LitQueuelitqueue

After

Love Comes Softly

Janette Oke1979

5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

    Jennifer Ashley2009

    In 1881, a wealthy widow encounters a nobleman recently released from an asylum who possesses an obsessive memory and an interest in her.

    Same tender register, still historical romance

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Madame Bovary

    Gustave Flaubert1856

    A doctor's wife in provincial France seeks escape from her mundane life through expensive tastes and extramarital affairs.

    tender → tense

    pace+1·prose+3·bleak+2

  • Paradise Logic

    Sophie Kemp2025

    A young woman follows advice from a magazine to become a perfect partner. Her quest involves surreal jobs and messages from the beyond.

    tender → epic

    pace+1·prose+3·bleak+2

  • An Echo in the Bone

    Diana Gabaldon2009

    A time-traveling doctor and her husband navigate the American Revolution. The story follows multiple family branches across two centuries.

    tender → earnest, still historical romance

    pace+1·prose+2·bleak+1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Ivanhoe

    Walter Scott1800

    A Saxon knight returns to 12th-century England to win back his inheritance and the woman he loves amidst Norman conflict.

    tender → epic

    pace+2·prose+1·bleak+1

  • How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying

    Django Wexler2023

    A woman stuck in a time loop decides to stop trying to save the kingdom and instead attempts to become its villain. She uses past lives to plan.

    tender → sardonic

    pace+2·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Quantum Radio

    A.G. Riddle2023

    A scientist at CERN discovers a signal from a parallel universe. He must flee a conspiracy while exploring the implications of the data.

    tender → propulsive

    pace+2·prose0·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tender → playful

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    tender → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+3

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    tender → meditative

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • A Farewell to Arms

    Ernest Hemingway1929

    An American ambulance driver and a British nurse conduct a love affair during the Italian campaign of World War I.

    tender → elegiac

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+3

  • Tess of the D’Urbervilles

    Thomas Hardy

    A country girl is sent to claim kinship with wealthy relatives. Her life is derailed by a sequence of social betrayals and rigid moral standards.

    tender → elegiac

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+3

  • Brokeback Mountain

    Annie Proulx1997

    Two ranch hands begin a secret sexual and emotional relationship in 1963 Wyoming. The story follows their occasional meetings over twenty years.

    tender → elegiac

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+3