Librarian Katheryn Levenson’s Book Recommendations:
“Far from the Madding Crowd” by Thomas Hardy. The story of a headstrong young woman who turns down suitors, inherits a farm in the English countryside and finally learns about herself.
“Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen.
A household of daughters without fortune must find suitable husbands in Regency Period England. One of the great romances of all time between characters Elizabeth Bennett and Darcy Fitzgerald.
“Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy.
A beautiful woman in Tsarist Russia is torn between duty to her husband and child and a passionate love affair with an officer.
“Angle of Repose” by Wallace Stegner.
A story about a recently-crippled historian, who decides to retrace his pioneering grandmother’s journey West.
“Daughter of Fortune” by Isabel Allende.
The story of a young woman from Argentina who follows her over to the California gold fields, accompanied by her Chinese cook.
Bonus non-fiction: “Quiet: the power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking” by Susan Cain