Flying to Nowhere

The Lake House

Kate Morton2015

A detective in 2003 investigates the 1933 disappearance of a baby from a country estate. The story moves between the two time periods.

dreamlike → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Gravity's Rainbow

Thomas Pynchon1973

During the end of WWII, an American lieutenant's sexual encounters seem to predict where German V-2 rockets will fall. The narrative is fragmented.

dreamlike → sardonic, still historical fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak0

The Wake

Paul Kingsnorth2014

A landowner in 1066 leads a guerrilla resistance against Norman invaders. The story is written in a modified version of Old English.

dreamlike → bleak, still historical fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

The Mirror and the Light

Hilary Mantel2020

Thomas Cromwell navigates the final four years of his life in Henry VIII's court. He attempts to maintain power as his allies and influence erode.

dreamlike → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak0

Hot mahogany

Stuart Woods2008

A lawyer guards a former spy with amnesia who restores antique furniture. They uncover a conspiracy linked to the man's service in Vietnam.

dreamlike → wry, still mystery

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

Walking Disaster

Jamie McGuire2013

This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.

dreamlike → propulsive

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

This Man

Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.

dreamlike → tense

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

Tell No One

Harlan Coben2000

A widower receives an email from his wife eight years after her murder. He flees the FBI to discover if she is still alive.

dreamlike → propulsive, still mystery

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

Ten Big Ones

Janet Evanovich2004

Stephanie Plum witnesses a gang hit and becomes a target herself. She balances the threat with her ongoing romantic indecision.

dreamlike → playful, still mystery

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Private Vegas

James Patterson2015

Jack Morgan investigates a man who trains women to become killers in Las Vegas. The story follows multiple perspectives in short chapters.

dreamlike → propulsive, still mystery

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

The English Patient

Michael Ondaatje1992

Four people shelter in a ruined Italian villa at the end of WWII. They care for a burned, anonymous man who recounts his past in the desert.

pace-1·prose0·bleak0

Ulysses

James Joyce1914

Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

dreamlike → playful

pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Lila

Marilynne Robinson2014

A woman with a traumatic, nomadic past settles in a small Iowa town and marries a minister. She struggles to reconcile her history with his faith.

dreamlike → tender, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

The Confessions of Nat Turner

William Styron1967

A fictionalized confession of the leader of an 1831 slave revolt while he awaits execution in a Virginia jail cell.

pace0·prose0·bleak+1

The Known World

Edward P. Jones2003

A black man who was once a slave becomes a slave owner in antebellum Virginia. The story follows the fallout on the plantation after his death.

dreamlike → meditative, still historical fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak+1

A Long Long Way

Sebastian Barry2005

A young Irishman joins the British Army to fight in the trenches of World War I while his home country moves toward rebellion.

dreamlike → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak+1