming desire to embrace the most unifying emotion of all- love.
8. The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope
The last book in the Barsetshire Chronicles and Trollope’s most soul searching, heart-rending book about a man’s quest to preserve his integrity in the face of extreme adversity.
9. My Grandmothers and I by Diana Holman-Hunt
A memoir written by the grand daughter of the eminent pre-raphaelite painter William Holman-Hunt. It tells of her unusual upbringing, alternating in the homes of her paternal and maternal grandmothers. It is a wonderful chance to glimpse into the eccentric lifestyle of Holman-Hunt. It’s also a rather poignant memoir written in a cheerful way, from the viewpoint of a young girl, who was essentially an orphan and who never knew the comfort of a stable home.
10. Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell
The subject of this Victorian novel had quite a modern tone. It dealt with illegitimacy and the strictures of Victorian society and religion. However, what I appreciated the most about this novel was the fact that the pain and suffering, the vulnerability of a young orphan girl was highlighted, thus painting her plight in a very sympathetic way.
Please leave me a comment sharing your favourite book of the year.
Here’s to many more books in 2018.
Bag Full Of Books 
Totally agree about Mrs Dalloway – I adore Woolf but find her very hard to write about. Wishing you many more great reads in 2018!
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It’s a gem of a book but too blindingly bright for me 🙂 I wish the same to you!
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We have a very similar taste in books! I have read 6 of these on your list and they are among my favorites, especially The Last Chronicle. I would like to read the other 4 and, for that matter, to see your complete list.
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The complete list of 52? Yes I will be publishing that soon. But you can find me on Goodreads and IG for more 🙂
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That’s a lovely list and there are several titles on there which I’d regard as among my all-time favourites. But I’m struggling with my books of the year post – I find it impossible to pick just one….
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It is rather hard Karen because there are several that I enjoyed a lot but I don’t remember as well as others. I picked the most memorable for this list.
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Days Without End by Sebastian Barry is more than my book of the year; it is the best book I’ve read in a decade.
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Wow that is high praise. I haven’t read anything by him yet.
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Such a wonderful list! I adore Miss Buncle’s Book, and loved My Cousin Rachel and The Woman in White. Mariana is at the top of my TBR list, and Ruth is one of the last Gaskell novels I have left to read. Hope you have another wonderful reading year in 2018!
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How nice that we have these favourite books in common. I hope you can get to the others soon. Wish you a great year of reading ahead.
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My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier is on my list of top 2017 books too. I’ve been meaning to read Ruth and The Woman in White:)
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Hope you can pick up those excellent classics. They are so good!
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Wonderful, wonderful list. I have read all be one of them. I am now going in search of My Grandmothers and I. My list will be up tomorrow and we have one entry in common. 😉
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Thank you Ali! When I look back on the list- I feel quite lucky to have found all these books in a single year 🙂 I’ll look forward to your list. Happy New Year.
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What a fantastic list! One Fine Day and Earth and High Heaven are two of my all-time favourites and Mariana is such a delight.
Happy reading in 2018!
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Thank you Claire. They are so good – I’m tempted to re read them very soon!
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I have read 8 out of 10 of these and loved them all. Earth and High Heaven and My Grandmothers and I are the two I haven’t read. I will have to do something about that.
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I’m glad you approve of the 8 on my list. I’m sure you will enjoy the two others. Hope you are having a wonderful NY in London.
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That’s a lovely list of books. I’d list ‘Mariana’, ‘My Cousin Rachel’ and ‘The Women in White’ as particular favourites and everything else is either an author I that I Iove or a book that I really want to read – or both!
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Wilkie Collins was such an unexpected delight to read this year. I have so many other books on the list that are personal favourites too! Feel very lucky to read so many good books in a single year 🙂
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I’ve read and loved many of these novels, but Mariana has been on my shelf for years and years and years – 2018 will have to be the year that I finally get it off the shelf!
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The opening and closing chapters are wonderful- I almost feel they have a cinematic quality to them. I hope you will enjoy it Simon.
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Great, great list! Mariana & My Cousin Rachel are also on my top reads of 2017. The other books you mentioned made me curious; I will add them to my ever-increasing TBR list 🙂
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Haha. The very tall, ever- beckoning TBR! Hope you can read some of my other favourites too!
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I must say, I consider it a huge personal triumph that I read three of your top 10 this year…it demonstrates to me how much my reading style has changed in the last couple of years~in the best of ways ❤️
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Mine has changed (for the better) too Nora. I always used to feel so overwhelmed with the Victorian classics.
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