After
Beloved
Toni Morrison1987
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser
More like it
Same elegiac register, still historical fiction
- pace0prose0bleak0
Let Us Descend
Jesmyn Ward2023
An enslaved girl travels from the Carolinas to New Orleans. She uses memories of her mother and spirits to survive the journey and the labor.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
North Woods
Daniel Mason2023
The story of a single house in the Massachusetts woods told through the lives of its inhabitants over four hundred years.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak0
The Map of Salt and Stars
Zeyn Joukhadar2018
A Syrian girl flees modern civil war while her story mirrors a 12th-century mapmaker's apprentice. Both travel across North Africa.
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
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.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
The Snow Child
Eowyn Ivey2012
An aging couple in 1920s Alaska builds a child out of snow who appears to come to life. The story blends homesteading with folklore.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
To recover
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James2000
A college student enters a sexual contract with a wealthy businessman. The story focuses on their power dynamics and BDSM encounters.
elegiac → earnest
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
The Duke and I
Julia Quinn2000
A duke and a debutante enter a fake courtship to avoid social pressure. They navigate Regency London's marriage market while hiding their deal.
elegiac → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
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On Dublin Street
Samantha Young2012
An American woman in Scotland enters a sex-only arrangement with her roommate's brother to avoid emotional intimacy. It is a contemporary romance.
elegiac → warm
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
Night Pleasures
Sherrilyn Kenyon2002
An immortal warrior and a skeptical accountant are handcuffed together while being hunted by supernatural predators.
elegiac → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace0prose-3bleak-2
Honeysuckle Summer
Sherryl Woods2010
A woman with severe anxiety and agoraphobia after an abusive marriage finds support from a local deputy. He helps her re-enter the world.
elegiac → warm
pace0·prose-3·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak-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-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-2bleak0
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·prose-2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-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-3·bleak-2
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The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
elegiac → wry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
Slower
Same elegiac register, still historical fiction
- pace-1prose0bleak+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·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-1prose-2bleak-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·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-1prose0bleak-1
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
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- 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
Heavier
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
The Underground Railroad
Colson Whitehead2016
Two slaves escape a Georgia plantation via a literal underground train system while being pursued by a slave catcher.
elegiac → bleak, still historical fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
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Ironweed
William Kennedy1983
A homeless alcoholic returns to Albany in 1938. He encounters the ghosts of his past while trying to find a day of work and reconciliation.
Same elegiac register, still historical fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-2bleak+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.
elegiac → bleak, still historical fiction
pace0·prose-2·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.
elegiac → bleak, still historical fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
- 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
