To ask for recommendations for a really long amazing book?

[theotherfossilsister]

Something I can immerse myself in. I like historical fiction (Wolf Hall and BUTB, The Crimson Petal and the White, All the Light We Cannot See) but open to anything big and brilliant and immersive.

Oh I also love The Cazalet Chronicles which were recommended on here, and really enjoyed I Claudius despite thinking it would be dry (it wasn't dry.)

Any recommendations please?

Seconding Great Circle. Another one I enjoyed is The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert, both have very strong female lead characters.

I forgot London!

Its my home town, I dont know how I managed that

Brilliant books

pp who did possession I totally agree

RF Delderfield - Horseman Riding By trilogy / Swann family series / The Avenue series

Dorothy Dunnett - Lymond Chronicles then House of Niccolo (in that order)

Unknown Soldiers by Vainö Linna. Its the story of a group of Finnish soldiers fighting the Russians during the 2nd World War.

You would love The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips

Both have already been mentioned, but Possession and The Goldfinch.

Much more lightweight than pp's suggestions, but the Sisters series by Lucinda Riley.

They’re not long but there’s lots of them Cadfael

I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb.

I was also going to say The Poisonwood Bible - it definitely fits your criteria - and would add a vote for The Goldfinch.

I can't understand the love for A Little Life - it was just too bleak for me.

I have been reading this thread shaking my head at other recommendations, just not my bag at all, but YES to this. A favourite and few people (that I know) know about it.

Just because everyone seems to love this - I hate (and use the word advisedly) this book. One of the very few books I truly disliked.
I said this before on MN & one person agreed with me! Was delighted to find my kindred spirit!
(I really like BK's non-fiction, just not fiction).

It's already been mentioned but if you like the Cazalet quartet then you will probably like The Forsythe Saga too.

Also anything by Elizabeth Taylor? Elizabeth Jane Howard admired her writing very much and was influenced by her so similar writing styles.

Was coming on to suggest this, loved Sarum

Middlemarch
honestly, so much in it that stays with you

Yes also to Possession & The Secret History.

Also, I love Wally Lamb, I know this much is true was mentioned but also She's Come Undone. Amazing writer. I struggled a bit with his latest (or maybe there's something since) we are water - couldn't quite get into it.

In terms of long, epic reads I used to love James Clavell when I was a teenager, Shogun being the longest.

Did anyone mention A Tree Grows in Brooklyn? Lovely book.

I also loved A suitable Boy, Middlemarch, War and Peace, and Anna Karenina - you get swept up in and absorbed by the vast casts of characters and the events and atmosphere of the times.

i am currently reading The Way We Live Now by Antony Trollope and it’s vast and fresh and engaging. His characters are all very relatable even to a 21st century reader.

Oh She's Come Undone is so good. I love Delores! I'm going to reread it over the bank holiday weekend.

Oh yes, The Hearts Invisible Furies is wonderful

A traveller at the gates of wisdom by John Boyne is unlike anything I have ever read before. It sweeps from the birth of Christ through to Donald Trump. Each chapter is set in a different time/place but the characters retain their history. It’s difficult to explain and do it justice - well worth a read.

River God by Wilbur Smith.

Ah this is amazing. I literally downloaded and read a sample of one recommendation, Once Upon a River (now ordered for my holiday) and came back to all these suggestions

Thank you so much. I will revisit this thread tomorrow and read through again properly.

I agree with Once Upon a River - it's gorgeous!

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon is a long, immersive fantasy - the description from GoodReads probably explains it better than I could:

^A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep^

I really enjoyed it.

Hope you find something you love!

Be scared of A Little Life, it’s the most awful book I’ve ever read, just leave it be. I burned mine so my DC didn’t read it. One of the main characters is sexually abused from childhood and some of the scenes are described in far too much detail.