Virago Modern Classics discussion

Welcome everybody!

As most of you probably know, this group was created in 2009. After years of "stagnation", the group is alive again. I think some members would like to introduce themself again, and of course, we welcome new ones.

You can write here how many "green books" have you read already (roughly).

Do you have a favourite author amongst those published as VMC?

[The old "welcome" thread you find clicking here.]

Mela wrote: "Welcome everybody!

As most of you probably know, this group was created in 2009. After years of "stagnation", the group is alive again. I think some members would like to introduce themself again..."

Hi Mela! (we are old friends)

I'm just not going to remember old Virago reads, sorry.

But in recent times I have read The Little School: Tales of Disappearance and Survival & I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings from the Virago imprint & they are two of the most powerful nonfiction books I've read in recent times.

Unread I have Vera & Life Before Man Let me know if there is ever a group read of these two!

Edit; & That Kind of Woman: Stories From the Left Bank and Beyond

Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "Hi Mela! (we are old friends)

I'm just not going to remember old Virago reads, sorry...."

Hi Carol! Nice to see you here too.

If you want to discuss more about "how many VMC books you've read" there is also a separate thread - here link.

Thank you for resurrecting this group, Mela!

I have no idea how many VMC books I've read, I would need to check, but my favourite author is def. Barbara Pym :)

Barbara Pym is my runnerup to the novels of Elizabeth Taylor.

I love Elizabeth Taylor, obviously ;-) And, I was sure I will love Barbara Pym too. But, although I really liked "An Unsuitable Attachment" - I didn't finish "Excellent Women". I hope it was just the wrong time.

Hello all.
Thanks for resurrecting this group, Mela. I’m really excited to be part of this group and joined years ago when it was inactive.
My name is Jo and I live in Brisbane, Australia. I’ve been collecting and reading VMCs since the late 80s and don’t even know how many I own. Maybe around 200. I’m always scouring second hand book shops for new titles.
My favourite authors from the collection are Elizabeth Taylor, Willa Cather, Rosamond Lehmann, Rebecca West, Mary Webb E H Young and Zora Neale Hurston. BTW: there are some excellent Australian authors in the collection.

JosephineBookwyrm wrote: "Hello all.
Thanks for resurrecting this group, Mela. I’m really excited to be part of this group and joined years ago when it was inactive.
My name is Jo and I live in Brisbane, Australia. I’ve bee..."

Nice to meet you, Jo.

We are going to read, this month, "Invitation to the Waltz" by Rosamond Lehmann and the next "Angel" by Elizabeth Taylor - so two of your favourites ;-)

Good afternoon from Osaka. Chris here, a very gray long-haird ex-pat American born in the Eisenhower presidency who's been living in Japan since the Clinton years. I've been reading lots of the Virago writers for decades, and I'm looking forward to doing some rereading of some of my favorites and experiencing some new writers.

Chris wrote: "Good afternoon from Osaka. Chris here, a very gray long-haird ex-pat American born in the Eisenhower presidency who's been living in Japan since the Clinton years. I've been reading lots of the Vir..."

Great! Nice to meet you, Chris.

thanks.

Chris wrote: "thanks."

JosephineBookwyrm wrote: "Hello all.
Thanks for resurrecting this group, Mela. I’m really excited to be part of this group and joined years ago when it was inactive.
My name is Jo and I live in Brisbane, Australia. I’ve bee..."

Mela wrote: "JosephineBookwyrm wrote: "Hello all.
Thanks for resurrecting this group, Mela. I’m really excited to be part of this group and joined years ago when it was inactive.
My name is Jo and I live in Bri..."

Mela wrote: "JosephineBookwyrm wrote: "Hello all.
Thanks for resurrecting this group, Mela. I’m really excited to be part of this group and joined years ago when it was inactive.
My name is Jo and I live in Bri..."

Thanks Mela. I’m looking forward to rereading both An invitation to the waltz and Angel. 🙂

Hi everyone! My name is Mary (MaryE for ease as there are so many Mary's , :) ) I'm In British Columbia Canada and cannot stop buying books.... lol I haunted many used book stores over the years but I tend to find them either through Amazon Canada or abebooks(as it's hard for me to get into town)
I have read oodles of the green editions (have managed to amass about 150 or so . My favourites are Barbara Pym and Elizabeth Taylor and Elizabeth von Arnim. I am currently about 3/4 through in The Side of The Angels by Betty Miller and WISHING that there were a thousand more books written by her.

MaryE wrote: "Hi everyone! My name is Mary (MaryE for ease as there are so many Mary's , :) ) I'm In British Columbia Canada and cannot stop buying books.... lol I haunted many used book stores over the years bu..."

Hi Mary,

it is nice to see you in the group.

By the way, I invite you to nominate our October read.

Hello everyone,

I'm really glad to have joined this group.

I've read 12 VMCs.

My favourite authors are Barbara Pym, Barbara Comyns and Elizabeth Taylor.

Hermione Jane wrote: "Hello everyone,

I'm really glad to have joined this group.

I've read 12 VMCs.

My favourite authors are Barbara Pym, Barbara Comyns and Elizabeth Taylor."

Those are some of my favourites too. I haven't read all of Barbara Comynsbut I have loved all the ones I have read; must try to get to more of hers. I also really enjoy Elizabeth von Arnim and E.M. Delafield.

Yes I’ve read quite a few of Barbara comyns. I love the dark gothicness, and do enjoy the dark humour.

