A MIDDLEBROW SYLLABUS: the full list (in multiple forms)

It's appropriate that just as I'm coming to the end of this list, I came across a TLS piece from several months ago on the phenomenon of book lists. See here. Apart from being entertaining and informative (and despite the assurance that the ranking is more or less random) I was surprised and delighted to see their choice for #1...

At any rate, if you're coming to this list late, note that it was originally divided into ten posts, with a bit of commentary on each title. Please have a look at the first of those posts in particular, because it contains a lengthy explanation of the logic and goals of the list, without which it might be a bit bewildering (i.e. it is not a 100 "best" list). Below are links to all 10 individual sections, which in addition to my own comments often contain comments from readers with valuable suggestions of alternative books I should have chosen or additional books to be considered. I've also added all the links to each post for easy navigation:

(1) 100-91    (2) 90-81    (3) 80-71    (4) 70-61    (5) 60-51

(6) 50-41    (7) 40-31    (8) 30-21    (9) 20-11    (10) 10-1

Below, as promised, are short versions, without comments, of the complete list. I'm including three versions—ranked, alphabetical by author, and chronological by the date of each novel's first publication—because that's just how obsessive I am.

I found it particularly interesting to look at the list in chron order, which reveals a few interesting stats about the list that I hadn't considered in formulating it.

First, out of the 50 years from 1910 to 1960, the span covered by my blog, 44 are represented on the list. (This might inadvertently come in handy for bloggers doing century challenges or the like, where it's necessary to find works from a given year.) Five of those missing years fall in the first decade of my period, which is unsurprising since I know my reading and knowledge tends to focus a bit more on the later years. The other missing year, 1949, wouldn't have been missing at all if I could only have justified including The Matchmaker as my Stella Gibbons selection instead of Cold Comfort Farm, but alas…

Along the same lines, I had worried a bit about the list skewing too far toward the later years of my period, where a disproportionate amount of my reading takes me. But in fact the chron list shows that the halfway point falls in 1940, with 50 titles before and 50 titles after, so that's not too bad. And in addition to being the midway point, 1940 was, oddly (or not?), the best-represented year, with six of the titles published that year. It's probably not coincidental that that's the year that saw a rush of new fiction about the earliest days of World War II, and not yet affected by the paper shortages that would plague the publishing world later on.

If I had allowed myself, I could have continued to agonize about this list for several more months, switching out titles, raising the ranking of one book and lowering another, and generally fretting about trivial details (surely Enid Bagnold should have been in the top 20, perhaps another Ivy Compton-Burnett would have been better, etc. etc.). I could well have driven myself mad altogether and never got it posted at all. But all told I'm pleased with the results, and I hope you are too.

Thank you again for the warm reception you gave this list, and to everyone who commented, made suggestions, or provided additional information along the way!

RANKED

1) MARGHANITA LASKI, The Village (1952)

2) SYLVIA TOWNSEND WARNER, Lolly Willowes (1926)

3) BARBARA PYM, Excellent Women (1952)

4) E. M. DELAFIELD, Diary of a Provincial Lady (1930)

5) F. M. MAYOR, The Rector's Daughter (1924)

6) ELIZABETH TAYLOR, A Game of Hide and Seek (1951)

7) D. E. STEVENSON, Miss Buncle's Book (1934)

8) ELIZABETH BOWEN, The Heat of the Day (1948)

9) E. H. YOUNG, Miss Mole (1930)

10) DODIE SMITH, I Capture the Castle (1948)

11) DOROTHY L. SAYERS, Gaudy Night (1935)

12) MARGARET KENNEDY, The Feast (1950)

13) PAMELA FRANKAU, A Wreath for the Enemy (1954)

14) RUMER GODDEN, China Court (1960)

15) MOLLIE PANTER-DOWNES, One Fine Day (1947)

16) JOSEPHINE TEY, Miss Pym Disposes (1946)

17) LETTICE COOPER, The New House (1936)

18) NANCY MITFORD, The Pursuit of Love (1945)

19) ELIZABETH VON ARNIM, The Enchanted April (1922)

20) WINIFRED WATSON, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (1938)

21) ANNA BUCHAN (as O. Douglas), The Proper Place (1926)

22) AGATHA CHRISTIE, The Hollow (1946)

23) EVADNE PRICE (as Helen Zenna Smith), Not So Quiet… (1930, aka Stepdaughters of War)

24) JAN STRUTHER, Mrs Miniver (1939)

