After
The Storyteller
Jodi Picoult2013
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
Same elegiac register, still historical fiction
- pace0prose0bleak0
The absolutist
John Boyne2011
A veteran visits his deceased friend's sister in 1919 to return letters. He recounts their relationship and a secret from the trenches.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Painted Girls
Cathy Marie Buchanan2013
Three sisters in 1870s Paris struggle with poverty. One becomes a ballet dancer and poses for Edgar Degas while another falls into crime.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Women in the Castle
Jessica Shattuck2017
Three widows of men executed for resisting Hitler live together in a ruined castle. They navigate the moral fallout of post-war Germany.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
22 Britannia Road
Amanda Hodgkinson2011
A Polish couple and their young son reunite in England after WWII. They struggle to reconcile their hidden wartime traumas.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Work Like Any Other
Virginia Reeves2016
In 1920s Alabama, an electrician is sent to prison for manslaughter after siphoning power to save his farm. It follows his time on a work gang.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace+1prose+2bleak+1
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.
elegiac → propulsive, still historical fiction
pace+1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
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+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+2bleak0
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+2·bleak0
- pace0prose+2bleak+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.
elegiac → bleak, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+2bleak0
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
pace0·prose+2·bleak0
To recover
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
You Can Heal Your Life
Louise L. Hay1984
The author argues that physical illness is caused by mental patterns and provides affirmations to change one's internal dialogue.
elegiac → warm
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose0bleak-2
Until You
Judith McNaught1994
A teacher is mistaken for an heiress by an Earl after a dockside accident causes her to lose her memory. She lives as his guest in Regency England.
elegiac → earnest
pace+1·prose0·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
Hot on her heels
Susan Mallery2009
A female deputy protects her friends from a man seeking revenge on their father. The two antagonists find themselves physically attracted.
elegiac → warm
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
Simply Irresistible
Rachel Gibson1998
A runaway bride escapes her wedding with a professional hockey player. They spend a night together that leads to a surprise pregnancy.
elegiac → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
The Best Man
Kristan Higgins2013
A woman returns to her family winery years after a public wedding disaster. She begins a relationship with the man who helped end her engagement.
elegiac → warm
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+2prose-1bleak-2
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.
elegiac → playful
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+2prose0bleak0
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
pace+2·prose0·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose0bleak-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.
elegiac → sardonic
pace+2·prose0·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-2
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-1·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-1bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
elegiac → wry
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2
Slower
Same elegiac register, still historical fiction
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
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·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
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+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak-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.
elegiac → tender, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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·prose+1·bleak0
Heavier
elegiac → bleak, still historical fiction
- pace0prose0bleak+1
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+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
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+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak+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.
elegiac → meditative, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+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·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+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·prose+1·bleak+1
