More like Brooksmith
anchored on:literary & generalbritish isles19th centurygrief and lossclass conflictbig city+2 more
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- A Little Princess
Frances Hodgson Burnettstandalone novel1905
similar byliterary & general19th centuryclass conflictbritish isles
A Little Princess is a work by British-American author Frances Hodgson Burnett, presented as a 1888 novella, a 1902 play and a 1905 children's novel. All three versions tell the story of Sara Crewe, a wealthy young girl and the prize student of a private London boarding school who is reduced to poverty and forced to endure the life of a servant under the school's cruel headmistress.
- Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul
H. G. Wellsstandalone novel1905
similar byliterary & general19th centuryclass conflictreflectivebritish isles
An orphan's life suddenly changes when he discovers he is the inheritor of a wealthy gentleman. Thrown into high society, he struggles to learn about etiquette and its rules, discovering that to be a "true gentleman" is not just a question of money.
- Tono-Bungay
H. G. Wellsstandalone novel1909
similar byliterary & generalclass conflictreflectivebritish isles+1 more
Tono-Bungay is a realist semiautobiographical novel written by H. G. Wells and first published in book form in 1909. It has been called "arguably his most artistic book". It had been serialised before book publication, both in the United States, in The Popular Magazine, beginning in the issue of September 1908, and in Britain, in The English Review, beginning in the magazine's first issue in December 1908.
- Lincoln in the Bardo
George Saundersstandalone novel2017
similar byliterary & general19th centurygrief and lossreflectivesad
Lincoln in the Bardo is a 2017 experimental novel by American writer George Saunders. It is Saunders's first full-length novel and was The New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller for the week of March 5, 2017.
- The Child in Time
Ian McEwanstandalone novel1987
similar byliterary & generalgrief and lossreflectivesadbritish isles
The Child in Time (1987) is a novel by Ian McEwan. The story concerns Stephen, an author of children's books, and his wife, two years after the kidnapping of their three-year-old daughter Kate.
- Never Let Me Go
Kazuo Ishigurostandalone novel2005
similar byliterary & generalgrief and lossreflectivesadbritish isles
Never Let Me Go is a 2005 science fiction novel by the British author Kazuo Ishiguro. It was shortlisted for the 2005 Man Booker Prize, for the 2006 Arthur C. Clarke Award and the 2005 National Book Critics Circle Award. Time magazine named it the best novel of 2005. It included the novel in its '100 Best English-language novels published since 1923—the beginning of TIME'. It also received an ALA Alex Award in 2006. A film adaptation directed by Mark Romanek was released in 2010.
- The History of Mr. Polly
H. G. Wellsstandalone novel1910
similar byliterary & general19th centuryreflectivebritish isles+1 more
The History of Mr. Polly is a 1910 comic novel by H. G. Wells.
- Cat's Eye
Margaret Atwoodstandalone novel1988
similar byliterary & generalgrief and lossreflectivesad
Cat's Eye is a 1988 novel by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood about fictional painter Elaine Risley, who vividly reflects on her childhood and teenage years. Her strongest memories are of Cordelia, who was the leader of a trio of girls who were both very cruel and very kind to her in ways that tint Elaine's perceptions of relationships and her world — not to mention her art — into her middle years. The novel unfolds in mid-20th century Canada, from World War II to the late 1980s, and includes a look at many of the cultural elements of that time period, including feminism and various modern art movements. The book was a finalist for the 1988 Governor General's Award and for the 1989 Booker Prize.
- Love and Mr. Lewisham
H. G. Wellsstandalone novel1900
similar byliterary & general19th centuryreflectivebritish isles+1 more
Love and Mr Lewisham is a 1900 novel set in the 1880s by H. G. Wells. It was among his first fictional writings outside the science fiction genre. Wells took considerable pains over the manuscript and said that "the writing was an altogether more serious undertaking than I have ever done before." He later included it in a 1933 anthology, Stories of Men and Women in Love.
- Ghost Boys
Jewell Parker Rhodesstandalone novel2018
similar byliterary & generalgrief and lossreflectivesadbig city
Ghost Boys is a 2018 middle-grade novel by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Set in Chicago, the novel follows the story of Jerome, a 12-year-old black boy who is shot and killed by a white police officer before coming back as a ghost. Emmett Till, a black boy who was murdered in 1955, features as another ghost in the text. Rhodes' novel has themes of racism and socio-economic injustice that are aimed at a younger audience.
