Books for recently widowed best friend

[MurtlapGoldstein]

My best friend's husband died suddenly a few months ago. We live far apart so ive been sending her a book every week. She's a really big reader and in need of a lot of escapism at the moment. She reads all sorts but is a man Booker prize type I suppose. Books that are set in different countries. Sad books. Things like The Kite Runner.

I'm running out of ideas. Have sent her all my favourites and some others. Any suggestions?

Guessing she's read Victoria Hislop's books?

Cutting for stone by Abraham Verghese.

The Wonder by Emma Donaghue - by the writer of The Room set in Ireland about a girl who claims to survive without food and a Nightingale trained nurse who comes to look after her

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain - fictionalised account of Hemmingways first wife and their life in Paris

Both of these are easy enough to read and set in different times and places so quite escapist.

Hope that helps

Station Eleven is very good - it's a post apocalyptic one but not too dark or depressing, more about people and their lives in the 'new world'.

Shantaram is another of my faves - set in India and very evocative of the sights and smells of the country. The language is quite poetic and beautiful. It's huge too so would keep her going for a while.

I gave her Station Eleven quilliam ! It's my favourite book of all time. She absolutely loved it. That kind of thing is ideal.

What a lovely idea.
Can't think of a recommendation at the moment but the Book People quite often do sets of Booker nominated titles, or similar. Might be worth having a look.

I meant to say, sorry for your friend's loss. And also, what a good friend you are.

Would she consider non-fiction? On the theme of nature perhaps? I enjoyedThe Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd

Back onto fiction, the following is quite poetic/uplifting and set in Hawaii...

The Salt Water Buddha by Jaimal Yogis (I enjoyed this and am not a surfer or even sea lover).

Ahhh, glad you like it too

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I plan to keep it up for a long long time so will need loads of suggestions! Reading is such a tonic. It's saved me from despair lots of times!

Dorothy Whipple or Molly Panter Downes.
'The truth about sheep and goats' by Joanna Cannon.

Louis de Berniere' s South American trilogy (a pastiche of magical realism books)
Augustus by John Edward Williams
All absorbing and well written fiction with emotion (sad or happy) and a sense of place or time (although not all different countries). I hope some are ones you haven't done.
And please will you be my friend too. That's a lovely idea.

Oh, and a bit left field but brilliant to read and bizarrely escapist -
A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome by Alberto Angela. My favourite book of the year against all odds as I don't do non fiction ... Its got short chapters and a great structure and just sucks you in like a novel

Don't let's go to the dogs tonight- Alexandra fuller. Amazing, set in Rhodesia, white settler family befallen by tragedy. It's autobiographical but the author is recounting her childhood and is able to inspire compassion for her parents without shirking away from the fact they were really quite racist.

Americanah and half of a yellow son, both by chimamanda ngoze adiche. V different- first about the Nigerian ex pat experience set in current times, second the Biafran war. Both engrossing and moving and her two best.