Next Year in Havana

Bellewether

Susanna Kearsley2018

A dual-timeline story follows a modern museum curator and a woman in 1759 Long Island who falls for a French prisoner of war.

elegiac → tender, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose0·bleak0

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

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+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.

Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+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-2·prose+2·bleak0

Orchard Valley Grooms

Debbie Macomber2010

Three sisters return to their Oregon hometown after their father's heart attack. The first story follows Valerie and her father's surgeon.

elegiac → warm, still contemporary romance

pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

Wild Side

Elsie Silver2025

A woman enters a marriage of convenience with a man she dislikes to secure custody of her nephew. They live together in a small town.

elegiac → earnest, still contemporary romance

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Moonlight Road

Robyn Carr2010

A woman seeking solitude in a mountain cabin meets a vacationing navy doctor. They navigate a relationship while hiding their true identities.

elegiac → warm, still contemporary romance

pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

The Professional: Part 2 (The Game Maker, #1b)

Kresley Cole

A Russian enforcer continues his pursuit of a graduate student across Europe. The focus is on their sexual power dynamic and his mafia duties.

elegiac → tense, still contemporary romance

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Victory at Prescott High

C.M. Stunich

A high school girl seeks revenge against the boys who bullied her while navigating a complex relationship with all of them at once.

elegiac → propulsive, still contemporary romance

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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+1·prose0·bleak+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·prose+1·bleak+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-2·prose+2·bleak0

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-2·prose+1·bleak0

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

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+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

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+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.

Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2