Six top comic works written by women

Emma Thompson is a British actress, screenwriter, activist, author and comedienne. She stars in The Children Act, a film based on the novel by Ian McEwan. One of her six favorite comic works written by women, as shared at The Week magazine:

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Gentle, probing, sharp, bitter, and sweet all at once, the first novel Jane Austen finished also includes one of the finest comic characters ever created — Isabella Thorpe — who's silly and self-serving in equal measure. Henry Tilney was my first literary love. I've lost count of the number of times I stole him from Catherine Morland by sweeping into Bath's famous Pump Rooms in a tube top and slingbacks.

Read about another entry on the list.

Northanger Abbey is among Nicole Hill's top five novels written as genre parodies that stand on their own, Helen Maslin's ten most evocative fictional castles and manors, and Johanna Lane's five best imaginary castles in fiction.

--Marshal Zeringue