Humanities › Literature A Reading List of the Best 19th Century Novels This selection of influential works is categorized by writer Share Flipboard Email Print Old books, Herbarium, Kew Gardens, London, England, United Kingdom. De Agostini / G. Wright Getty Literature Classic Literature Authors & Texts Top Picks Lists Study Guides Terms Best Sellers Plays & Drama Poetry Quotations Shakespeare Short Stories Children's Books By Esther Lombardi Esther Lombardi Literature Expert M.A., English Literature, California State University - Sacramento B.A., English, California State University - Sacramento Esther Lombardi, M.A., is a journalist who has covered books and literature for over twenty years. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on October 31, 2017 The novels of the 19th century remain some of the most taught literary works of any period. They not only continue to influence the canon but also cinema and popular culture. Get better acquainted with these groundbreaking works with this reading list, categorized by author. The most popular authors from the era--Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and Nathaniel Hawthorne--appear on this list in alphabetical order. Alcott, Louisa May Little Women Austen, Jane EmmaMansfield ParkPersuasionPride and Prejudice Blackmore, Richard Doddridge Lorna Doone Braddon, Mary Elizabeth Lady Audley’s Secret Bronte, Charlotte Jane Eyre Villette Bronte, Emily Wuthering Heights Burnett, Frances Hodgson The Secret Garden Butler, Samuel Erewhon Carlyle, Thomas Sartor Resartus Carroll, Lewis Alice in WonderlandThrough the Looking Glass Collins, Wilkie ArmadaleNo NameThe MoonstoneThe Woman in White Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Rodney StoneA Study in Scarlet Conrad, Joseph Heart of Darkness Lord Jim Cooper, James Fenimore The Last of the MohicansThe Prairie Crane, Stephen Red Badge of Courage Dickens, Charles Bleak House David Copperfield Dombey & Son D Great Expectations Hard Times Little Dorritt Mystery Of Edwin Drood Nicholas Nickleby The Old Curiosity Shop Oliver Twist Pickwick Papers Tale of Two Cities Disraeli, Benjamin Sybil, or The Two Nations Dostoevski, Fedor Brothers KaramazovCrime and PunishmentThe Idiot Dreiser, Theodore Sister Carrie Dumas, Alexandre The Count of Monte Cristo Three Musketeers Eliot, George Adam BedeDaniel DerondaMiddlemarchMill on the FlossSilas Marner Flaubert, Gustave Madame BovaryA Sentimental Education Gaskell, Elizabeth CranfordWives and Daughters Gissing, George New Grub Street Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von Elective Affinities Gogol, Nikolai Dead Souls Hardy, Thomas Far from the Madding CrowdJude the ObscureThe Mayor of CasterbridgeThe Return of the NativeTess of the d’UrbervillesThe WoodlandersUnder the Greenwood Tree Hawthorne, Nathaniel Blithedale RomanceScarlet Letter Hugo, Victor Les MiserablesThe Hunchback of Notre-Dame de Paris James, Henry The AmericanThe BostoniansDaisy MillerThe EuropeansPortrait of a LadyWashington Square Le Fanu, Sheridan Uncle Silas MacDonald, George LilithPhantastes Melville, Herman Moby DickRedburnTypee Meredith, George Diana of the CrosswaysThe Egoist Norris, Frank McTeague Oliphant, Margaret The Perpetual CurateSalem Chapel Scott, Sir Walter The AntiquaryThe Heart of Mid-LothianIvanhoe Sewall, Anna Black Beauty Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Frankenstein Stevenson, Robert L Catriona (aka David Balfour)KidnappedThe Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeTreasure Island Stoker, Bram Dracula Stowe, Harriet Beecher Uncle Tom’s Cabin Thackeray, William M Barry LyndonThe History of Henry EsmondThe NewcomesVanity Fair Tolstoy, Leo Anna KareninaResurrectionThe Forged CouponWar and Peace Trollope, Anthony Ayala's AngelFramley ParsonageBarchester TowersJohn CaldigateThe Last Chronicle of BarsetMarion FayPhineas FinnThe Prime MinisterThe WardenThe Way We Live Now Turgenev, Ivan Fathers and Children Twain, Mark The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnAdventures of Tom SawyerPersonal Recollections of Joan of Arc Verne, Jules Around the World in 80 DaysJourney to the Center of the Earth20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Wells, HG Invisible ManIsland of Dr MoreauThe Time MachineWar of the Worlds Wilde, Oscar Picture of Dorian Gray Zola, Emile L’AssommoirTherese Raquin Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Lombardi, Esther. "A Reading List of the Best 19th Century Novels." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/19th-century-novels-reading-list-737909. Lombardi, Esther. (2020, August 27). A Reading List of the Best 19th Century Novels. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/19th-century-novels-reading-list-737909 Lombardi, Esther. "A Reading List of the Best 19th Century Novels." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/19th-century-novels-reading-list-737909 (accessed June 5, 2023). copy citation Featured Video