I have a tough time placing a finger on the type of books I absolutely adore, the kind that I hug to my chest with a deep inhale-exhale after finishing the last page. The best descriptor I've come up with so far is books with beautiful prose and an atmospheric tinge of sadness throughout. I want quiet and tender sad, not shouting in your face sad (ahem, A Little Life). Books like All the Light We Cannot See, Migrations, Hamnet, Station Eleven, Betty
Let me hear it!
by Aggravating-Lie-7614
22 Comments
Try Zorrie, by Laird Hunt.
So the only one you mentioned I haven’t read is Migrations (but I’ll have to!). Have you read The Heart’s Invisible Furies?
The Frozen River
Flight Behavior
Fantasy whimsical cozy – The House in the Cerulean Sea and sequel
Tinkers by Paul Harding
What is Not Yours is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi
The Invisible Circus by Jennifer Egan
We the Animals by Justin Torres
The Passion by Jeanette Winterson
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers by Yiyun Li
The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor
No One is Here Except All of Us by Ramona Ausubel
The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht
Babel by RF Kuang
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Have you read Charlotte McConaghy’s new novel Wild Dark Shore? It’s great!
I too adored All the Light We Cannot See, and Anthony Doerr’s most recent novel, Cloud Cuckoo Land, is also filled with tender sadness and is excellent, if you have not yet read it.
I love this hyper-specific genre as well and the books you listed are some of my all-time faves. My recs:
*Fresh Water for Flowers* by Valerie Perrin
*The Blind Assassin* by Margaret Atwood
*The Friend* by Sigrid Nunez
*Still Life* by Sarah Winman
*Our Wives Under the Sea* by Julia Armfield
*What Strange Paradise* by Omar El Akkad
*A Place for Us* by Fatima Farheen Mirza
*Small Things Like These* by Claire Keegan
*Sorrow and Bliss* by Meg Mason
*Enter Ghost* by Isabella Hammad
Never let me go
Trespasses, Louise Kennedy. Irish, during The Troubles, a secret love affair between a young Catholic woman and a somewhat older Protestant man. Gorgeous writing.
Any Creatures by Claire Chambers. British. Gentle novel about a man who had been kept isolated in a house for years, and his emergence into the world.
This is Happiness by Niall Williams
Piranesi
The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
I’d say “The solstice” and maybe “Foster”
The Old Man and the Sea
Here are a few beautifully written novels with that quiet, tender sadness you’re drawn to—where atmosphere and emotion linger long after the last page:
* [Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton](https://publicdomainlibrary.org/en/ebooks/ethan-frome?utm_source=reddit.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=suggestmeabook) – A haunting, snow-covered tale of longing, duty, and missed chances. Subtle in tone, devastating in impact;
* [The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton](https://publicdomainlibrary.org/en/ebooks/the-house-of-mirth?utm_source=reddit.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=suggestmeabook) – Elegant prose, social constraints, and a deep emotional current running beneath every scene;
* [Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy](https://publicdomainlibrary.org/en/books/anna-karenina?utm_source=reddit.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=suggestmeabook) – Grand in scope but deeply intimate in its emotional storytelling, this novel captures the melancholy beauty of love, family, and loss.
Click on the book title to download the free ebook.
I felt this way about Capital of Dreams, by Heather O’Neill.
Please read What I Loved by Siri Husvedt!!!
Gilead
A Place for Us
Lie With Me
Trust
Mothering Sunday
Crossing to Safety
Stoner
Bel Canto
I feel this way with Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents although they might be a little too depressing. There is lots of beautiful prose though.
The Remains of the Day
My goodness, your favorites are my favorites! Try:
-Wolf Hall trilogy
-Piranesi
-dark hard-boiled crime but I think Dennis Lehane is an incredible atmospheric writer – Mystic River, even if you saw the movie
-Klara and the Sun
-Pachinko
-the Road – this one is really, really dark and might wreck you but it’s also exciting and contemplative and wonderful. I re-read it. I loathed A Little Life, but there’s no victims in The Road, just people in an unbearable situation. It’s a book that really sticks with you.
-The Book Thief, even if you saw the movie. The book is so beautifully written and imaginative.