After
Girl in a Blue Dress
Gaynor Arnold2008
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
Same elegiac register, still historical fiction
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The Aviator's Wife
Melanie Benjamin2013
Anne Morrow Lindbergh navigates her marriage to the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh across decades of public scrutiny and private tragedy.
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak0
Fire from Heaven
Mary Renault1969
The story follows Alexander the Great from childhood to age twenty, focusing on his relationship with his parents and Hephaistion.
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak0
Circling the Sun
Paula McLain2015
Beryl Markham grows up in colonial Kenya among the Kipsigis people. She pursues careers as a horse trainer and a pioneer aviator.
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Lady of the Rivers
Philippa Gregory2011
Jacquetta of Luxembourg navigates the English court, marries for love after being widowed, and serves Queen Margaret of Anjou.
elegiac → earnest, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
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
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace+1prose+2bleak+2
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+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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+2
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
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·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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·prose+2·bleak0
To recover
elegiac → playful
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Pucked
Helena Hunting2015
A woman has a one-night stand with a professional hockey player she intended to avoid. The story follows their subsequent relationship.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Love Her or Lose Her
Tessa Bailey2020
A woman enrolls her distant, ex-soldier husband in a marriage boot camp to save their relationship and pursue her dream of opening a restaurant.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Flip This Zombie
Jesse Petersen2011
A married couple runs a zombie extermination and 'flipping' business. They treat the apocalypse as a series of domestic and financial hurdles.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Love Unscripted
Tina Reber2010
An A-list movie star hides in a small-town pub to escape fans and falls for the owner. The story follows the logistical strain of his fame.
elegiac → warm
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Shopaholic & Baby
Sophie Kinsella2007
A woman with a shopping addiction navigates pregnancy while discovering her celebrity obstetrician is her husband's ex-girlfriend.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+2prose-1bleak-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.
elegiac → playful
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose0bleak+1
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·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose0bleak0
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·bleak0
- pace+2prose-1bleak-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.
elegiac → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
elegiac → wry
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
Slower
Same elegiac register, still historical fiction
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Umbrella
Will Self2013
A psychiatrist in 1971 treats a woman who has been catatonic for decades. The prose shifts between eras and consciousnesses without paragraph breaks.
elegiac → clinical
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
elegiac → bleak
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
Heavier
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
Schindler's Ark
Thomas Keneally1982
A German businessman uses his factory and connections to protect Jewish prisoners from execution in occupied Poland.
elegiac → clinical, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose0bleak+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.
elegiac → bleak, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak+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.
elegiac → bleak, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+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.
elegiac → meditative, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+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.
Same elegiac register, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
