Classics to read based on your star sign

The little mermaid, from Hans Christian Andersen’s famous fairy tale, has all the traits of an Aries. A complete risk-taker, she dreams of a world outside her own, and strikes a somewhat unwise deal with a Sea Witch in order to get there. You can find her story, alongside others by Hans Christian Andersen, in this beautiful collector’s edition of his fairy tales. 

Elizabeth Bennet is surely a Taurus. A Taurus who is forced to reassess their initial perspectives (this book is not called Pride and Prejudice for nothing), and make way for a bit of change, but a Taurus nevertheless. Probably Austen’s best known novel, this is the pitch perfect love story between headstrong Elizabeth Bennet and the aristocratic Mr Darcy. When they first encounter each other they really don’t get on and there lies the magic. Jane Austen cleverly unpicks the rigid social rules of her time and she successfully explores the tension between ‘truths universally acknowledged’ and authentic human feelings.

It had to be, really. This tale of a man who is very literally two-faced (spoiler alert) offers perhaps the ultimate tale of doubles, perfect for the zodiac twin sign. Why has the mild mannered Dr Jekyll suddenly begun to associate with the ugly and violent Mr Hyde? And why are they never seen together? When Jekyll’s old friend Utterson tries to solve these mysteries he uncovers a horrific story of suffering and brutality that eventually leads to the terrible revelation of Mr Hyde’s true identity.

We've all heard of these two. The sudden, immediate and beautifully/borderline-excessively expressed attraction between Romeo and Juliet could only belong to Cancerians, known for being deeply in tune with their feelings. The children of two warring families in fair Verona, the two risk – and lose – everything in their attempt to find a way to be together. 

Leos care greatly about how others see them, and Clarissa Dalloway is nothing if not good at keeping up appearances. Fashionable, wealthy and an accomplished hostess, her party preparations are disrupted by thoughts of the present and memories of the past, her interior monologue taking readers on a journey beyond the pomp of the evening she’s planning and into her inner life. When the suicide of Septimus Warren Smith, a shell-shocked survivor of the Great War, is casually mentioned at the party, Clarissa's thoughts turn to her own isolation and loneliness in this bold and experimental modern classic. 

Irene Redfield is married to a successful physician and enjoying a comfortable life in Harlem, New York when she meets old school friend, Clare. Clare, like Irene, is light skinned. Unlike Irene, she passes as white, and is married to a racist white man who has no idea about her real racial heritage. In a display of somewhat Virgoan tendencies, Irene quietly judges her friend for the way she has built her life, but also can’t resist letting her back into her world. As tensions mount between friends and between couples, this taut and mesmerising narrative spins towards an unexpected end.

Oscar Wilde is a bona fide Libra and his play The Importance of Being Earnest is a perfect demonstration of Libran light-heartedness. With its high farce (most of the leads maintain double lives in order to escape various social obligations), witty dialogue and its trivial treatment of marriage and other serious pillars of the Victorian age, it’s an absolute riot and Wilde’s most enduring theatrical work. 

Wuthering Heights contains more questionable characters than its ‘great love story’ reputation would have you expect. While we wouldn’t want to suggest all Scorpios behave in a similar manner, they have a certain intensity which this book shares, and should certainly not be underestimated. Emily Brontë’s novel is a tragic romance between the headstrong Cathy and the orphan Heathcliff, who – although desperately in love with her – is rejected in favour of a rich suitor. But Cathy cannot forget him, and he develops a lust for revenge that will take over his life as he attempts to win her back, and to destroy everyone, and everything, he considers responsible for his loss.

Mary Seacole left her native Jamaica to travel through the Caribbean, The Bahamas, Central America and to England. Keen to offer her services to English troops in the Crimean War, she was at first refused official support. But, like a true Sagittarian, full of freedom and independence, she went anyway, tending to wounded soldiers and dispensing medicine in the teeth of battle. This is her wonderfully entertaining, moving autobiography.

Capricorns like to impress and Mr Holmes is no exception. From his residence at 221B Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes solves a series of baffling and bizarre cases, including those of a man terrified by the arrival of an envelope containing orange pips, and a woman whose fiancé disappeared on his way to their wedding. Each story showcases the great detective's inimitable and extraordinary deductive powers, recounted to us by his faithful friend and colleague, Dr Watson.

If a story could have a star sign, Alice in Wonderland – creative, otherworldly, curiouser and curiouser – would be an Aquarius. It's a warm summer's afternoon when young Alice first tumbles down the rabbit hole and into her surreal adventures in Wonderland alongside the White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat and terrifying Red Queen, and readers have loved joining her there for over 150 years. 

If you’re looking for a whole lot of feelings, then you should look no further than a Pisces and/or Tess Durbeyfield. Hoping that she’ll make her family a bit of money and, even better, maybe marry the rich but unpleasant Alec D’Urberville, Tess is sent by her father to work for Alec’s wealthy family. His terrible assault upon her, and the subsequent child, form the terrible heart of Tess’s tragic life.

Read how the passionate and overly idealistic Madame Bovary from Flaubert’s masterpiece exhibits all the traits of a Gemini, whilst the unconventional Virginia Woolf and Lewis Carroll, with his groundbreaking stories, are typical Aquarians. With a chapter devoted to each star sign, and featuring entertaining extracts and poetry by classic writers, there’s much to learn and entertain here about books, poetry and astrology, guided by Charlie Castelletti’s witty and expert commentary running through the book.