I’m hungover on a gloomy day and want to read about a person or family going through maybe a little gloom and misfortune? Or just an average life? And perhaps time passes and we see people grow up and die?
I’ve really liked “She’s Come Undone” by Wally Lamb, and “The Amateur Marriage” by Anne Tyler when thinking of similar books. “Middlesex” is another good one.
Thank you!
by luckyblackkat
13 Comments
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
Rain of Gold by Victor Villasenor . I actually met the author at a book signing and he was the nicest man ever. It’s the true story of an undocumented immigrants from Mexico and the American dream . It’s a beautiful story and one of my favorites.
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler is also good and fits your prompt well, but I’d also like to suggest Real Americans by Rachel Khong.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum – fantastic multigenerational story!
Hey OP, if you’re in the mood for that hazy, introspective gloom on a hangover day, [*How to Break a Girl*](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/241018866-how-to-break-a-girl) by Amanda Sung nailed it for me: a poignant dive into a family’s quiet misfortunes and the slow unraveling of ordinary lives marked by betrayal, unrequited love, and the weight of cultural expectations.
You watch the characters grow (and break) over time, facing those inevitable losses and small heartaches that feel so achingly real, much like the raw emotional arcs in *She’s Come Undone* or the everyday marital drifts in *The Amateur Marriage*. If you do give it a try, please let me know, so we can discuss!
PRODIGIES by Angelica Gorodischer is about the lives of the women who pass through a small German boarding house in the 19th century.
Have you read A Little Life? It’s probably the most recommended book on Reddit (alongside Lonesome Dove – which is also recommend wholeheartedly but doesn’t fit your brief – and Demon Copperhead) but it does tick your boxes and it was equally lovely and awful.
**The Good Earth** (Pearl Buck)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, if you haven’t read that classic yet.
The Hundred Year House by Rebecca Makkai.
Master of the Game – Sidney Sheldon
Fall On Your Knees