LitQueuelitqueue

After

Niccolò Rising

Dorothy Dunnett1986

5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Disorderly Knights

    Dorothy Dunnett1966

    A mercenary leader travels from Scotland to Malta in 1551 to defend the Order of St. John against Ottoman forces while facing family accusations.

    wry → sardonic, still historical fiction

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

To recover

wry → playful

3 more ↓

  • Girl, Wash Your Face

    Rachel Hollis2018

    The author lists twenty common lies she once believed about herself and provides personal anecdotes and advice to dismantle them.

    wry → earnest

    pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1

  • Unfinished

    Priyanka Chopra Jonas2021

    The actress details her childhood in India, her time in American schools, and her transition from pageantry to a global film career.

    wry → earnest

    pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1

  • Weekends Required

    Sydney Landon2013

    An assistant performs a burlesque routine for her boss at a bachelor party, changing their professional dynamic into a romantic pursuit.

    pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1

Faster

wry → propulsive

3 more ↓

  • Behind Closed Doors

    B.A. Paris2016

    A woman is held captive by her husband in a high-security home. She must find a way to escape before her sister moves in with them.

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak0

  • Kiss the Girls

    James Patterson1995

    Detective Alex Cross tracks two serial killers operating on opposite coasts who are communicating and competing with one another.

    wry → tense

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak+1

  • Verity

    Colleen Hoover2018

    A ghostwriter moves into a secluded estate to finish a series for an injured author and finds a hidden, disturbing autobiography.

    wry → tense

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak+1

Slower

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.

    wry → elegiac, still historical fiction

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+2

  • Blood on the dining-room floor

    Gertrude Stein1948

    A repetitive, circular narrative about a death in a country house. It uses experimental prose to obscure the facts of a traditional mystery.

    wry → playful

    pace-1·prose0·bleak0

  • 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.

    wry → elegiac, still historical fiction

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Affinity

    Sarah Waters1999

    A grieving socialite visits a medium in a Victorian women's prison. Their relationship develops through diary entries and clandestine meetings.

    wry → bleak, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+2

  • Libra

    Don DeLillo1988

    A fictionalized biography of Lee Harvey Oswald. It follows his life and the CIA conspiracy that leads to the assassination of JFK.

    wry → eerie, still historical fiction

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2

  • A Fine Balance

    Rohinton Mistry1995

    Four people from different castes share a small apartment during the 1975 Indian Emergency. Their lives are upended by state-sanctioned violence.

    wry → bleak, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose-2·bleak+2