The Colour of Blood

A Burning

Megha Majumdar2020

Three people in India deal with the fallout of a terrorist attack. One is jailed for a Facebook post while another seeks political power.

Same tense register, still political fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak+1

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.

tense → propulsive

pace0·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.

tense → playful

pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

The Sound and the Fury

William Faulkner1929

The decline of a Southern family told through four perspectives, including a non-linear stream of consciousness from a man with a disability.

tense → elegiac

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

Better Off Dead

Lee Child2021

Jack Reacher investigates a staged car crash in Arizona and infiltrates a dangerous local crew to find a missing woman.

tense → propulsive, still thriller

pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Love Comes Softly

Janette Oke1979

A widow on the 19th-century frontier enters a marriage of convenience with a widower to survive the winter and care for his daughter.

tense → tender

pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

Boy Meets Girl

Meg Cabot2004

An HR worker is sued for wrongful termination and must deal with the lawyer brother of the man she fired. The story is told through emails.

tense → playful

pace0·prose-1·bleak-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.

tense → playful

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Adrenaline

Jeff Abbott2010

A CIA agent’s life is destroyed when his wife warns him of a bombing and then vanishes. He must find her while being interrogated as a suspect.

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

The October List

Jeffery Deaver2013

The chapters are told in reverse chronological order, starting with the climax and moving backward to explain a kidnapping.

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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.

tense → elegiac

pace-2·prose+2·bleak+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.

tense → clinical

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

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.

tense → elegiac

pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

Home Fire

Kamila Shamsie2017

Three British Muslim siblings deal with the fallout of their father's jihadi legacy. One sister tries to save her brother from a similar path.

Same tense register, still political fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

The Association of Small Bombs

Karan Mahajan2016

The narrative follows the victims, survivors, and perpetrators of a terrorist bombing in Delhi. It examines the long-term psychological fallout.

tense → bleak, still political fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

A Burning

Megha Majumdar2020

Three people in India deal with the fallout of a terrorist attack. One is jailed for a Facebook post while another seeks political power.

Same tense register, still political fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak+1