- More Happy Than Not
Adam Silverastandalone novel2015
similar byliterary & generalgrief and losssadbig city+1 more
When it first gets announced, the Leteo Institute's memory-alteration procedure seems too good to be true to Aaron Soto-miracle cure-alls don't tend to pop up in the Bronx projects. Aaron can't forget how he's grown up poor, how his friends all seem to shrug him off, and how his father committed suicide in their one bedroom apartment. He has the support of his patient girlfriend, if not necessarily his distant brother and overworked mother, but it's not enough. Then Thomas shows up. He doesn't mind Aaron's obsession over the Scorpius Hawthorne books and has a sweet movie set-up on his roof. There are nicknames. Aaron's not only able to be himself, but happiness feels easy with Thomas. The love Aaron discovers may cost him what's left of his life, but since Aaron can't suddenly stop being gay Leteo may be the only way out.
- Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer
Steven Millhauserstandalone novel1996
similar byliterary & general19th centuryreflectivebig city+1 more
Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer is a 1996 novel by Steven Millhauser. It won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was a finalist for the 1996 National Book Award. It follows the exploits of Martin Dressler, a young, optimistic entrepreneur, in late nineteenth-century New York City. It vividly evokes its time and place through elaborate description.
- I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home
Lorrie Moorestandalone novel2023
similar byliterary & generalgrief and lossreflectivesad
I Am Homeless if This Is Not My Home is a 2023 novel by American novelist Lorrie Moore. It was her fourth published novel, and was the winner of the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award in Fiction.
- Todd Family
series2 books2013
similar byliterary & generalgrief and lossreflectivebritish isles
Kate Atkinson's Life After Life gives Ursula Todd, born on a snowy night in 1910, a strange gift: whenever she dies, she's born again into a slightly altered version of the same life, gradually piecing together enough intuition across her many deaths to try to change the course of the twentieth century's worst events. The companion novel A God in Ruins turns to Ursula's brother Teddy, a bomber pilot, following his one, single life forward from the war through old age. The two books share a family and a set of preoccupations -- memory, war, chance -- without forming a conventional sequential series.
- The Dead Fathers Club
Matt Haigstandalone novel2006
similar byliterary & generalgrief and lossreflectivebritish isles+1 more
The Dead Fathers Club is a 2006 novel by Matt Haig. The book was published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape and in the United States by Viking Press. The story is a retelling of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, and thus an example of intertextuality.
- Ragtime
E. L. Doctorowstandalone novel1975
similar byliterary & generalclass conflictreflectivebig city
Ragtime is a 1975 historiographic metafiction novel by American author E. L. Doctorow. The novel mixes historical figures and fictional characters together in a sweeping narrative set in the New York City area from 1902 to 1915. With its layered storyline, Ragtime explores themes of racial injustice, class division, and the American Dream in American society.
- Eloisa: Or, a Series of Original Letters
Jean-Jacques Rousseaustandalone novel1761
similar byliterary & generalclass conflictgrief and lossreflectivebritish isles
The love between Julie d'Étange and her private teacher St Preux, made impossible because of their relative stations, leads to a dead-end. Julie eventually marries old M. de Wolmar, who acquaints them with his Utopian estate, characteristic of the Age of enlightenment.
- Lost
Gregory Maguirestandalone novel2001
similar byliterary & generalgrief and lossreflectivebritish isles
Lost is a 2001 novel by American author Gregory Maguire. Unlike many of Maguire's other adult novels, Lost is set in the real world. The novel's concept is that the protagonist is a distant relative of the man who inspired Charles Dickens' character of Ebenezer Scrooge.
