Can somebody recommend me an epic?

[WhistlersandJugglers]

Hi, I'm in Ireland where the libraries have been closed all year and there is no sign of them opening any time soon. I want to buy a few long books to keep me going. I like family saga type books like Brick Lane, The Poisonwood Bible, Cutting for Stone, A Suitable Boy, Half of a Yellow Sun. If anybody has a suggestion I'd really appreciate it.

The Nightingale - fabulous. And I am Pilgrim. Both completely different!

I can recommend the Glassblower Trilogy by Petra Durst-Benning.

I've saved this thread as it's included so many books I live that I'm sure I can find more to read!

@Sooverthemill

I've saved this thread as it's included so many books I live that I'm sure I can find more to read!

That was smart. I bought the books. (2 trilogies and a quartet so far...) 😂

@Disfordarkchocolate

A Dance to the Music of Time.

I came on to say this too!

I discovered Penny Vincenzi, her Spoils of Time trilogy is very enjoyable.
I had always rejected her books, I suddenly have about 15 books to read and enjoy!

My brilliant friend quartet by Elena Ferrente. Best thing I ever read

Came here to say this

I loved The Bean Trees (then Pigs In Heaven) are Barbara Kingsolver's early saga type novels. A teenager breaks away from her stifling hometown and a stranger presses a baby on her..

Look into Penny Vincenzi's novels. The are family saga books and are a brilliant read.

The Elena Ferrante trilogy, which is actually four books I think.

@Springfern

My brilliant friend quartet by Elena Ferrente. Best thing I ever read

Came here to say this

Ah, cross posted! There's a TV series as well.

I second the Cynthia Harrod eagles 'Morland dynasty books'
Claire Rayner wrote a series of books about a doctor and a thespian family 'the performers' series set in the Victorian era

Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

The Forsythe Saga

The Raj Quartet by Paul Scott

The God of Small Things

Sophie's Choice

Midnight's Children

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseni (author of the Kite Runner).

The Pillars of The Earth by Ken Follet, the first in a trilogy. He has recently published a prequel, The Evening and the Morning which I’m intending to get asap.

@Lobsterquadrille2

East of Eden - Steinbeck

THIS if you want an epic family saga (and one of the nastiest female characters ever).

What a fantastic selection of books. Came on to suggest A Fine Balance but the OP has already read that one.

I don’t think anyone has mentioned All The Light We Cannot See.

The Mandibles by Lionel shriver is a fabulous family epic

Also how could I forget - the thorn birds

I read East of Eden several times when I was teenager. It might be the reason I love a good epic.
Sophie's Choice is another one that I'll never forget.

Interesting that a few posters are recommending Penny Vincenzi. I haven't read anything by her but often see her books in second hand book shops so will buy one after lockdown.
A Dance to the Music of Time is another one that I've always meant to read, mainly because it's such a beautiful name for a book.

I adore A Dance to the Music of Time. 12 novels, published from 1951 to 1976 (ish), covering the period from just before WW1 to the mid 70s. Huge cast of characters, many appearing in several volumes. When I first read the series, not far off 40 years ago (gulp), I enjoyed the first one, enough to go on and read the second one, which I also enjoyed, but I got really hooked when I started book 3. The ones set during WW2 are absolutely marvellous (7, 8 and 9 from memory).

If you want a good long involving read that isn't a series, you couldn't do better than South Riding by Winifred Holtby, one of my all-time favourite novels.

Ooh, I hadn't heard of South Riding but I love books set in that era. Definitely on the to-be-read list. Thanks.

Good TV adaptation of that a few years ago with Anna Maxwell Martin. Brilliant one from the early 70s with Dorothy Tutin too.

I second lots of these especially The Raj Quartet (dramatised as The Jewel In the Crown) and the Barsetshire and Palliser novels by Trollope.

I'd also recommend the 'Saga of the Century' trilogy by Rebecca West (The Fountain Overflows, This Real Night and Cousin Rosamund) and The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell.