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After a long hiatus (due to illness and some Silver Petticoat transitions we’re still working on), we are finally back with the Silver Petticoat Book Club! While we’re starting again with a soft re-launch, we really wanted to return by recommending some fantastic books (books we personally love and hope you will too!) to you all.
We first launched the book club in June 2020 and kept it going until the Fall of 2023. Then, life happened, and we had to take a long breather. But we’re back and excited to share some great reads with you again.
The Soft Re-Launch – About The Silver Petticoat Book Club
With this quarter’s book club announcement, we’re doing a soft re-launch of the Silver Petticoat Book Club in the Fall of 2026 with minor new changes.
As before, all books are handpicked by us (Amber & Autumn) and represent a mix of Romance & Romanticism. Romanticism is what this book club is all about – and what we feel represents our brand: Romanticism & Modern Romanticism.
From our updated official Silver Petticoat Book Club Page, here is everything you need to know:
Every season (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer), Amber and Autumn – twin sisters behind The Silver Petticoat Review and The Silver Petticoat Book Club – select three book recommendations.
The Silver Petticoat Book Club celebrates Romanticism in fiction and non-fiction: stories with love at their core (it does not need to be a romance) or books with the spirit of Romanticism (fantasy, fairy tales, gothic, historical fiction, classics, etc.).
Think sweet, smart, Austenesque, and cozy, or stories full of imagination, adventure, and Romanticism, from classics to debut authors, bestsellers, book club books, personal nostalgic favorites, and more.
Amber and Autumn have made it their mission to select books that ignite a love of reading, whether it’s a fun, sensationalist read or an upmarket literary novel that explores themes of humanity.
All selected book club books fall between one and three out of five on the steaminess scale and typically do not contain extensive gore, profanity, or explicit content. Some novels may contain graphic content, profanity, or violence; however, Amber and Autumn will provide a content warning.
Genres of Interest
- Historical Fiction
- Historical Romance
- Classic Literature
- Book Club Books/Upmarket Fiction/Literary Fiction
- Women’s Fiction
- Austenesque
- Fantasy (and many of the sub-genres like Gaslamp, Cozy, Contemporary, Romantasy, and more)
- Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy
- Rom-Com
- Sweet/Closed-Door Romance
- Romantic Mystery/Romantic Suspense
- Cozy Mystery
- Gothic Romance
- Fairy Tales/Folklore/Mythology
- YA Fiction (typically fantasy, paranormal, dystopian, or historical)
- Select Biographies Connected to These Genres
Romance Spice Levels
Amber and Autumn include these ratings even if a book is not technically categorized as a “romance.”
While there are numerous romance ratings based on steam level, for the book club’s purposes, a One is equivalent to a G-rated movie, such as a Hallmark movie. A Two is a PG/mild PG-13 book, which might include more kissing or closed-door moments with implied sensuality.
Three might include a bedroom scene or a handful more, but they are less graphically depicted and are not the book’s focus. A Four can be very explicit but still have a story beyond the bedroom scenes (think Outlander), while Five heads into the erotica category.
Again, the book club covers only one to three (out of five) on the spiciness scale for this book club. A novel’s amount of profanity and violence is also considered and rated similarly.
Online Book Club Discussions
Right now (this could change in the future), the best way to participate in the book club is to follow along on social media and subscribe to our Silver Petticoat Review newsletter: The Petticoat Digest. We will post a new blog post with the book club selections each quarter and make the announcements on our social media pages and through our newsletter.
Every month, we’ll post on social media about the different book club picks for the quarter. So, please feel free to join in on the discussion on these social media posts.
You can also use the hashtag #TheSilverPetticoatBookClub if you want to share your own thoughts or show how else you’re participating!
We will have more updates on how to better participate soon! But we hope you’ll join us.
Follow Us & Subscribe!
The Silver Petticoat Book Club Announcement For Fall 2026
We’re so excited to return and reveal our new lineup of book selections for The Silver Petticoat Book Club’s Fall 2026 season!
Book 1: The Invention of Charlotte Brontë by Graham Watson
Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History
Publication Date: August 5, 2025
If you haven’t read The Invention of Charlotte Brontë by Graham Watson yet, and you are fascinated by the Brontës or even Elizabeth Gaskell (North & South, Cranford), you need to check out this biography. It’s a fascinating, even spellbinding read that you can’t put down. We can’t recommend it enough.
And we’re so excited to recommend it as our first book club pick since our re-launch. It’s a truly excellent biography with amazing research—a must-read.
Content Note: PG-like. Biography with no spice.
A Washington Post Best Book of the Year
A profoundly moving, ground-breaking biography that challenges the established narrative to reveal the Brontë family as they’ve never been seen before.
Charlotte Brontë had a life as seemingly dramatic as her heroine Jane Eyre. Turning her back on her tragic past, Charlotte reinvented herself as an acclaimed author, a mysterious celebrity, and a passionate lover. Doing so meant burning many bridges, but her sudden death left her friends and admirers with more questions than answers.
