We’re on to our next installment of the Classics Challenge and this time we’re looking at epistolary novels! For those of you who aren’t familiar, epistolary novels are stories told through letters, journal entries, telegrams, etc. In contemporary stories, you’ll even see methods such as emails, text messages, and chat logs. But, of course, seeing as these are the classics, we’ll be using more traditional, or even old fashioned means of communication, such as diaries, letters, and even a transcription of a voice recording on a wax cylinder (looking at you, Dr. Seward!). If you’re looking to explore this type of classic fiction, then let’s dive right in!

Dracula (Bram Stoker)

Jonathan Harker, a young real estate agent, is given the job of a lifetime when his employer sends him to Transylvania to close a deal with a Romanian nobleman, Count Dracula. There, Jonathan inadvertently discovers the horrible truth: Count Dracula is an immortal vampire who keeps alive by feeding on the blood of the living, he plans on using his newfound property in England to help him terrorize an unsuspecting populous, and Jonathan is his prisoner! It might come as a surprise to readers that the classic vampire novel is actually an epistolary novel, too. The entire book is told through a series of communications written by various characters, including Jonathan and his fiancée, Mina; Mina’s friend, Lucy; Dr. Van Helsing; and Lucy’s three suitors. There are letters, journal and diary entries, and even a series of newspaper articles!

Daddy-Long-Legs (Jean Webster)

Jerusha “Judy” Abbott’s life is drastically changed when a mysterious (and rich) benefactor scoops her up from the orphanage–the only home she has ever known–and offers to pay her way through college. Her benefactor has many requests, however, with the two most important being that she uses this opportunity to become a writer, and that she send him monthly updates on her studies. To maintain his air of mystery, he never responds, and requests that Judy only refer to him as Mr. John Smith. Unhappy with how cold this seems, Judy decides to call him Daddy-Long-Legs instead, since the only thing she knows about him is that he’s quite tall. This sweet little book chronicles Judy’s four years of college, her many friendships, amusing thoughts, and embarrassing stories as she shares them all with “Daddy-Long-Legs”. This is an engaging, lighthearted, and romantic story, and utterly delightful to read.

The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis)

My Dear Wormwood, we now take our letter-writing in a remarkably different direction. The Screwtape Letters chronicles a collection of advice given to Wormwood (a demon and apprentice tempter) by his uncle, Screwtape (a seasoned veteran of temptation). Each letter concerns the human that Wormwood has been placed in charge of, explaining the best ways to tempt him to sin, as well as the ways that Wormwood is falling short of his responsibilities. This is a dastardly clever book, providing a “secret” view into how the forces of evil work to capture humanity’s souls. There is also a bonus piece in this book called “Screwtape Proposes a Toast,” which features the script from a recent banquet that Screwtape attends, where he gives a speech to the assembled demons.

Humphry Clinker (Tobias Smollett)

Matthew Bramble, a gout-ridden misanthrope, travels Britain with his nephew, niece, spinster sister, and man-servant, the trusty Humphry Clinker. In poor health, Bramble sees the world as one of degeneracy and raucous overcrowding, and will not hesitate to let his companions know his feelings on the matter. Peopled with pimps, drunkards, decadents, and con-men, Humphrey Clinker displays Smollett’s ferociously pessimistic view of mankind and his belief that the luxury of eighteenth-century England’s existence was the enemy of sense and sobriety. Presented in the form of letters from six very different characters, and full of joyful puns and double entendres, Humphrey Clinker is now recognized as a boisterous and observant masterpiece of English satire.

The Sorrows of Young Werther (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

I’m going to start this summary with a warning: The Sorrows of Young Werther is a notoriously cheerless book. Werther, a deeply sensitive young man with a strong, passionate temperament, writes a series of letters to his friend, Wilhelm, telling him how he has fallen in love with the most amazing woman, Charlotte. Charlotte is perfect, and selfless, caring for her younger siblings after the death of their mother. The only problem is that Charlotte is already engaged, to a man named Albert. Werther knows this. Despite the pain that this causes him, he continues to insinuate himself into Charlotte’s social circles, looking for chances to be close to her. But, all the while the unrequited love he feels for her soon becomes unbearable. And without giving anything away, the story does not become any happier after that. This is a real downer of a book, but it’s nevertheless a classic, and will certainly have an appeal for the right reader.