Yes, I love Elizabeth Von Arnim. I enjoyed the enchanted April very much, and it was a folio edition which are always beautifully illustrated. I have a copy of Elizabeth and her German garden, but unfortunately haven’t read that yet. I also have copies of E M Delafield’s novels but unfortunately haven’t had chance to read them.

There’s just so much to read isn’t there and not enough time.

Nice to meet you, Hermione Jane.

Tania, I have read one book by Barbara Comyns and Elizabeth von Armin - and I loved them. They are among the author I am going to explore sooner or later. E.M. Delafield too, but I haven't read her yet.

Hello everyone, I lived in London in the 70s and 80s and remember so clearly the excitement when Virago Press was established. Virago Moderrn classics were established in 1978, and were immediately popular with my feminist and lesbian friends. I still love to read them, so I'm looking forward to joining in this group. Thank you for organising us. I live in Sydney, Australia.

Hello Teresa,

I don’t know if you have read A Bite of the Apple about the formation of Virago but it was An interesting read.

Hermione 😊

I can't recall her name but I think one of the key women behind its founding just died a couple years ago. she used to pop up on the "Backlisted podcast" always had some good stories.

Carmel Cahill- yes I listen to that podcast too, it’s very enjoyable 😊

Thank you for that name. They've turned me onto many British authors over the years who never became that well-known in the states.

Yes, I think they feature fantastic authors, like you say, many of whom I had never heard of.

I also like the podcasts; tea and books and slightly fixed, who also print a fantastic quarterly magazine

Are you a Yank like me?

Nice to meet you, Teresa!

Do you know how many VMC have you read so far?

If you (and others) want to share this information there is another thread about it - here is the link to the thread.

Slightly foxed rather 🥺

No, I live in Yorkshire, in the uk

Where do you live in America

Well I grew up in the midwest (Minnesota, mostly) but I've been living in Osaka for almost 30 years.

Chris wrote: "Well I grew up in the midwest (Minnesota, mostly) but I've been living in Osaka for almost 30 years."

Chris wrote: "Well I grew up in the midwest (Minnesota, mostly) but I've been living in Osaka for almost 30 years."

How lovely, I’ve looked at pictures on the internet and it looks lovely.

Thanks for the recommendation of A bite of the Apple. I’ll read it.

My name is Sonia, I am in my 60s and live in the UK. I started buying Virago Modern Classics back in the 80s when there was a bookshop round the corner from where I worked. My first Virago was Deerbrook by Harriet Martineau. Of my 1980s purchases my favourite author was Willa Cather and I read all of the 11 books Virago published by her. I also enjoyed the Goldfields Trilogy of Katharine Susannah Prichard. After a big gap reading other publishers I am back with my Virago reading and enjoy seeing what green covers I can find in secondhand bookshops. I have 110 read on my shelves and about 20 on my TBR pile.

Welcome Sonia! :)

Sonia wrote: "My name is Sonia, I am in my 60s and live in the UK. I started buying Virago Modern Classics back in the 80s when there was a bookshop round the corner from where I worked. My first Virago was Deer..."

I read Deerbrook when I did a presentation on Harriet Martineau, the inventor of popular economics. It's actually a pretty good novel, somewhat like Middlemarch but hardly anyone has heard of it. It's interesting that as a UK resident, you read Willa Cather in Virago. All the first Virago books I read in the green covers were British.

Robin P wrote: "I read Deerbrook when I did a presentation on Harriet Martineau, the inventor of popular economics. It's actually a pretty good novel, somewhat like Middlemarch but hardly anyone has heard of it. ..."

I read "somewhat like Middlemarch" and I want to read the book instantly.

Welcome, Sonia!

I heard of Deerbrook after listening to a radio programme which recommended it on the if you liked X you will like Deerbrook. It may very well have been Middlemarch. Anyway it introduced me to a great publisher. My approach to book buying is very different now to in the 80s. While now I am looking for recommendations in groups like these and having an idea of what I am going to buy before I enter a bookshop, back then it was just pick a book up and read the blurb. I guess Willa Cather appealed as I grew up loving the books of Laura Ingalls Wilder and once I had read one it was easy to read the rest.
I did read some British authors like Antonia White and Winifred Holtby, but none of the comfort authors I gravitate to now - Barbara Pym, Elizabeth Taylor and Rosamond Lehmann.

Hello Sonia, welcome 😊

I love Barbara Pym and Elizabeth Taylor so much. I haven’t read rosamund Lehman nor Willa Cather yet, but I do have copies of their books 😊

Hello everyone, I live in Suffolk UK and my Virago journey started in the early 80's with Frost in May
I love Rosamond Lehmann and Pamela Frankau and am currently treating myself to the Virago editions of Daphne du Maurier

Hello Lennie,

I too like rosamund Lehmann although I’ve only listened to a radio drama.

It’s lovely you’ve joined us. I’m intrigued by Pamela frankau

Hi Lynnie, another Rosamond Lehmann fan here.

Sorry lynnie- predictive text 🙄

Hi Lynnie, nice to meet you. I hope we will all have a nice reading.

Thanks for the welcomes Hermione Jane, Sonia and Mela.

*waves* Hi Lynnie!

Hi all,

Wasn't sure if I'd introduced myself or not- I'm not what you'd call a prolific poster by any means but I do love to read.

Cphe wrote: "Hi all,

Wasn't sure if I'd introduced myself or not- I'm not what you'd call a prolific poster by any means but I do love to read."

Nice to meet you.
No matter how many books yearly you read, the love for books is what connects us.

Hello, I am new here. Looking forward to chatting with you all.