VICTOBER 2025 discussion

A place to discuss your plans and recommendations for my challenge, which is to read a Victorian Bildungsroman or coming of age story

I'm so excited for Victober! Jane Eyre would be a great re-read and some others from my favorite victorian writers.

Probably gonna attempt Wives and Daughters. Been wanting to read it for awhile.

Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution just came out and it is great! Long - about 20 hours in audio form- but worth the read.

I'm either going to reread Great Expectations or I might read something I haven't read before, I've not decided yet...

I’m trying to decide between David Copperfield or Agnes Grey. 🤔

I'll definitely be reading Agnes Grey for Victober. I may read a Dickens novel, not sure which one just yet.

I'm going to revisit Louisa May Alcott's "Jack and Jill" for this challenge.

Nicole wrote: "I'm going to revisit Louisa May Alcott's "Jack and Jill" for this challenge."

I think she was American born.

I have a question. 😬 Is Trollope's Can You Forgive her a Bildungsroman? I have it on my shelf, but I don't want to read a synopsis so as not to spoil it for myself. 😆

Thanks in advance.

I am going to re-read Jane Eyre. I love it so much and have read it so many times. It never disapoints!
Can You Forgive Her starts with Alice in her early 20s so not sure if it is ‘coming of age’?

If I don't manage to obtain "Poor Miss Finch" for Kate's challenge, then I'll switch to Katie's challenge reading "Wives and daughters", which I already own.

Lu wrote: "I have a question. 😬 Is Trollope's Can You Forgive her a Bildungsroman? I have it on my shelf, but I don't want to read a synopsis so as not to spoil it for myself. 😆

Thanks in advance."

I'd say probably not, I'm afraid!

Oh well! Thank you, Katie. 📚

Hi people who know more than me! I've got Agnes Grey and The Professor left to read from the Brontes; would you say either of those are coming of age stories? Thanks :)

Hello! I'm really torn between Romola, North and South (more coming of age than bildungsroman, from what I've known briefly, never read them) and re-reading Great Expectations, the more proper fit for the challenge!

Something horrific, either "Phantom of the Opera" or "Dr Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde". Which of these do you guys think I should prioritize?

I’m going for the ‘slightly looser’ interpretation of this challenge - Charles Dickens: Dombey and Son. A good opportunity to read a Dickens I’ve always had, but never read. (I had not realised how thick the book is!)

I think this counts even though the child is 17, Uncle Silas

Would The Tenant of Wildfell Hall qualify? This has been on my TBR for ages.

Kate wrote: "Would The Tenant of Wildfell Hall qualify? This has been on my TBR for ages."

I’m currently reading this for probably the third time, this time for my local book group. I like it a lot. So different from other Bronte books. The heroine’s early life, as told through her diaries, starts when she is about eighteen and follows through about 10 years of her life . . . and she certainly ‘grows up’ in that time!

PaulaJA wrote: "Kate wrote: "Would The Tenant of Wildfell Hall qualify? This has been on my TBR for ages."

I’m currently reading this for probably the third time, this time for my local book group. I like it a lo..."

A friend read it several months ago and loved it, which is why it came to mind.

I started working on David Copperfield (since it's incredibly long) and I found a read aloud by Gildart Jackson on YouTube that I can read along with. Nice expression and pacing. I'm hoping it will keep me focused :)

I am planning to read David Copperfield Oxford World’s Classics edition with an introduction and notes. DC has been on my TBR a long time and I'm looking forward to finally reading it.

Thinking of going with A Dark Night's Work by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell~

I'm hoping to listen to Villette for this one!

WndyJW wrote: "I think this counts even though the child is 17, Uncle Silas"

Sounds like a good choice, remember enjoying it and may reread it at some point.

I will be reading Jane Eyre but I am hoping to count Dr Thorne as a coming of age. Any thoughts??
I just posted my very first Booktube video. I think it’s laughable because I have next to zero editing skills but I want to get it published and hope my skills improve as I go along. I am thrilled for this year’s Victober

I will be reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Mary wrote: "I will be reading Jane Eyre but I am hoping to count Dr Thorne as a coming of age. Any thoughts??
Frank Gresham, the "young" hero of the book, does mature by the end of the novel. At the beginning, he is about to turn 21, and rather naive and somewhat easy to manipulate. The book ends about 2 years later, and he has become his own man, so to speak. Jane Eyre is more of a true coming of age, though. There is an illness (alcoholism) in Dr Thorne and there's a 2016 mini-series of Dr Thorne, so it could count for any of those prompts ;)

I'll probably read either Jane Eyre or Great Expectations for this challenge. Maybe both if I have time.

My first choice for this was a bit unorthodox, Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Link to review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'm still deciding on a more conventional option.

