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Original poster

To ask for recommendations for a really long amazing book?

222 replies

theotherfossilsister · 27/04/2022 19:52

Something I can immerse myself in. I like historical fiction (Wolf Hall and BUTB, The Crimson Petal and the White, All the Light We Cannot See) but open to anything big and brilliant and immersive.

Oh I also love The Cazalet Chronicles which were recommended on here, and really enjoyed I Claudius despite thinking it would be dry (it wasn't dry.)

Any recommendations please?

OP posts:
ElaineMarieBenes · 28/04/2022 09:48

If you want more recent history, then I would recommend ‘A Brief History of 7 killings’ by Marlon James. I assumed a lot of the details (including the end) were fictitious - unbelievably they aren’t!

chaiformeplease · 28/04/2022 09:20

Manda Scott’s Boudica series…four deep books, in both senses, that I read every couple of years. Rich, satisfying and beautifully written.

LoveItOrListIt · 28/04/2022 05:38

HighInPolyunsaturates · 27/04/2022 20:04

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet.

The Cicero Trilogy by Robert Harris.

Both long, immersive, historical and in my view, brilliant.

Agree with this!

also all of Sharon Kaye Penman books…all very chunky and fascinating historical fiction…in particular Sunne in Splendour

EarringsandLipstick · 28/04/2022 05:34

3toGetReady · 28/04/2022 03:44

Where the Crawdads Sing

Not a long read tho?

ruthieness · 28/04/2022 04:05

Hawaii by James Michener
is long and historical but a great read! v dramatic!

He also wrote “tales of the South Pacific” which was the basis for the story in the musical

3toGetReady · 28/04/2022 03:44

Where the Crawdads Sing

Molly70 · 28/04/2022 02:23

The Count of Monte Cristo or Pillars of the Earth

ABookWyrm · 28/04/2022 01:44

The Eighth Life (For Brilka) by Nino Haratischvili is an amazing and very long book. It's set in Georgia and follows a family from the beginning of the twentieth century to the early twenty first century.

TinaYouFatLard · 27/04/2022 23:28

Not sure if it exactly fits the brief but I loved Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles. Circe was really enjoyable too.

Please listen to me - do not ever read A Little Life. You are right to be scared. It’s the worst book ever.

CorsicaDreaming · 27/04/2022 23:19

I loved The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffernegger

Pegasaurus · 27/04/2022 23:16

C J Sansom's Shardlake books, set in the Tudor era, the first is Dissolution

nettybetty · 27/04/2022 23:11

HemanOrSheRa · 27/04/2022 21:21

I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb.

Great book.
Also “Empire Falls” by Richard Russo

TickleMyFancies · 27/04/2022 23:08

Ok sorry not rtwt but the stand Stephen king and cloud street Tim winton.

Christodora.

Wally lamb

wild swans

i am pilgrim

morgans run

roots

gone with the wind

grapes of wrath

aleebaleebee · 27/04/2022 23:02

I've never read Lanark by Alasdair Gray but it's long and highly rated! It's on my to read list.

Carolwithane · 27/04/2022 22:38

The Forsyth Saga - a trilogy

The witching hour by Anne Rice teeny bit slow to start with but fabulous

FiddleFigs · 27/04/2022 22:34

The Winds of War by Herman Wouk. It’s 1,000+ pages long and completely immersive. I missed it so much when I finished it. Luckily, there’s a sequel (War and Remembrance, also 1,000+ pages). It’s set before/during WW2, following a US family in Europe.

Also highly recommend The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning. Again set before/during WW2, in Europe.

I love all the books you mentioned in your OP, so think we have similar tastes.

suckingonchillidogs · 27/04/2022 22:32

Yeah, don't read A Little Life if you want an enjoyable read. It's like reading about someone being repeatedly hit on the head with an anvil, then being run over by a juggernaut only to be treated in hospital by Hannibal Lector.

Hohofortherobbers · 27/04/2022 22:31

Helen of Troy by Margaret George

AuntieDolly · 27/04/2022 22:29

Iain Pears "An instance of the finger post". Told from 3 different viewpoints, murder & the Civil War. Great book

Ihaveaskedyouthrice · 27/04/2022 22:20

The love songs of W.E.B Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers. It's a big book but just brilliant.

aleebaleebee · 27/04/2022 22:18

I love the author John Irving. A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my favourites.

Loved the Book Thief by Markus Zuzak.

And I've also enjoyed quite a few Jodi Picoult books, she's amazing at creating characters and scenarios that you get totally caught up with.

Also really liked Eleanor Oliphant is totally fine, but that's maybe not a long book!

LeniGray · 27/04/2022 22:16

The Kingdoms - Natasha Pulley’s latest. I really enjoyed it, Napoleonic Wars with a twist, beautiful writing. I read it in under a week, which is quick for me!

SockFluffInTheBath · 27/04/2022 22:14

theotherfossilsister · 27/04/2022 20:06

Ah these all sound amazing. I love Cloud Atlas @MissHavershamReturns , one of my favourites along with The Bone Clocks and Black Swan Green. I'm a bit scared of A Little Life as I've been told it's devastating.

Once Upon a River sounds gorgeous @applecatchers36

Be scared of A Little Life, it’s the most awful book I’ve ever read, just leave it be. I burned mine so my DC didn’t read it. One of the main characters is sexually abused from childhood and some of the scenes are described in far too much detail.

Daffodils8 · 27/04/2022 22:09

I agree with Once Upon a River - it's gorgeous!

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon is a long, immersive fantasy - the description from GoodReads probably explains it better than I could:

^A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep^

I really enjoyed it.

Hope you find something you love!

Original poster
theotherfossilsister · 27/04/2022 22:09

Ah this is amazing. I literally downloaded and read a sample of one recommendation, Once Upon a River (now ordered for my holiday) and came back to all these suggestions

Thank you so much. I will revisit this thread tomorrow and read through again properly.

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