The House Girl

Orphan Train

Christina Baker Kline2013

A foster teen helps an elderly woman clean her attic, uncovering a shared history of displacement and the 1920s orphan trains.

pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

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.

earnest → bleak, still historical fiction

pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

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.

earnest → sardonic, still historical fiction

pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

Vampires Are Forever

Lynsay Sands2008

A woman suspects her business partner is a vampire after he attempts to bite her. He tries to convince her they are fated mates.

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

The Mane Event

Shelly Laurenston2007

A female cop reunites with a childhood friend who is now a lion-shifter. They navigate a romantic attraction while he pursues her in New York.

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Ghost Ship

Clive Cussler2014

Kurt Austin survives a yacht sinking but suffers from conflicting memories. He investigates a global cybercrime conspiracy to find the truth.

earnest → propulsive

pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

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.

earnest → sardonic

pace+2·prose0·bleak0

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.

earnest → propulsive

pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

The Martian

Andy Weir2011

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

earnest → wry

pace+2·prose-1·bleak-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

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.

earnest → tender, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

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.

earnest → meditative, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

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.

earnest → meditative, still historical fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak+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.

earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak+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.

earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2