- Green Mansions
W. H. Hudsonstandalone novel1904
similar by19th centurygrief and lossreflectivesad
"WHH's most famous bird novel is Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest (1904). Structured as the confession-in-tranquillity of an old man named Abel, it takes place in the middle of the 19th century somewhere between Venezuela and Guyana, where young Abel has fled after a political debacle. Here he finds a tribe of Indians which lives in fear of the "demons" who inhabit a nearby region; but what Abel discovers there is a tiny woman called Rima, who seems and sounds half-bird, who can talk with animals, and who longs to return to her home, which is a kind of lost world (see Lost Races) in the mountains. When they get there, it has been destroyed. She returns to her home woods and is burnt alive in a great Tree by the Indians, who are then massacred at Abel's instigation. Quite extraordinarily attenuated in comparison with earlier figures – like {{A|H Rider Haggard}}'s Ayesha – Rima nevertheless very fairly represents WHH's notion of the impossibility of harmony between humans and the natural world." (underscore represents linked cross-reference) --SFE: Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997), biographical entry by John Clute
- The Primrose Path
Bram Stokerstandalone novel1875
similar byliterary & general19th centurygrief and losssadbritish islesbig city
"Jerry O'Sullivan, honest Dublin theatrical carpenter, moves to London, seeking a better job. Against the better judgement of the people surrounding him, Jerry decides to go to the metropolis with his faithful wife Katey. O'Sullivan is hired as head carpenter in a squalid theatre in London, but after several misfortunes he is strongly tempted by and eventually brought down by alcohol. Unjustly suspecting his wife of infidelity, he murders her with a hammer and then cuts his throat with a chisel." -- quoted from this product's product page on Amazon.com.uk as of 2017-08-29.
- Season of Secrets
Sally Nichollsstandalone novel2009
similar byliterary & generalgrief and losssadbritish isles
Sent by their father to live in the country with their grandparents after the sudden death of their mother, Molly's older sister Hannah expresses her grief in a raging rebellion while imaginative Molly finds herself increasingly distracted by visions, that seemingly only she can see, of a strange hunt in the nearby forest.
- Observatory Mansions
Edward Careystandalone novel2000
similar byliterary & generalgrief and lossreflectivebritish islesbig city
"Easily the most brilliant fiction I've seen this year -- it proves the potential brilliance of the novel form."-- John Fowles, author of The MagusObservatory Mansions, once the Orme family's magnificent ancestral home set on beautiful grounds, is now a crumbling apartment block stranded on a traffic island, peopled with eccentrics.Thirty-seven-year-old Francis Orme lives in Observatory Mansions with his peculiar parents and a collection of misfits. By day he is a street performer, earning money as "a statue of whiteness" in the park, wearing white gloves to ensure that his skin never touches anything. He steals items for his museum of significant objects (996 in all), not for their monetary value but because they have been loved, often bringing grief to their erstwhile owners. His bedridden mother, Alice, who has created for herself an alternative time frame called "fiction," and his father, Francis, are among the occupants set apart from the rest of the busy city by their histories, their memories, and their relationships with the other seven inhabitants of the flats.Each of the house dwellers has his or her own story, as seen through Francis's eyes, and the careful routine and harmony of the house are shaken when along comes a new resident, the half-blind, vulnerable Anna Tap. She is sympathetic and resourceful, and slowly the desperately lonely residents begin to open up their long-closed hearts. As the delicate balance of Observatory Mansions begins to shift, Francis finds himself having to protect the secrets of his past and the sanctity of his collection, while growing emotionally closer to Anna.Hailed as no less than a tour de force, Observatory Mansions is a debut novel of immense originality--a strangely haunting landscape occupied by compelling and unforgettable characters.From the Hardcover edition.
- Thursday's Child
Sonya Hartnettstandalone novel2000
similar byliterary & generalclass conflictsad+2 more
Thursday's Child is young adult novel by the Australian writer Sonya Hartnett, published in 2000 by Penguin Books. Set during the 1930s Great Depression in Australia, it features a young woman Harper Flute and her family, who live in poverty. It won the annual Aurealis Award for best young-adult novel.
- Lord Byron's Novel: The Evening Land
John Crowleystandalone novel2005
similar byliterary & generalgrief and lossreflective19th centurybritish isles
One of our most accomplished literary artists, John Crowley imagines the novel the haunted Romantic poet Lord Byron never penned ...but very well might have. Saved from destruction, read, and annotated by Byron's own abandoned daughter, Ada, the manuscript is rediscovered in our time -- and almost not recognized. Lord Byron's Novel is the story of a dying daughter's attempt to understand the famous father she longed for -- and the young woman who, by learning the secret of Byron's manuscript and Ada's devotion, reconnects with her own father, driven from her life by a crime as terrible as any of which Byron himself was accused.
