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Original poster

Books without missing children or cupcakes?

58 replies

Frombothsidesnow · 03/06/2018 20:48

Since having children I struggle to read books about dead or missing infants. Actually sad things full stop, which is immensely frustrating as good books involve strong emotions. But I also don't want to read dross about women finding love in the country over cupcakes. Please help me find some decent literature that will make my brain work but doesn't involve dead babies?

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argumentativefeminist · 22/06/2018 21:43

If you enjoy non fiction and autobiography, How Not to Be a Boy by Robert Webb is amazingly funny and honest and thought provoking, especially if you have sons. There is grief, and I should warn about suicide mentions, but it's clearly identified which chapter this is in so you can skip it, and the grief side of things isn't dwelled upon - there are a few deeply touching moments but nothing to make you sob and sob, though I'd leave it for another time if grief for parents is a sore spot.

bellinisurge · 22/06/2018 21:33

Sara Paretsky.

PersisFord · 17/06/2018 10:33

I’m quite pleased to see other people struggling with miserable books after having kids. I recently really enjoyed the Temeraire books and The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter. Nicely written (in general....) and no lasting sadness.

vampirethriller · 05/06/2018 15:30

Michel Faber is great and every book is very different. Absolutely no cupcakes!

MidLifeCrisis2017 · 05/06/2018 15:28

I'd second @gerbo 's recommendation for John Boyne, great writing and you find yourself reading it in an Irish accent.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and The Rosie Project are lovely.

elkiedee · 05/06/2018 15:22

Looking forward to the new Kate Atkinson too (publication date 6 September). Anne Tyler also has a new book coming in July.

Now I'm remambering all the books I need to get to soon!

Original poster
Frombothsidesnow · 04/06/2018 23:01

Lots of lovely recommendations, thank you! Forgive me as I'm on my phone and can't keep flicking back but there were interesting-looking lists to follow up.

I have read Vinegar Girl (read those two out of order) and quite liked it. Not read the Tempest one but thought the P&P one by Curtis Sittenfield was OK.

Jennifer Weiner I love, and have read them all, Little Earthquakes long before such things got to me.

I've read a couple of Helen Dunmore and one Patrick Gale so could investigate more. Also more Stella Gibbons!

I once wrote an extremely erudite mini-dissertation in English comparing Right Ho, Jeeves, Wilt and Diary of a Nobody. Quite what my English teacher made of my theories on how often Bertie Wooster visited prostitutes I'll never know.

I forgot to mention that I have an enormous love of Kate Atkinson, and Marian Keyes has just said there'll be a new Atkinson soon, which makes me happy.

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ChessieFL · 04/06/2018 20:43

What about PG Wodehouse, or Tom Sharpe?

Jammycustard · 04/06/2018 16:51

Also re cupcakes; see vintage teacups.

Jammycustard · 04/06/2018 16:48

I agree with Versions of us by Laura Barnett. I just read her latest book too, Greatest Hits and enjoyed that.
Us by David Nichols.
Moving On by Jenny Eclair.
Essex Serpent.
Midwinter Break by Bernard McLaverty.
I’ve just started Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, no sign of peril yet.

It’s true, a lot of novels contain missing children or people being murdered etc. I’m really not keen.

mostdays · 04/06/2018 16:40

I just finished Hugh Howey's Wool trilogy. Definitely no cupcakes there! (There is definite sadness in all three of the books, but I found it bearable- and since having children I've experienced exactly what you describe, a real aversion to reading about awful things happening to children and a general preference not to be dragged through the emotional wringer when reading.)

If it's funny you're after I always recommend Christopher Brookmyre. One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night in particular is brilliant.

Naomi Alderman's The Liar's Gospel is so, so good- I liked it far more then The Power. I also enjoyed Disobedience by her but that is centred around a bereavement so maybe not one to recommend to you in this thread.

