First thoughts: carry on with the Du Maurier. Jamaica Inn, for instance, is historical, set in a remote and windswept location (so not London, sorry), and dark and brooding like anything. There is a fairly central romance, though.
Not sure whether Wuthering Heights would be your thing or not.
Out of curiosity, which of the ones you mentioned are 16th/17th century? I've only read the first and last, which weren't.
Are you actually after Victorian novels (which is what this comm is about, after all) or novels written recently but set in the Victorian era? Or neither?
Rebecca is set in the twentieth century, actually (written in 1937 and seems to be set around then), but Du Maurier wrote a fair bit of historical fiction, mostly set in the 18th and 19th centuries. It tends not to be set in London, though; she writes about Cornwall a lot. Jamaica Inn would be a good start; My Cousin Rachel is more like Rebecca, and Frenchman's Creek is a bit more romancey and set in the 18th century. I've got the four of them in a volume together.
I've been going through good historical fiction that I know. I don't know if you have an interest in lesbian fiction or whether Fingersmith and Rebecca were just there because you liked them, but one novel that occurs to me is Emma Donoghue's Slammerkin. It's set in the 17th century and a fair amount of it is set in the London underworld (prostitution, mainly). It's not that overtly lesbian (unlike Donoghue's other writings), about the same level as Rebecca. It's based on the real story of a girl who committed a murder for the sake of some fabric! If you like
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Not sure whether Wuthering Heights would be your thing or not.
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Are you actually after Victorian novels (which is what this comm is about, after all) or novels written recently but set in the Victorian era? Or neither?
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Queen of Bedlam, 18th
The Meaning of Night and Rebecca, 19th
I guess not so much with the 16th, huh? I sit corrected.
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I've been going through good historical fiction that I know. I don't know if you have an interest in lesbian fiction or whether Fingersmith and Rebecca were just there because you liked them, but one novel that occurs to me is Emma Donoghue's Slammerkin. It's set in the 17th century and a fair amount of it is set in the London underworld (prostitution, mainly). It's not that overtly lesbian (unlike Donoghue's other writings), about the same level as Rebecca. It's based on the real story of a girl who committed a murder for the sake of some fabric! If you like ( ... )
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A Conspiracy of Paper and A Spectacle of Corruption, both by David Liss. (London circa 1720)
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