The God of Small Things

Do Not Say We Have Nothing

Madeleine Thien2016

A daughter in Canada reconstructs her family's history through a notebook. The story follows musicians during the Cultural Revolution in China.

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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.

elegiac → sardonic, still historical fiction

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Don Quixote

Kathy Acker1986

A woman undergoes an abortion and adopts the persona of Don Quixote to pursue a quest in a fragmented, postmodern landscape.

elegiac → sardonic

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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

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Tall, Tatted and Tempting

Tammy Falkner2013

A tattoo artist who communicates through sign language falls for a woman who enters his shop. The story follows their domestic courtship.

elegiac → tender

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A Veiled Deception

Annette Blair2009

A vintage shop owner investigates a murder during her sister's wedding preparations to clear her family's name.

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It Starts with Us

Colleen Hoover2022

A single mother navigates a new relationship with her first love while managing a jealous ex-husband. The story alternates perspectives.

elegiac → earnest

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Child 44

Tom Rob Smith2008

A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.

elegiac → tense

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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

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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

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History of the Rain

Niall Williams2014

A bedridden girl in Ireland tells the story of her family and her father's obsession with finding a specific book. It is a history of a lineage.

Same elegiac register, still family saga

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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.

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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.

elegiac → playful

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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

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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

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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

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