25) ELIZABETH ELIOT, Alice (1950)

26) ENID BAGNOLD, The Squire (1938)

27) ANGELA THIRKELL, Cheerfulness Breaks In (1940)

28) MARY CHOLMONDELEY, Red Pottage (1899)

29) STELLA GIBBONS, Cold Comfort Farm (1932)

30) WINIFRED HOLTBY, South Riding (1936)

31) DOROTHY WHIPPLE, Someone at a Distance (1953)

32) ROSE MACAULAY, The Towers of Trebizond (1956)

33) IVY COMPTON-BURNETT, A House and Its Head (1935)

34) NOEL STREATFEILD, The Winter Is Past (1940)

35) ANTONIA WHITE, Frost in May (1933)

36) BARBARA COMYNS, Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead (1955)

37) CICELY HAMILTON, William—An Englishman (1919)

38) VITA SACKVILLE-WEST, All Passion Spent (1931)

39) RUBY FERGUSON, Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary (1937)

40) MARGERY SHARP, The Nutmeg Tree (1937)

41) DIANA TUTTON, Guard Your Daughters (1953)

42) A. M. CHAMPNEYS, Miss Tiverton Goes Out (1925)

43) NGAIO MARSH, Surfeit of Lampreys (1940, aka Death of a Peer)

44) ROSAMOND LEHMANN, Invitation to the Waltz (1932)

45) EDITH NESBIT, The Lark (1922)

46) KATE O'BRIEN, The Land of Spices (1941)

47) SYBILLE BEDFORD, A Favourite of the Gods (1963)

48) NORAH LOFTS, The Town House (1959)

49) WINIFRED PECK, Bewildering Cares (1940)

50) MARGERY ALLINGHAM, The Tiger in the Smoke (1952)

51) MARY RENAULT, The Friendly Young Ladies (1943)

52) DAPHNE DU MAURIER, Rebecca (1938)

53) EDITH OLIVIER, The Love-Child (1927)

54) MURIEL SPARK, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961)

55) BRYHER, Beowulf (1956)

56) JANE & MARY FINDLATER, Crossriggs (1908)

57) REBECCA WEST, The Return of the Soldier (1918)

58) DORA SAINT (as Miss Read), Thrush Green (1959)

59) JOSEPHINE ELDER, The Encircled Heart (1951)

60) SHEILA KAYE-SMITH, Joanna Godden (1921)

61) F. TENNYSON JESSE, The Lacquer Lady (1929)

62) OLIVIA MANNING, The Great Fortune (1960)

63) SUSAN TWEEDSMUIR, Cousin Harriet (1957)

64) JEAN RHYS, Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)

65) RICHMAL CROMPTON, Family Roundabout (1948)

66) DAISY ASHFORD, The Young Visiters (1919)

67) ANN BRIDGE, Peking Picnic (1932)

68) ADA LEVERSON, Love's Shadow (1908)

69) GEORGETTE HEYER, The Grand Sophy (1950)

70) RACHEL FERGUSON, Evenfield (1942)

71) STELLA BENSON, Living Alone (1919)

72) ROSE ALLATINI (as A. T. Fitzroy), Despised and Rejected (1918)

73) AMBER REEVES, A Lady and Her Husband (1914)

74) JANE DUNCAN, My Friend Muriel (1959)

75) MARY BELL, Summer's Day (1951)

76) NAOMI MITCHISON, The Bull Calves (1947)

77) GLADYS MITCHELL, When Last I Died (1941)

78) SUSAN ERTZ, Madame Claire (1923)

79) JOANNA CANNAN, Princes in the Land (1938)

80) G. B. STERN, The Matriarch (1924, aka Tents of Israel)

81) DOROTHY EVELYN SMITH, Miss Plum and Miss Penny (1959)

82) BETTY MILLER, On the Side of the Angels (1945)

83) MONICA DICKENS, Mariana (1940)

84) LEONORA CARRINGTON, The Hearing Trumpet (1974)

85) STORM JAMESON, Company Parade (1934)

86) ELIZABETH CADELL, The Lark Shall Sing (1955)

87) E. ARNOT ROBERTSON, Ordinary Families (1933)

88) HELEN ASHTON, Bricks and Mortar (1932)

89) ELIZABETH GOUDGE, The Bird in the Tree (1940)

90) RADCLYFFE HALL, The Well of Loneliness (1928)

91) ELIZABETH JENKINS, The Tortoise and the Hare (1954)

92) NORAH HOULT, There Were No Windows (1944)

