Cover of Vanity Fair
Historical RomanceRegency RomanceHistorical Fiction

Vanity Fair

by

  • 1800 first published
  • 699 pages
  • ★ 4.4 (11 ratings)
  • 200 editions
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Vanity Fair is an 1800 historical romance and Regency romance novel by William Makepeace Thackeray. The story is set in London and England, in the Regency era. Characters include Amelia, George and Dobbin. It deals with Women, married women, female friendship and British.

Open Library readers give it an average of 4.4 out of 5 from 11 ratings, and 113 more have it on their want-to-read list. It has been published in 200 editions across 6 languages. On Project Gutenberg it was downloaded 9,040 times in the last 30 days.

It runs to roughly 699 pages — 12–13 hours of reading at an average pace. It is in the public domain in the United States and free to read on Project Gutenberg.

About Vanity Fair

No one is better equipped in the struggle for wealth and worldly success than the alluring and ruthless Becky Sharp, who defies her impoverished background to clamber up the class ladder. Her sentimental companion Amelia, however, longs only for caddish soldier George. As the two heroines make their way through the tawdry glamour of Regency society, battles - military and domestic - are fought, fortunes made and lost. The one steadfast and honourable figure in this corrupt world is Dobbin with his devotion to Amelia, bringing pathos and depth to Thackeray's gloriously satirical epic of love and social adventure.
Description from Open Library

Opening line

“As the Manager of the Performance sits before the curtain on the boards, and, looks into the Fair, a feeling of profound melancholy comes over him in his survey of the bustling place.”

Themes, setting & tropes

Genres

Setting

Era

Characters

Subjects

  • Women
  • Waterloo, Battle of, Belgium : 1815 fast, OCoLCfst01172689
  • Married women
  • Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815
  • Female friendship
  • British
  • Social classes
  • England
  • Married people
  • Friendship
  • British and irish fiction, Fictional works by one author
  • London, England
  • Humorous
  • Governesses
  • Satire
  • Manners and customs

Quick answers

Who wrote Vanity Fair?

Vanity Fair was written by William Makepeace Thackeray and first published in 1800.

What genre is Vanity Fair?

It is usually shelved as Historical Romance, Regency Romance and Historical Fiction.

How long is Vanity Fair?

The median edition has 699 pages, about 12–13 hours of reading at 250 words per minute.

Is Vanity Fair free to read?

Yes. It is in the public domain in the United States and can be read free on Project Gutenberg in EPUB, Kindle and HTML formats.

What books are similar to Vanity Fair?

Readers who like it often enjoy Wicked Widow, I Thee Wed and Persuasion.

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