I always thought Jennifer Weiner did good chick lit. (Avoid Little Earthquakes though, it's a heartbreaking book and the loss in it hurts me even to remember.)

elkiedee · 04/06/2018 16:27

Have you read any Patrick Gale? I loved A Place Called Winter and enjoyed Notes from an Exhibition.

How about Helen Dunmore? Not Mourning Ruby perhaps, but House of Orphans is good (and not really about the orphanage or children despite the title!). And Zennor in Darkness. (I'm bearing in mind your initial proviso here).

Recently enjoyed fiction

Elif Batuman, The Idiot
Yewande Omotoso, The Woman Next Door
Aminatta Forna, Happiness
Octavia Butler, Kindred
Diana Tutton, Guard Your Daughters
Barbara Kingsolver, Flight Behaviour & Prodigal Summer

I think Anne Tyler's most recent novel is actually Vinegar Girl - a Hogarth Shakespeare retelling - I enjoyed it but I know that lots of people haven't liked it. The best of the Hogarth Shakespeares so far that I've read is Margaret Atwood's Hag-Seed (a take on the Tempest).

Have you read the recent reprints of Stella Gibbons' other novels? I loved Nightingale Wood.

FeralBeryl · 04/06/2018 12:41

Can highly recommend the Patrick Melrose series by Edward St Aubyn. Very moving and funny. It's currently showing as a tv series on sky and they've captured the books amazingly.

Original poster
Frombothsidesnow · 04/06/2018 12:22

CCC is a great favourite of mine and the reason I've read so little DH Lawrence! I do have the Jodi Taylor series on my Kindle so that's a good prompt to get stuck in.

A Spool of Blue Thread is Anne Tyler's latest.

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ButEmilylovedhim · 04/06/2018 12:16

Hi OP! We sound similar in our tastes! Have you read Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons? Very funny and so beautifully written.

I'm also enjoying The Chronicles of St Mary's by Jodi Taylor. There are 8 or 9 books I think so a lot to get your teeth in to. It's humorous again with some history thrown in. I read about them on Mumsnet and a very good find for me as I like history but it's missing a bit from my education and these books send me off in new directions. Happy reading!

StealthPolarBear · 04/06/2018 12:03

Thank you. Not heard of any of those so will have a look

Original poster
Frombothsidesnow · 04/06/2018 11:54

SGB I'm trying to think of recent successes.

I loved All the Light We Cannot See, Versions of Us, Miss You, Wait for Me, A Spool of Blue Thread, The Sellout. Those come to mind. A few of them were similar - relationships over time/time twisted sort of thing.

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Original poster
Frombothsidesnow · 04/06/2018 11:34

Oh, that sounds interesting, thanks. I know King is a great writer. I have read Misery.

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StealthPolarBear · 04/06/2018 11:34

Yes agree. Val mcdermid does have some grief and loss but I can cope with that level.
Ehat else have you read? I am looking for summer reading!

Original poster
Frombothsidesnow · 04/06/2018 11:33

OK, I'll give them a look. I don't mind a procedural either.

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PotteringAlong · 04/06/2018 11:33

Have you read 11.22.63 by Stephen king? Not a horror but historical fiction, about a time traveller and the death of JFK. It’s well worth a read.

Original poster
Frombothsidesnow · 04/06/2018 11:32

I guess it feels like lots of 'mainstream' literature at the moment has a grief and loss theme. I don't mind appropriate grief within the context of a wider story but life has enough sadness in it for me right now, and I'm quite anxious, and I would like to be taken out of it all.

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StealthPolarBear · 04/06/2018 11:31

Sorry I know you didn't but I've seen reviews etc describing them as police procedurals. That to me sounds like eg val mcdermid (who I also love) but a very different style.

StealthPolarBear · 04/06/2018 11:30

It is yes but I think it's unfair to describe it as procedural. Her writing is imo really good, I got completely immersed in in the woods.

Original poster
Frombothsidesnow · 04/06/2018 11:27

I've read all of Jane Fallon and I agree.

Tana French is detective fiction, is that right?

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