After
Cloud Cuckoo Land
Anthony Doerr2021
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Real Americans
Rachel Khong2024
Three generations of a Chinese-American family deal with the consequences of a genetic secret. The story spans from the 1960s to the near future.
Same tender register, still speculative fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
The Night Watchman
Louise Erdrich2020
A night watchman fights a 1950s federal bill to terminate his tribe's status. The story follows his family and community on a North Dakota mission.
Same tender register, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
The Dictionary of Lost Words
Pip Williams2021
A girl grows up in the shed where the first Oxford English Dictionary is compiled. She collects words related to women's experiences that men omit.
Same tender register, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
The Charioteer
Mary Renault1953
A wounded soldier in a WWII hospital navigates his feelings for a young orderly and a former mentor. It is a study of gay life in 1940s Britain.
Same tender register, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Beyond That, the Sea
Laura Spence-Ash2023
An English girl is sent to live with an American family during WWII. The story follows her and both families across several decades.
Same tender register, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
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.
tender → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
The Vaster Wilds
Lauren Groff2023
A servant girl escapes a starving colonial settlement in the 1600s and attempts to survive alone in the American wilderness.
tender → meditative, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
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.
tender → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
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.
tender → bleak, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
The Road
Cormac McCarthy2006
A father and son walk through a landscape of ash and scavengers toward the coast. They carry only what fits in a shopping cart.
tender → bleak
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
To recover
- pace-1prose-2bleak-1
The Comfort Book
Matt Haig2021
A collection of short reflections, lists, and anecdotes intended to provide mental support. It is a non-linear book of philosophy and memoir.
tender → warm
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-2bleak-1
This Girl
Colleen Hoover2013
A husband retells the story of his early relationship to his wife. It uses dual timelines to revisit events from the first book in the series.
tender → earnest
pace-1·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-2bleak-1
The Score
Elle Kennedy2016
A college senior has a one-night stand with a hockey player to get over a breakup. They continue the arrangement as graduation approaches.
tender → playful
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
The Kaiju Preservation Society
John Scalzi2022
A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.
tender → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace0prose-2bleak-1
Smokin' Seventeen
Janet Evanovich2011
A bounty hunter investigates bodies found in her boss's lot while choosing between three suitors. The story follows her daily mishaps in New Jersey.
tender → playful
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
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.
tender → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
tender → tense
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
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.
tender → sardonic
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
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.
tender → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tender → wry
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
Slower
tender → elegiac, still historical fiction
- pace-2prose-1bleak0
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-2·prose-1·bleak0
- pace-2prose0bleak+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-2·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose0bleak0
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.
Same tender register, still historical fiction
pace-2·prose0·bleak0
- pace-2prose+1bleak+1
A Fable
William Faulkner1954
During WWI, a French corporal leads a mutiny that halts the fighting. The narrative mirrors the events of the Passion of Christ.
tender → meditative, still historical fiction
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-2prose0bleak+1
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.
tender → meditative, still historical fiction
pace-2·prose0·bleak+1
Heavier
tender → bleak, still historical fiction
- pace-1prose-1bleak+2
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.
pace-1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace-1prose0bleak+2
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.
pace-1·prose0·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak+2
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.
tender → meditative, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace-1prose0bleak+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.
tender → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace-1prose0bleak+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.
tender → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak+2