I just finished Ayala's Angel by Anthony Trollope and I'm going to count it as my Coming of Age novel. If you can't count Tom, Ayala, and Frank Houston as Coming of Age in this book I don't know that anything would meet the requirement. I also read John Halifax, Gentleman by Dinah Maria Craik, which certainly meets the challenge, though with less energy and flair.

AllisonLL wrote: "I am reading Jill by Amy Dillwyn, which is so enjoyable. I feel the language is surprisingly contemporary, but a friend of mine said I am so steeped in Victorian literature that is just seems so to..."

I've heard good things about that one, for some reason thought it was a more modern work. May see if I can track down a copy.

I am reading Great Expectations.

AllisonLL wrote: "I am reading Jill by Amy Dillwyn, which is so enjoyable. I feel the language is surprisingly contemporary, but a friend of mine said I am so steeped in Victorian literature that is just seems so to..."

I totally agree on Jill - found it wonderful and super readable!

I started "Aurora Leigh" today, and I am loving it. Thank you, Katie, for the recommendation!

I started Agnes Grey today for this prompt. It's over 30yrs since I last read it. I don't remember any of the plot, just loving it at the time and the circumstance I was in to read it. (Hiding from bullies in the school library). The writing is lovely and a LOT easier than Wuthering Heights. I also get reminded of Jane Eyre in the character of Agnes

I have started Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. First time. I'm also planning to read a Dickens novel, which one - I don't know yet. I have other authors in mind but they're not Victorians alas (a few years short)

I've finished Olive and I have very mixed feelings about it. It was exciting and moving and I absolutely enjoyed the first half of it.
I began to wonder when Olive wanted to become an artist and the novelist is very eager to explain, why women never will become really great artists - it's just not in their nature. And in fact, Olive's beeing an artist becomes less and less important during the novel, whereas her 'true destiny', self-sacrifice in the name of love, gains in significance.
The second half of the novel was much too long for my taste, it was very predictable in spite of some improbable coincidences. There was too much preaching of sentimental religiousness and too much rambling about pure womanly love. Olive became unearthly angelic and the twists and turns in Harold's character were not really believable for me.
Even though I tried to keep in mind the context of Victorian ideas and values - it was a little bit over the top for me.

I finished David Copperfield with the help of Richard Armitage's Audible narration. (I read the Oxford World's Classic edition and listened simultaneously.)

I love Bildungsroman and coming-of-age stories but do not love this novel. I gave it 4-stars because of the number of caricatures pretending to be characters and the meandering plotline that leans too heavily on happenstance and coincidences to resolve sticky situations.

Tonight, my husband and I plan to finish watching the 1999 miniseries with Daniel Radcliffe.

Just started Oliver Twist. Really liking it so far.

I am reading ‘Dombey and Son’ and enjoying it more than I thought I would. I found Katie’s video ‘Tips for reading Charles Dickens’ very helpful indeed - thank you Katie. I am reading it in its original serialised form, one volume at a time, which my copy helpfully marks out. A great idea for tackling such a big book.

I’m reading Jane Eyre for this prompt. It’s re read for me, but it’s been many years since I last read it.

I’m listening to The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy. There is an excellent audiobook on the Libby app for free. Would this book count as as a Victorian Bildungsroman / Conning of Age story regarding the young girl Grace and her struggles with love and marriage? Also there is poetry cited throughout the novel so it would also count for the 5th challenge too, right? I do have other poetry books selected for that challenge though.

It turns out that The Half Sisters is a double Bildungsroman following the moral development of both Bianca and Alice. The story is both preachy and nuanced!

The Mill on the Floss is also a double Bildungsroman follows brother and sister Tom and Maggie. Eliot uses characters and scenes from The Pilgrim's Progress to illustrate their moral development.

Charlotte Bronte also uses PP to illustrate the moral development in her lesser-known Bildungsroman, The Professor. (I read these three works last April.)

I just finished Oliver Twist for this prompt. I’m very glad I had an edition with copious notes (Black Classics), because I would’ve missed much of his scathing social commentary otherwise. I enjoyed it, but I wouldn’t say I loved it. However I’m sure I will reread it in a few years and hopefully get more out of it then.

I am so glad thus challenge pushed me to reread David Copperfield after so many years.

Is the Professor by Charlotte Bronte a Bildungsroman? I originally planned to read Villette by the same author, but I really want to finish Bleak House by Charles Dickens this month, and I don't think I can finish Bleak House if I read Villette..

I didn't plan it that way, but it turns out all the novels I read this year have coming of age arcs: Bleak House, North & South, Wuthering Heights and The Mayor of Casterbridge. It's such a powerful tool both for plot advancement (some action triggering a crisis), as for characterisation and for social commentary (the interplay between character's preconceptions and new revelations which drive change and the development of their personality).