Lolly WillowesLolly Willowes
Score Classic
What it's about
An aging single woman struggles to break free of her controlling family. Sylvia Townsend Warner tells this classic story with cool feminist intelligence and adds a supernatural, strange dimension.
Why it's worth reading
It's on the Guardian's list of the 100 best novels in English and its list of 1,000 novels everyone must read.
You'll love it if you liked
Orlando
Excellent Women
The Hearing TrumpetGood to know
It starts as a quiet family novel and turns into something else entirely.
By the numbers
- Readers13 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics66 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller12 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #356 of the 504 fantasy books we rank
- #719 of the 924 classics we rank
- #2305 of the 3,057 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Epic
If you like this, read next
The Lord of the Rings
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Godfather
The Hobbit
The Pillars of the Earth
FoundationExplore the best-of lists
All 36 best-of lists →
Quick answers
Is Lolly Willowes worth reading?
Yes. It's on the Guardian's list of the 100 best novels in English and its list of 1,000 novels everyone must read. It ranks #2,305 of the 3,057 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 62.2 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Lolly Willowes about?
An aging single woman struggles to break free of her controlling family. Sylvia Townsend Warner tells this classic story with cool feminist intelligence and adds a supernatural, strange dimension.
How long does it take to read Lolly Willowes?
About 7 hours (264 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Lolly Willowes?
If you liked it, try Orlando by Virginia Woolf, Excellent Women by Barbara Pym or The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington.