After
Secrets of a Charmed Life
Susan Meissner2015
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
Same tender register, still historical fiction
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Secret Book of Flora Lea
Patti Callahan Henry2023
In 1960, a woman finds a book that contains the private fairy tale she invented for her sister, who disappeared during the 1939 evacuations.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Love and Other Consolation Prizes
Jamie Ford2017
A boy raffled off at the 1909 World's Fair grows up in a Seattle brothel. The story alternates between his childhood and his life in 1962.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Wind Knows My Name
Isabel Allende2023
Two children, one fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe in 1938 and another seeking asylum in 2019, share parallel stories of displacement.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Moloka'i
Alan Brennert2003
A seven-year-old girl is diagnosed with leprosy in 1890s Hawaii. She is exiled to the settlement on Moloka'i, where she lives for the next decades.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
Lisa See2017
A girl in a remote Akha village grows up farming tea before a stranger's arrival and a secret pregnancy change her life's trajectory.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace+1prose+2bleak+2
A Brief History of Seven Killings
Marlon James2014
A large cast of characters recounts the 1976 attempt on Bob Marley's life. The narrative spans decades and moves from Jamaica to New York.
tender → propulsive, still historical fiction
pace+1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+2bleak+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.
tender → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+2bleak+2
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.
tender → bleak, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace0prose+2bleak+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.
tender → sardonic, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
tender → playful
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
The Kaiju Preservation Society
John Scalzi2022
A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Smokin' Seventeen
Janet Evanovich2011
A bounty hunter investigates bodies found in her boss's lot while choosing between three suitors. The story follows her daily mishaps in New Jersey.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tender → wry
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
The Comfort Book
Matt Haig2021
A collection of short reflections, lists, and anecdotes intended to provide mental support. It is a non-linear book of philosophy and memoir.
tender → warm
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
Odessa Sea
Clive Cussler2016
Dirk Pitt investigates a ghost ship in the Black Sea and discovers a conspiracy involving a lost Romanov secret. It is a high-speed adventure.
tender → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
Dial A for Aunties
Jesse Q. Sutanto2021
A photographer accidentally kills her blind date. Her mother and aunties help hide the body during a massive luxury wedding.
tender → playful
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose0bleak+1
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
tender → tense
pace+2·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose0bleak0
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.
tender → sardonic
pace+2·prose0·bleak0
- pace+2prose-1bleak-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.
tender → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tender → wry
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
Slower
tender → elegiac, still historical fiction
- pace-1prose0bleak0
A Month in the Country
J. L. Carr1980
A WWI veteran spends a summer in a quiet village restoring a medieval mural in a church. He reflects on his trauma while observing local life.
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner1936
The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
Same tender register, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
tender → meditative, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
Heavier
tender → bleak, still historical fiction
- pace0prose0bleak+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.
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
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·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
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.
tender → meditative, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
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.
tender → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
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.
tender → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
