[DJ MacWoW]

Besides Porter, I gravitated toward Daphne Du Maurier, Margaret Campbell Barnes etc for historic fiction. I was very excited to finally be able to get books in the adult section of the local library. :-)

[AnAmericanMother]

I discovered Georgette Heyer somewhere along the way. Makes Barbara Cartland look like grade-school comic books.

Not familiar with Margaret Campbell Barnes, but I'll give her a look-see. Another good one is Frances Hodgson Burnett (she goes way beyond "The Secret Garden" and "Little Lord Fauntleroy" - she wrote adult novels too. "A Lady of Quality" is very good.)