I've got a secret santa who is a big reader. But she doesn't like sad things. Her mother died recently and she is fairly preoccupied with her own mortality and leaving her daughter without a mother. DICKENS IS A NO NO THEN.
Basically I want something that's adult and easy to read, but not too distressing and not chic lit. She enjoys literary classics and literary fiction. Any ideas? everything seems to be missing children and murder on the best seller lists.