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After

The Great Fire

Shirley Hazzard2003

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same meditative register, still historical fiction

1 more ↓

  • The Harmony Silk Factory

    Tash Aw2005

    Three people give conflicting accounts of Johnny Lim, a 1940s Malaysian businessman. Each narrator reveals a different version of his loyalties.

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    meditative → elegiac, still historical fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+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.

    meditative → bleak, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Beloved

    Toni Morrison1987

    A mother in post-Civil War Ohio is haunted by the ghost of the daughter she killed to spare from slavery. The prose is dense and non-linear.

    meditative → elegiac, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

meditative → playful

3 more ↓

  • Terms and Conditions

    Lauren Asher2022

    To secure his inheritance, a businessman enters a marriage of convenience with his assistant.

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Wielding a Red Sword

    Piers Anthony1986

    An Indian prince avoids an arranged marriage by accepting the supernatural office of War. He wields a sword that draws him into a conflict in Hell.

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Love Bites

    Lynsay Sands2004

    A vampire turns a coroner into an immortal to save her life after an accident. They navigate their new bond while being pursued by others.

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    meditative → sardonic

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    meditative → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

    A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

    meditative → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

Slower

meditative → elegiac, still historical fiction

3 more ↓

  • 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·prose0·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.

    meditative → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    meditative → clinical

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

Heavier

meditative → bleak, still historical fiction

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    Same meditative register, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose0·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.

    meditative → elegiac, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose0·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.

    meditative → elegiac, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2