A great book with not much in the way of romance?

[Wibblytummy]

I was hoping that someone may have a recommendation for a great book that really doesn't involve much in the way of romance or a grand love story please?

A dear friend of mine is struggling through a very tricky break up after many years together and she is particularly struggling in the quiet evenings alone. She loves to read and I was really hoping that perhaps a few can't put down books might help the sleepless nights etc! But sadly my reading experiences this last year has seen me rather limited to Julia Donaldson so I think I am a bit out of the loop.

Any help/recommendations would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Summertime by Vanessa Lafaye - seems to be getting good crits generally? www.tripfiction.com/novel-set-in-the-florida-keys-storm-coming/ minimal couple relationships

Robinson Crusoe

The secret mandarin was good and not a romp fest! If she likes ghost stories then Barbara Erskine is fab, my favourite is Whispers in the Sand, based on a woman traveling on a Nile cruise.

Barbara kingsolver 's poisonwood bible - nice long book to immerse herself in, and although one character marries close to the end, it's much more the life of the family before that point. Any Kate Atkinson. A good old cosy detective series? Elizabeth is missing. Poppy Shakespeare.

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
This Thing Of Darkness - Harry Thompson

Moby Dick is one of my favourite books and there's no romance at all (in fact I'm not sure there are even any women at all, thinking about it!) If she wants something lighter/more chick-litty then I really like The Flight of Lucy Spoon - can't remember if there's any romance but if so it's definitely not a central part of the plot.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett is also great - very easy reading, very funny, a fantasy book for someone who's not normally into fantasy. It actually got me through and ultimately out of a difficult period too, so I'd definitely recommend that one. (Unless she's very religious maybe )

Does she like sci-fi? If so, Ancillary Justice ticked the 'can't put it down' box for me - and there's no romance of any sort.

Anything by Maggie O'Farrell, I especially enjoyed Instructions for a Heatwave :)

Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd is a really good read. There is a broken relationship that propels the narrator to where she is which is tragic but so much more to it than that.