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After

Moon Tiger

Penelope Lively1987

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

1 more ↓

  • The Garden of Evening Mists

    Tan Twan Eng2012

    A war camp survivor seeks a Japanese gardener to build a memorial for her sister. The narrative spans decades of Malayan history.

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

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

    Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • This Other Eden

    Paul Harding2023

    A multiracial community on a small island off the coast of Maine faces forced displacement by state officials in the early 20th century.

    Same elegiac register, 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.

    elegiac → bleak, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Duke and I

    Julia Quinn2000

    A duke and a debutante enter a fake courtship to avoid social pressure. They navigate Regency London's marriage market while hiding their deal.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Red Lily

    Nora Roberts2005

    A single mother in Tennessee falls for her employer's son while a century-old ghost possesses her. It is the final book in a trilogy.

    elegiac → warm

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The American Roommate Experiment

    Elena Armas2022

    A writer with a collapsed ceiling shares a studio with her friend's cousin. They start a fake dating experiment to cure her writer's block.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Candide

    Voltaire

    A naive young man travels the world while his tutor insists that everything is for the best. He encounters a series of global catastrophes.

    elegiac → sardonic

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Da Vinci Code

    Dan Brown2003

    A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.

    elegiac → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

    A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

    elegiac → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Slower

Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

3 more ↓

  • 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

  • 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.

    elegiac → tender, still historical fiction

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

  • Rhine Journey

    Ann Schlee1981

    A middle-aged woman travels by steamer down the Rhine in 1851. She observes her family and internalizes a chance encounter with a man from her past.

    elegiac → meditative, still historical fiction

    pace-1·prose0·bleak0

Heavier

elegiac → bleak, still historical fiction

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    elegiac → 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.

    Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Brotherless Night

    V. V. Ganeshananthan2023

    A young woman in Sri Lanka tries to study medicine while her brothers join militant groups during the civil war. It covers a decade of conflict.

    Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1