Can anyone recommend a book or writer not mentioned recenty in Adult Fiction?

[mmack]

I'm an avid reader and I've read a lot of the books that have been recommended on threads here recently. I've read most of the old and modern classics too. Would anyone like to recommend something obscure or forgotten? Any genre.

Have you read A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing? I feel like I should read it but am worried I'll find it very heavy going.

I agree about Brooklyn too - would be dismissed as chicklit if an unknown woman had written it

Though I liked the turnaround for Eilis, that being the rebel and following her heart led her to the conventional small-town sensible path.

I've just started the Merrily Watkins series by Phil Rickman, supernatural crime similar to the Connolly books above. Set in a small English backwater though. Very entertaining

Thanks mmack, I will check those out, as well as The Way the Crow Flies. Looking forward to discovering some new authors - it's easy to get stuck in a rut with reading so all these suggestions are wonderful.

I've been watching this thread and taking notes - My own suggestions include:
Willy Vlautin- 'Lean on Pete'
Chaim Potok 'My Name is Asher Lev'
Willa Cather 'My Antonia'
I also love Wallace Stegner, he was mentioned earlier. Angle of Repose is a beautiful novel, I should read it again. At the moment I'm reading 'Winter in Madrid' by Sansom. Its good but I'm not fully invested just yet. Maybe it's the heat..

Kaxter, Willy Vlautin looks very promising. It's a double recommendation for me because I love country music so I must also investigate his band on youtube.

Also, if you like My Antonia I would highly recommend The Personal History of Rachel Dupree by Ann Weisgarber. It's about a black family who settle in the South Dakota Badlands in the early 1900's.

I read Rachel Dupree a few months ago and while I really enjoyed it I was a little disappointed, I thought it ended very quickly - although it was the ending I wanted!

Willy Vlautin writes very sparsely and simply, and a couple of his books come with a kind of soundtrack on CD. I've heard him interviewed on the radio and he sounds like a good honest soul.
I'm really enjoying all the suggestions on this thread. Holiday coming up and I have a good list of books to choose from to bring with me now.