Looking for a substantial literary novel to get lost in

But not if you don’t want something ‘unrelentingly grim’ which this is!

Any Human Heart by William Boyd

Birnham Wood was one of the worst books I ever read because of the ending. Annoyingly I loved it until the last 3 pages!

Another vote for The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. (Birnam Wood is a pretty good read too.)

Maybe not as literary, but Kate Mosse's Languedoc Trilogy (Labyrinth, Sepulchre & Citadel) are some of my all-time favourites. Doesn't hurt that they are set in my favorite French region. Her Joubert family trilogy is also a good read, but the Languedoc ones are really a cut above.

Kate Atkinson & Maggie O'Farrell have some great reads too.

If you're interested in more historical novels from ancient Greece, I love love loved Madeleine Miller's Song of Achilles, and also find Jennifer Saint & Natalie Haynes' novels based on women in classical literature are excellent.

Edited to add:
Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy was one of those books where I genuinely felt bereft to finish it. It would keep you going for a few days. I read it in three days on a Greek beach holiday, which greatly interested/amused folk in our hotel, who couldn't quite believe I'd lugged such a weighty tome in my suitcase. (My fiance at the time was keen to follow up with the fact it was one of six I'd brought, and weighted down his case too!)

I reread Dracula and Rebecca recently which are fantastic.
other old faves - I Claudius ( Robert graves)

more modern - I’d echo David Mitchell.Barbara Kingsolver

To Kill a Mockingbird
The Time Travellers Wife
We Must Talk About Kevin.

The Goldfinch is wonderful - immersive, intelligent and hard to put down.

Some excellent recommendations on this thread!

This is a great shout 🙂

If you like Hilary Mantel's writing, have a look at A Place of Greater Safety, which is about the French Revolution. It's great.

If you're looking for a more 'classic' novel, then Vanity Fair by Thackeray is really excellent. The main character, Becky Sharpe, is truly a heroine for our times.

Old Filth series by Jane Gardam
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Young Mungo
and as other have said, a little life, a fine balance, the goldfinch,

Agreed!
Also, another vote for C J Sandome's Shardlake series. Fantastic books.

I think I'm the only person who didn't enjoy The Goldfinch.

Colm Toibin- Brooklyn, The Master, The Story if the Night, Testament of Mary
Dickens- A Take of Two Cities, David Copperfield
Huxley - Brave New Works
Orwell - 1984
Fitzgerald- Great Gatsby
Collins - The Moonstone, The Woman in White
Newer novels with a fresh take on older ones: Introducing Mrs, Collins, Longbourn, The Other Bennet Sister, James,
Andrew Greig- That Summer

I can't stop! Haha

Wolf Hall trilogy, Demon Copperhead

A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

And I second many of the writers recommended here... Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabelle Allende, Donna Tartt, Pat Barker, Michel Faber, Jeffrey Eugenides.

I also like Dominion by C.J.Sansom

What about "Capital" by John Lanchester?

Most things by Margaret Atwood, esp. The Penelopiad, Handmaid's Tale, Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake trilogy, and Alias Grace.
Pretty much anything by Rose Tremain, Kate Atkinson, Rohinton Mistry, Hilary Mantel, Barbara Kingsolver (esp. La Lacuna and The Poisonwood Bible), Natalie Haynes...
Also: A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
And: A traveller at the Gates of Wisdom by John Boyne.
Prophet Song (David Lynch?) and The Wall by John Lancaster...
Ah, so many...

What a wonderful thread!

Another vote for Wild Swans, The Luminaries, The Goldfinch, Possession and Moby Dick.

More suggestions:
AS Byatt - The Children's Book, Ragnarok (retelling of the Norse myths)
Doris Lessing - The Golden Notebook, the Martha Quest series
Annie Proulx - Barkskins
Elizabeth Gilbert - The Signature of All Things
Neal Stephenson - Anathem (might be too sci fi for you)
David Mitchell - Ghostwritten
Margaret Atwood - The Blind Assassin

Seconding "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" and 0livia Manning's Balkan and Levant trilohgies

A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth - sweeping family saga/romance set in India. So beautifully written and a really weighty tome!

The Heart’s Invisible Fury - John Boyne - I remember reading this at 3am in a hotel room as I just couldn’t stop reading it!

Longbourn - Jo Baker (I think) - Pride and Prejudice from the servants’ perspective. Surprisingly gritty - Napoleonic Wars

The Poldark series - lighter but really gripping. I read all 12 in a summer! So much better than the TV series.

4321 by Paul Auster
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Or if you really want to push yourself, Infinite Jest

I haven't RTFT so apologies if this has already been mentioned but The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese was wonderful.

I'm also halfway through The Ministry For The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, which is totally gripping and also alarming.

Half a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Such brilliant writing, emotional, great story, little know history (here in the UK)

If you haven't read Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, I HIGHLY recommend.

The Dutch House
A Gentleman in Moscow

Both are fabulous

The Hearts invisible Furies - John Boyne