Chances are, if you found this blog post or are a devoted user of eNotes.com, it’s the fault of an Englishman. While we can give Quixote a lot of credit for kicking off the age of the novel, English Literature written by a Briton is responsible for the single largest cohort of novels, short stories, and poems read for pleasure and study.
But while all English writers write in English, not all make you feel English. The best and brightest of the British bunch are those who can capture the essence of the British soul, their work overflowing with the idiosyncratic style, wordplay, and quirks of their island home.
In the misty realms of British literature—where tea is a sacrament and soft rain a constant companion—a diverse array of voices sing the song of England. Here are six authors, a mix of celebrated and hidden gems, who embody the essence of Britannia:
- The Amis Duo: From Kingsley‘s satirical wit to Martin‘s razor-sharp observations, the Amis father-son duo offers a panoramic view of English society, past and present. You may even accuse them of being “too English”—and they probably wouldn’t argue with you. Want to dive in? Get started at the beginning with Kingsley Amis’ Lucky Jim and bask in the pure Englishness of it.
- Rudyard Kipling: Known for his evocative portrayals of the British Empire, Kipling’s tales transport readers from the misty moors of England to the lurid landscapes of India. An unvarnished colonialist, Kipling represents the old England, which is, perhaps, not as old as some would like to believe. To understand England and its most iconic authors, the Empire period must be a central part of our study. Kipling’s work, from The Jungle Book to his collection, Just So Stories, offers a handy starting place to do so.
- Angela Carter: With prose as lush as an English garden, Carter reimagines classic fairy tales through a feminist lens, infusing them with a subversive energy that challenges traditional notions of gender and power. Like so many English authors before her, Carter’s creativity was sparked by her unending wanderlust. She traveled the world, gaining insights all the way but never losing her British spirit and style. Check out Nights at the Circus, a complex, multifaceted story with a rare literary aspect: English magical realism.
- Zadie Smith: A modern literary luminary, Smith captures the vibrancy and diversity of contemporary Britain, exploring themes of identity, race, and class with wit, intelligence, and heart. Zadie represents the new UK, where origins don’t have to be English or even European. Her mother grew up in Jamaica, and while Zadie was born and raised in England, her viewpoint is always more global than insular, like her literary predecessors. Even still, her much-lauded literary style and wit, mark her as a quintessentially English author. Her best-known novel is White Teeth.
- Virginia Woolf: A pioneer of stream-of-consciousness writing, Woolf’s experimental prose invites readers into the inner worlds of her characters, illuminating the complexities of the human psyche with unparalleled grace and insight. The level of complexity she sources from mundane relationships and the day-to-day of London life is, of course, so very English. Indeed, Woolf beautifully recreated the world she knew—the characters she invented could only be British. Of her many works, Kew Gardens has perhaps the most pure-English setting, but Mrs. Dalloway is often considered her most important work.
- Kazuo Ishiguro: From the genteel English countryside to the barren halls of a dystopian future, Ishiguro’s novels traverse vast landscapes of emotion and memory, exploring the universal themes with a distinctly English sensibility. Born in Japan, another island with a deep literary history, Ishiguro moved to England at age six. Despite his non-English origins, Ishiguro has metabolized British life in a way that so many of his fellow countrymen could not. It’s hard to imagine a more English novel than The Remains of the Day. And, based on the strength of this and his other great works, Ishiguro joined Rudyard Kipling as one of only nine British authors honored with the Nobel Prize for Literature.
These literary luminaries paint a kaleidoscopic portrait of England in all its complexity. Then and now, their work captures the nation’s complexity: Simultaneously, England and its writers must embody the duality of the nation as a tiny island with a distinctive voice and a globe-spanning imperial power. Each, in their own way, invites readers to traverse the storied lanes and discover the myriad voices that defined—and continue to define—England’s literary landscape.
eNotes users: after perusing these choices, you may wonder: What’s the difference between British and American Literature? Or, if Angela Carter’s magical realism caught your eye, delve deeper into England’s wealth of subgenres in our guide to British Ephemeral Literature.
Did we miss an icon of Britain’s literary history? Who’s your go-to English author to savor alongside a morning mug of Earl Grey? Let us know!