Augustus

Lincoln in the Bardo

George Saunders2017

Abraham Lincoln visits his son's crypt in 1862. The story is told through a chorus of ghosts trapped in a transitional state between life and death.

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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

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The Mirror and the Light

Hilary Mantel2020

Thomas Cromwell navigates the final four years of his life in Henry VIII's court. He attempts to maintain power as his allies and influence erode.

Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

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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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Starter Villain

John Scalzi2023

A substitute teacher inherits his uncle's secret supervillain business, including a volcano lair and talking cats.

elegiac → wry

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Mary Ann Shaffer2008

A London writer exchanges letters with residents of Guernsey after WWII. The story is told entirely through their correspondence.

elegiac → warm, still historical fiction

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Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

Jesse Q. Sutanto2023

An elderly tea shop owner finds a corpse and decides to investigate the suspects herself. She uses cooking and mothering to extract information.

elegiac → warm

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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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The Martian

Andy Weir2011

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

elegiac → wry

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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.

Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

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From A to X

John Berger2008

A woman writes letters to her lover, a political prisoner in an unnamed country. She describes her daily life while he writes notes in the margins.

elegiac → meditative, still epistolary

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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.

Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

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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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