93) MARY STEWART, Nine Coaches Waiting (1958)

94) MOLLY KEANE (as M. J. Farrell), Full House (1935)

95) MARY WEBB, Precious Bane (1924)

96) CLEMENCE DANE, Regiment of Women (1917)

97) VIOLET TREFUSIS, Hunt the Slipper (1937)

98) RUTH ADAM, I'm Not Complaining (1938)

99) CELIA BUCKMASTER, Village Story (1951)

100) ELINOR MORDAUNT, The Family (1915)

ALPHABETICAL BY AUTHOR

RUTH ADAM, I'm Not Complaining (1938) (#98)

ROSE ALLATINI (as A. T. Fitzroy), Despised and Rejected (1918) (#72)

MARGERY ALLINGHAM, The Tiger in the Smoke (1952) (#50)

DAISY ASHFORD, The Young Visiters (1919) (#66)

HELEN ASHTON, Bricks and Mortar (1932) (#88)

ENID BAGNOLD, The Squire (1938) (#26)

SYBILLE BEDFORD, A Favourite of the Gods (1963) (#47)

MARY BELL, Summer's Day (1951) (#75)

STELLA BENSON, Living Alone (1919) (#71)

ELIZABETH BOWEN, The Heat of the Day (1948) (#8)

ANN BRIDGE, Peking Picnic (1932) (#67)

BRYHER, Beowulf (1956) (#55)

ANNA BUCHAN (as O. Douglas), The Proper Place (1926) (#21)

CELIA BUCKMASTER, Village Story (1951) (#99)

ELIZABETH CADELL, The Lark Shall Sing (1955) (#86)

JOANNA CANNAN, Princes in the Land (1938) (#79)

LEONORA CARRINGTON, The Hearing Trumpet (1974) (#84)

A. M. CHAMPNEYS, Miss Tiverton Goes Out (1925) (#42)

MARY CHOLMONDELEY, Red Pottage (1899) (#28)

AGATHA CHRISTIE, The Hollow (1946) (#22)

IVY COMPTON-BURNETT, A House and Its Head (1935) (#33)

BARBARA COMYNS, Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead (1955) (#36)

LETTICE COOPER, The New House (1936) (#17)

RICHMAL CROMPTON, Family Roundabout (1948) (#65)

CLEMENCE DANE, Regiment of Women (1917) (#96)

E. M. DELAFIELD, Diary of a Provincial Lady (1930) (#4)

MONICA DICKENS, Mariana (1940) (#83)

DAPHNE DU MAURIER, Rebecca (1938) (#52)

JANE DUNCAN, My Friend Muriel (1959) (#74)

JOSEPHINE ELDER, The Encircled Heart (1951) (#59)

ELIZABETH ELIOT, Alice (1950) (#25)

SUSAN ERTZ, Madame Claire (1923) (#78)

RACHEL FERGUSON, Evenfield (1942) (#70)

RUBY FERGUSON, Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary (1937) (#39)

JANE & MARY FINDLATER, Crossriggs (1908) (#56)

PAMELA FRANKAU, A Wreath for the Enemy (1954) (#13)

STELLA GIBBONS, Cold Comfort Farm (1932) (#29)

RUMER GODDEN, China Court (1960) (#14)

ELIZABETH GOUDGE, The Bird in the Tree (1940) (#89)

RADCLYFFE HALL, The Well of Loneliness (1928) (#90)

CICELY HAMILTON, William—An Englishman (1919) (#37)

GEORGETTE HEYER, The Grand Sophy (1950) (#69)

WINIFRED HOLTBY, South Riding (1936) (#30)

NORAH HOULT, There Were No Windows (1944) (#92)

STORM JAMESON, Company Parade (1934) (#85)

ELIZABETH JENKINS, The Tortoise and the Hare (1954) (#91)

F. TENNYSON JESSE, The Lacquer Lady (1929) (#61)

SHEILA KAYE-SMITH, Joanna Godden (1921) (#60)

MOLLY KEANE (as M. J. Farrell), Full House (1935) (#94)

MARGARET KENNEDY, The Feast (1950) (#12)

MARGHANITA LASKI, The Village (1952) (#1)

ROSAMOND LEHMANN, Invitation to the Waltz (1932) (#44)

ADA LEVERSON, Love's Shadow (1908) (#68)

NORAH LOFTS, The Town House (1959) (#48)

ROSE MACAULAY, The Towers of Trebizond (1956) (#32)

