After
The Lady of the Rivers
Philippa Gregory2011
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
Same earnest register, still historical fiction
- pace0prose0bleak0
Three Sisters, Three Queens
Philippa Gregory2016
Katherine of Aragon, Margaret Tudor, and Mary Tudor navigate their roles as queens of England, Scotland, and France amid 16th-century politics.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Becoming Marie Antoinette
Juliet Grey2011
A young archduchess is groomed by her mother to become the Queen of France. It follows her transition from the Austrian court to Versailles.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict2021
A Black woman passes as white while working as the personal librarian and art curator for financier J.P. Morgan in the early 1900s.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Lady Tan's Circle of Women
Lisa See2023
In Ming Dynasty China, a woman trained in medicine by her grandmother treats female patients. She struggles against strict Confucian gender roles.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
My Dear Hamilton
Stephanie Dray2018
The life of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton from the American Revolution through her widowhood. It follows her marriage and her work on her husband's legacy.
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.
earnest → elegiac, 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.
earnest → propulsive, still historical fiction
pace+1·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- 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.
earnest → sardonic, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- 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.
earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- 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.
earnest → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
To recover
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Brutal Prince
Sophie Lark2020
The heirs of two rival Chicago mafia families are forced into an arranged marriage to prevent a gang war.
earnest → sardonic
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
Wintersteel
Will Wight2020
Lindon and his allies compete in a global martial arts tournament. The focus is on training, gaining power, and tactical combat.
earnest → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Dark Lover
J. R. Ward2005
A vampire king seeks revenge against the slayers who killed his parents while protecting a woman discovering her own supernatural heritage.
earnest → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
The Love Hypothesis
Ali Hazelwood2021
A biology PhD candidate enters a fake relationship with a young professor to satisfy a friend. They navigate academic politics and attraction.
earnest → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Beautiful Bastard
Christina Lauren2013
An MBA intern and her demanding media executive boss engage in a series of sexual encounters while competing at work. It is an erotic romance.
earnest → playful
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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → wry
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
Slower
earnest → elegiac, 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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