I Capture the Castle (Dodie Smith)

This book is told through the journal kept by Cassandra Mortmain between April and October of a single year in the 1930s. Cassandra is seventeen, and her father, widower James Mortmain has taken out out a forty-year repairing lease on a dilapidated, but beautiful castle, hoping that the work will cure his writer’s block. He hasn’t been able to write a blessed thing since the publication of his novel, Jacob Wrestling, a difficult modernist novel that made him a one-hit wonder. Cassandra captures everything around her in her journals (which go on to fill three notebooks over the course of six months) with sharply funny, yet poignant entries about her home in the castle, and her eccentric and penniless family.

Diary of a Nobody (George Grossmith)

Mr Pooter is a man of modest ambitions, content with his ordinary life. Yet he always seems to be troubled by disagreeable tradesmen, impertinent young office clerks and wayward friends, not to mention his devil-may-care son Lupin with his unsuitable choice of bride. Try as he might, he cannot avoid life’s embarrassing mishaps. In the bumbling, absurd, yet ultimately endearing figure of Pooter, Grossmith created an immortal comic character and a superb satire on the snobberies of middle-class suburbia – one which also sends up late Victorian crazes for spiritualism and bicycling, as well as the fashion for publishing diaries by anybody and everybody.

Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (Samuel Richardson)

This book has been on my to-read list since high school, when my British literature teacher dropped the title, along with its parody book, Shamela, by Henry Fielding. I still have not read it, so this might be a good reason for me to pick it up. Pamela, which is considered to be one of the first true English novels, tells the story of fifteen-year-old Pamela Andrews, a maidservant, whose employer makes unwanted and inappropriate advances on her. Through a series of letters and journal entries, Pamela attempts to reconcile her desire to please her employer with her own moral code. This book was a bestseller of its time, although it does explore difficult topics that might make it hard for some readers to enjoy, including harassment, kidnapping, and sexual assault. And if you’re curious about that parody I mentioned, Shamela tells the “true” story of the book, which features a far less honorable protagonist.

Lady Susan (Jane Austen)

While Jane Austen is well-known for her extremely popular titles, Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility, this little novella was not published until approximately 80 years after it was written, as Austen herself never submitted it for publication. Beautiful, flirtatious, and recently widowed, Lady Susan Vernon seeks an advantageous second marriage for herself, while attempting to push her daughter into a dismal match. While reviewers don’t seem to think this is Austen at her best, they seem to agree that this book is still a delight for Austen fans, especially those who are looking for something more obscure that they haven’t read yet.

The Diaries of Adam and Eve (Mark Twain)

This hilarious pair of journals tells the reader what “really” happened in the Garden of Eden. In the beginning, Adam is content to live in his own little world, but soon finds life upended when a new creature with long hair and an obnoxious habit of talking too much (and naming things!!) shows up in the garden. Despite all attempts to get away from the creature (who the readers will recognize as Eve), the two end up becoming the world’s first couple. Eve’s diary follows with more hilarious stories, as Eve tells the reader her interpretation of what really happened. In case you’re looking for something to give you the warm fuzzies, supposedly, Twain based Adam and Eve after himself and his beloved wife, Livy!

Further Reading:

If you’re looking for more classic epistolary novels, here are some others you might want to try! These may or may not be in our collection, but most should be freely available online!

• Frankenstein (Mary Shelly)
• The Moonstone (Wilkie Collins)
• Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes)
• The Lightning Conductor (C.N. and A.M. Williamson)
• The Time Grabber (Gordon R. Dickson)
• Clarissa, or, The History of a Young Lady (Samuel Richardson)
• Letters of Two Brides (Honoré de Balzac)
• The Stark Munro Letters (Arthur Conan Doyle)
• Jane Talbot (Charles Brockden Brown)