OLIVIA MANNING, The Great Fortune (1960) (#62)

NGAIO MARSH, Surfeit of Lampreys (1940, aka Death of a Peer) (#43)

F. M. MAYOR, The Rector's Daughter (1924) (#5)

BETTY MILLER, On the Side of the Angels (1945) (#82)

GLADYS MITCHELL, When Last I Died (1941) (#77)

NAOMI MITCHISON, The Bull Calves (1947) (#76)

NANCY MITFORD, The Pursuit of Love (1945) (#18)

ELINOR MORDAUNT, The Family (1915) (#100)

EDITH NESBIT, The Lark (1922) (#45)

KATE O'BRIEN, The Land of Spices (1941) (#46)

EDITH OLIVIER, The Love-Child (1927) (#53)

MOLLIE PANTER-DOWNES, One Fine Day (1947) (#15)

WINIFRED PECK, Bewildering Cares (1940) (#49)

EVADNE PRICE (as Helen Zenna Smith), Not So Quiet… (1930, aka Stepdaughters of War) (#23)

BARBARA PYM, Excellent Women (1952) (#3)

AMBER REEVES, A Lady and Her Husband (1914) (#73)

MARY RENAULT, The Friendly Young Ladies (1943) (#51)

JEAN RHYS, Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) (#64)

E. ARNOT ROBERTSON, Ordinary Families (1933) (#87)

VITA SACKVILLE-WEST, All Passion Spent (1931) (#38)

DORA SAINT (as Miss Read), Thrush Green (1959) (#58)

DOROTHY L. SAYERS, Gaudy Night (1935) (#11)

MARGERY SHARP, The Nutmeg Tree (1937) (#40)

DODIE SMITH, I Capture the Castle (1948) (#10)

DOROTHY EVELYN SMITH, Miss Plum and Miss Penny (1959) (#81)

MURIEL SPARK, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961) (#54)

G. B. STERN, The Matriarch (1924, aka Tents of Israel) (#80)

D. E. STEVENSON, Miss Buncle's Book (1934) (#7)

MARY STEWART, Nine Coaches Waiting (1958) (#93)

NOEL STREATFEILD, The Winter Is Past (1940) (#34)

JAN STRUTHER, Mrs Miniver (1939) (#24)

ELIZABETH TAYLOR, A Game of Hide and Seek (1951) (#6)

JOSEPHINE TEY, Miss Pym Disposes (1946) (#16)

ANGELA THIRKELL, Cheerfulness Breaks In (1940) (#27)

VIOLET TREFUSIS, Hunt the Slipper (1937) (#97)

DIANA TUTTON, Guard Your Daughters (1953) (#41)

SUSAN TWEEDSMUIR, Cousin Harriet (1957) (#63)

ELIZABETH VON ARNIM, The Enchanted April (1922) (#19)

SYLVIA TOWNSEND WARNER, Lolly Willowes (1926) (#2)

WINIFRED WATSON, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (1938) (#20)

MARY WEBB, Precious Bane (1924) (#95)

REBECCA WEST, The Return of the Soldier (1918) (#57)

DOROTHY WHIPPLE, Someone at a Distance (1953) (#31)

ANTONIA WHITE, Frost in May (1933) (#35)

E. H. YOUNG, Miss Mole (1930) (#9)

CHRONOLOGICAL BY PUBLICATION DATE

1899

MARY CHOLMONDELEY, Red Pottage

1908

JANE & MARY FINDLATER, Crossriggs

ADA LEVERSON, Love's Shadow

1914

AMBER REEVES, A Lady and Her Husband

1915

ELINOR MORDAUNT, The Family

1917

CLEMENCE DANE, Regiment of Women

1918

ROSE ALLATINI (as A. T. Fitzroy), Despised and Rejected

REBECCA WEST, The Return of the Soldier (1918)

1919

DAISY ASHFORD, The Young Visiters

STELLA BENSON, Living Alone

CICELY HAMILTON, William—An Englishman

1921

SHEILA KAYE-SMITH, Joanna Godden

1922

EDITH NESBIT, The Lark

ELIZABETH VON ARNIM, The Enchanted April

1923

SUSAN ERTZ, Madame Claire

1924

F. M. MAYOR, The Rector's Daughter

G. B. STERN, The Matriarch (aka Tents of Israel)

MARY WEBB, Precious Bane

1925

A. M. CHAMPNEYS, Miss Tiverton Goes Out

1926

ANNA BUCHAN (as O. Douglas), The Proper Place

SYLVIA TOWNSEND WARNER, Lolly Willowes

1927

EDITH OLIVIER, The Love-Child

1928

RADCLYFFE HALL, The Well of Loneliness

1929

F. TENNYSON JESSE, The Lacquer Lady

1930

E. M. DELAFIELD, Diary of a Provincial Lady

EVADNE PRICE (as Helen Zenna Smith), Not So Quiet… (aka Stepdaughters of War)