Tasked with telling the truth about Brontë’s life, her friend, the novelist Elizabeth Gaskell, uncovered secrets of illicit love, family discord, and professional rivalries more incredible than any fiction. The result, a tell-all biography, was so scandalous it was banned and rewritten twice in six months—but not before it had given birth to the legend of the Brontës.
The Invention of Charlotte Brontë presents a different, darker take on one of the most famous women writers of the nineteenth century, showing Charlotte to be a strong but flawed individual. Through evaluating key events as well as introducing new archival material into the story, this lively biography challenges the established narrative to reveal the Brontë family as they’ve never been seen before.
Book 2: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Genres: Classic Fiction, Regency Romance, Historical Romance, Satire, Gothic, Jane Austen
Publication Date: December 20, 1817
Jane Austen’s classic satire on Gothic novels is such a fun read and one we can always return to! Our reasoning for choosing this Austen novel is that it corresponds with the current discussions for the JASNA AGM (Jane Austen Society of North America Annual General Meeting) this year! They are discussing Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, and since we’ve already picked Persuasion in the past, why not Northanger Abbey this time? Besides, it’s the perfect fall read to coincide with the Halloween season.
It also perfectly matches our third book club pick, which you’ll read about below!
Content Note: It’s all very PG for mild peril. Spice is a 1.
Official Description (Penguin Random House):
Jane Austen’s brilliant satire of the gothic novel.
“If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad.”
The most sprightly and satirical of Austen’s novels, Northanger Abbey was written when the author was herself in her early twenties, and takes for its heroine seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland, a spirited young woman preoccupied with the pleasures of dressing, dancing, and reading sensational novels.
When she visits Northanger Abbey, the ancestral home of handsome Henry Tilney, Catherine’s taste in books comes back to haunt her. The rambling house, full of locked doors, and the family’s mysterious history give rise to delightfully dreadful suspicions, and finally only Catherine’s sweet nature and good humor triumph over her susceptibility.
A sly commentary on the power of literature as well as a cautionary tale about the perils of naïveté, Northanger Abbey is a fresh and funny tale of one young woman receiving, as Margaret Drabble reveals in her illuminating introduction, “intensive instruction in the ways of the world.”
With an Introduction by Margaret Drabble
and an Afterword by Stephanie Laurens
Book 3: The Heiress of Northanger Abbey by Nancy Bilyeau
Genres: Historical Fiction, Regency Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Austenesque
Publication Date: September 1, 2026
After reading Northanger Abbey, you’ll love this inspired new sequel to Austen’s Gothic story! The Heiress of Northanger Abbey is a clever follow-up to the original book and a Gothic treat for all Jane Austen fans.
The reason we chose this novel is that it fits perfectly into the fall/Halloween season while also being a real page-turner. It’s got a deliciously gothic atmosphere full of secrets, suspense, and pure Romanticism, and even frequently references Polidori’s The Vampyre! Yes, please!
It’s such a well-written, entertaining Regency read and really captures the essence of Austen’s Northanger Abbey characters and where they might be 20+ years later. It’s also quite a beautiful book about women and the powerful intuition of mothers.
Content Note: PG-like with spice level 2 for an implied moment of sensuality.
Official Description:
Gloucestershire, 1820: Twenty-two years after the close of Northanger Abbey, Catherine Tilney is living a happily ever after. But her busy life as a clergyman’s wife is shattered by a letter that resurrects her darkest fears. Her daughter Phoebe has fallen under the influence of the unscrupulous Thorpe family—the very figures who once nearly destroyed Catherine’s happiness.
Determined to protect her child from dangerous fortune hunters, Catherine follows Phoebe to an isolated manor on Dartmoor. There, she finds a landscape of reckless passions, family secrets, and a dangerously charming aristocratic neighbor. It all feels eerily like the plot of the latest Gothic sensation, The Vampyre — but is Catherine once again letting her imagination run wild?
In this psychologically charged sequel to Jane Austen’s classic, award-winning historical novelist Nancy Bilyeau transforms Catherine’s youthful adventures into a mystery with the highest of stakes. The Heiress of Northanger Abbey is a story of mothers and daughters, deception and desire—and of a woman who must learn to trust her power of perception before it’s too late.
For more information on The Silver Petticoat Book Club, check out our official page, Amazon Storefront Book Club list, and the Bookshop bookstore.
So, who’s reading with us this fall? What books are you excited to read? Send us an email or comment on social media to let us know!
Related Reads:
- Northanger Abbey (2007): A Feast of Coy Smiles and Charming Smirks
- Classic Romantic Moment: Northanger Abbey’s Mr. Tilney and Catherine Banter At A Ball
- A Case for Enjoying Northanger Abbey (1986)
- The Silver Petticoat Book Club Fall 2023: Cozy Up With These Six Riveting Choices
- 200+ of the Best Gothic Romance Movies and TV Shows – Period Drama Style
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