Laura Vogt is a historian, storyteller, and poet.
She loves all things wild and beautiful.
Vogt lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with her husband and three children.
Her new novel is In the Great Quiet.
At Lit Hub Vogt tagged seven favorite slow-burn romances, including:
Jane Austen, Emma (1815)Read about the other entries on the list at Lit Hub.
If you need a fix after Bridgerton, I’ve got you. You thought I would recommend Pride and Prejudice or Persuasion, right? And, sure, those bothspectacularly showcase longing. Austen is the queen of the slow burn. Not only in romance, but in the gradual development of character, relationships, and prose. You must wait—but an Austen book is always worth it.
Emma follows a matchmaker as she wanders the picturesque English countryside. Emma meddles with the romantic life of her entire village—while completely misunderstanding her own romance. In Pride and Prejudice, we have Darcy’s confession of love at 55%, while in Emma we’re on the edge of our seats wondering until the last chapters. Emma is a slow burn of misrecognition. We’re biting our nails, turning those pages. The brilliance of Emma is that she herself is the obstacle—she’s so busy arranging other people’s happiness that she nearly misses her own.
Emma is on John Mullan's list of ten of the best wines in literature, and among Daniel Mendelsohn's six all-time favorite books, Lucy Worsley's six best books, Sophie Kinsella's six best books, Tanya Byron's six best books, Judith Martin's five favorite novels, and Monica Ali's ten favorite books.
--Marshal Zeringue
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