E. H. YOUNG, Miss Mole

1931

VITA SACKVILLE-WEST, All Passion Spent

1932

HELEN ASHTON, Bricks and Mortar

ANN BRIDGE, Peking Picnic

STELLA GIBBONS, Cold Comfort Farm

ROSAMOND LEHMANN, Invitation to the Waltz

1933

E. ARNOT ROBERTSON, Ordinary Families

ANTONIA WHITE, Frost in May

1934

STORM JAMESON, Company Parade

D. E. STEVENSON, Miss Buncle's Book

1935

IVY COMPTON-BURNETT, A House and Its Head

MOLLY KEANE (as M. J. Farrell), Full House

DOROTHY L. SAYERS, Gaudy Night

1936

LETTICE COOPER, The New House

WINIFRED HOLTBY, South Riding

1937

RUBY FERGUSON, Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary

MARGERY SHARP, The Nutmeg Tree

VIOLET TREFUSIS, Hunt the Slipper

1938

RUTH ADAM, I'm Not Complaining

ENID BAGNOLD, The Squire

JOANNA CANNAN, Princes in the Land

DAPHNE DU MAURIER, Rebecca

WINIFRED WATSON, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

1939

JAN STRUTHER, Mrs Miniver

1940

ELIZABETH GOUDGE, The Bird in the Tree

MONICA DICKENS, Mariana

NGAIO MARSH, Surfeit of Lampreys (aka Death of a Peer)

WINIFRED PECK, Bewildering Cares

NOEL STREATFEILD, The Winter Is Past

ANGELA THIRKELL, Cheerfulness Breaks In

1941

GLADYS MITCHELL, When Last I Died

KATE O'BRIEN, The Land of Spices

1942

RACHEL FERGUSON, Evenfield

1943

MARY RENAULT, The Friendly Young Ladies

1944

NORAH HOULT, There Were No Windows

1945

BETTY MILLER, On the Side of the Angels

NANCY MITFORD, The Pursuit of Love

1946

AGATHA CHRISTIE, The Hollow

JOSEPHINE TEY, Miss Pym Disposes

1947

NAOMI MITCHISON, The Bull Calves

MOLLIE PANTER-DOWNES, One Fine Day

1948

ELIZABETH BOWEN, The Heat of the Day

RICHMAL CROMPTON, Family Roundabout

DODIE SMITH, I Capture the Castle

1950

ELIZABETH ELIOT, Alice

GEORGETTE HEYER, The Grand Sophy

MARGARET KENNEDY, The Feast

1951

MARY BELL, Summer's Day

CELIA BUCKMASTER, Village Story

JOSEPHINE ELDER, The Encircled Heart

ELIZABETH TAYLOR, A Game of Hide and Seek

1952

MARGERY ALLINGHAM, The Tiger in the Smoke

MARGHANITA LASKI, The Village

BARBARA PYM, Excellent Women

1953

DIANA TUTTON, Guard Your Daughters

DOROTHY WHIPPLE, Someone at a Distance

1954

PAMELA FRANKAU, A Wreath for the Enemy

ELIZABETH JENKINS, The Tortoise and the Hare

1955

ELIZABETH CADELL, The Lark Shall Sing

BARBARA COMYNS, Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead

1956

BRYHER, Beowulf

ROSE MACAULAY, The Towers of Trebizond

1957

SUSAN TWEEDSMUIR, Cousin Harriet

1958

MARY STEWART, Nine Coaches Waiting

1959

JANE DUNCAN, My Friend Muriel

NORAH LOFTS, The Town House

DORA SAINT (as Miss Read), Thrush Green

DOROTHY EVELYN SMITH, Miss Plum and Miss Penny

1960

RUMER GODDEN, China Court

OLIVIA MANNING, The Great Fortune

1961

MURIEL SPARK, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

1963

SYBILLE BEDFORD, A Favourite of the Gods

1966

JEAN RHYS, Wide Sargasso Sea

1974

LEONORA CARRINGTON, The Hearing Trumpet