After
The White Princess
Philippa Gregory2013
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Kingmaker's Daughter
Philippa Gregory2012
The daughters of the Earl of Warwick navigate the court of Edward IV as their father uses their marriages to manipulate the English throne.
Same tense register, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak-1
Madame Tussaud
Michelle Moran2011
A wax artist in Paris navigates the political shifts of the French Revolution. She must model the faces of both royalty and revolutionaries.
Same tense register, still historical fiction
pace+1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
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.
tense → earnest, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
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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.
tense → earnest, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
Denser prose
- pace0prose+2bleak0
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.
tense → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+2·bleak0
- pace+1prose+2bleak+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, still historical fiction
pace+1·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
tense → sardonic, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
tense → bleak
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
Brutal Prince
Sophie Lark2020
The heirs of two rival Chicago mafia families are forced into an arranged marriage to prevent a gang war.
tense → sardonic
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
Electric Idol
Katee Robert2022
In a modern-day Olympus, Eros is ordered to kill Psyche but chooses to enter a fake marriage with her to protect her from his mother.
tense → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
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Star Nomad
Lindsay Buroker2016
A fighter pilot and a small crew of strangers attempt to escape a system-wide war in a freighter. It is a character-driven space adventure.
tense → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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.
tense → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
Hot mahogany
Stuart Woods2008
A lawyer guards a former spy with amnesia who restores antique furniture. They uncover a conspiracy linked to the man's service in Vietnam.
tense → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+2prose-1bleak-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+2·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+2prose0bleak0
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
Same tense register
pace+2·prose0·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose0bleak-1
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.
tense → sardonic
pace+2·prose0·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-2
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.
tense → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-1bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tense → wry
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2
Slower
tense → elegiac, still historical fiction
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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.
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak-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-1·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
tense → bleak
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
Schindler's Ark
Thomas Keneally1982
A German businessman uses his factory and connections to protect Jewish prisoners from execution in occupied Poland.
tense → clinical, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
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.
tense → bleak, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
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.
tense → bleak, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
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.
tense → meditative, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
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.
tense → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
