Desperately seeking a new read...

[Midge25]

I read a lot and love making suggestions to other people, but am in need of inspiration myself this time! Am looking for fiction - don't really have a favourite genre altho not keen on fantasy/romance stuff. The books below have been loved, quite literally, to death by me - think broken spines/pages falling out. What else would I like?

Donna Tartt - The Secret History
Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall / Bring Up The Bodies
Anything by Margaret Atwood, Lesley Glaister and Helen Dunmore
Crimson Petal And The White - Michel Faber
An Instance of the Fingerpost - Iain Pears

Going from the last two on your list, have a look at Stone's Fall, also by Iain Pears or The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox.

'The Sealed Letter' by Emma Donoghue - about a scandalous divorce in Victorian England. Would suit v well if you like Margaret Atwood and Crimson Petal

The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco

The Shardlake series - C J Sansom - Tudor detective novels, v good

Thank you! Such speedy responses! Stone's Fall & The Meaning of Night look good - they're on my shopping list! visually - loved Room and tried the Sealed Letter recently bu didn't enjoy it at all! Gutted as Room was so good. Have tried Eco 3 times and just can't get into it But Shardlake sounds interesting ....

Agh I was convinced you'd love The Sealed Letter - I couldn't put it down.
If you like Shardlake, S J Parris's series ('Heresy' is one) and Rory Clements's John Shakespeare series are similar.

The Observations by Jane Harris is excellent. I've recommended it to several friends who've all loved the book.

Am I right that you like long, involving books? If you enjoy novels set in other cultures, also try A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, and A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman (like A Thousand Splendid Suns but better!)

How about Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, Still Missing by Beth Gutcheon, The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, The Marriage Plot - Jeffrey Eugenides,
My Dear I Wanted To Tell You - Louisa Young.

Have you also read The Little Friend by Donna Tartt? I've read and enjoyed both her novels.

Monkey's uncle- JennyDiski
Swamplandia!- Karen Russell (her short stories are divine too)

earlier novels by Kate Atkinson- not her detective ones, my fave is 'Human Croquet'

If you have a kindle The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst is only 20p at the moment :)

Kate Atkinson's pre-detective novels are good, although I wasn't quite so keen on Human Croquet. My favourite is Behind the Scenes at the Museum.

Try State of Wonder by Ann Patchett - I like the same reads as you and loved this book.

Also Property, and Mary Reilly by Valerie Martin.

Have you read Crow Lake by Mary Lawson? Also Marilynne Robinson writes some beautiful books.

SJ Parris not a patch on Shardlake - and she has ridiculous author photographs too! :)

Have you read any Wilkie Collins?

The American Boy by Andrew Taylor (iirc) is great - his others nowhere near as good.

Arianna Franklin writes reasonably decent historical who-dunnits in the Shardlake line - Mistress Of the Art Of Death is the first.

Frank Tallis' series about Vienna, Freud etc - the first couple are great but then they get very samey.

I've enjoyed the Oscar Wilde mysteries - they are tat but great fun!

I've just finished reading This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson as recommended on this thread and it was absolutely superb. Now badgering DH to read it (once he's finished 1984) so I have someone to discuss it with

Speaking of which, you might enjoy George Orwell (1984, Animal Farm, Down and Out in Paris & London) if you haven't already come across his novels/memoirs.

Ooh, just popped back and lots of interesting suggestions ... Am off to Amazon! Thank you all.

You could try "Always Coming Home" by Ursula K le Guin if you enjoy Margaret Atwood's work. Or some of Marian Zimmer Bradley's stand alone books too, they aren't all sci-fi/fantasy.

I loved Stone's Fall too, we had it for our Book Group but lots didn't even bother to finish the book. Also loved The Rules of Civility. How about the Woman in Black?

This Thing Of Darknes is superb and I've been recommending it on here to anybody who'll listen for ages! Read that and forget every other suggestion.

I was disappointed by Stone's Fall because of the v obvious ending - it seemed like much of the book had been contrived to get there.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters.
Have you tried Charles Palliser - The Quincunx or The Unburied