Books which follow characters over many years?

[Bearg]

I love books which really dig into the character/characters and follow them over their lifetime or many years. Some of my favourites are Summer Sisters by Judy Blume, One Day by David Nicholls, and I've almost finished Lessons by Ian McEwan which I have also enjoyed.

Can anyone recommend any other similar books?

Still Life by Sarah Winman
Poldark series

The Almonds and Raisins series follows a family over the course of almost 100 years.

Patricia Highsmith did a pretty good job when she created me.
I can't even tell you all the bad stuff I have done, or how old I am

East of Eden - Steinbeck

The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard. Family saga, many characters over many years, 1930's to 1950's.

Maybe more "historical" than the ones that you mention, but the Edward Ruthurford books are excellent. He has done several - I started with "London" as I was living there at the time. It's a very long book (starting with the Druids I think) but there is a tangible familial link with each period of history.

Lots of actual facts, but an element of fiction too. I learnt an awful lot about the city that I had lived in for years!

The Starbridge novels by Susan Howatch. They’re all standalone but each one has a different narrator and lots of the characters appear in each of them, from different standpoints and in different decades.
The background is the 20th century history of the C of E….But despite sounding a bit dry, they’re fascinating, especially in their character development.

Define the Cazalet Chronicles

definitely

Any of the longer Ken Follet books. The Century trilogy or the Pillars of the Earth series.

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Age 13 3/4, and all its subsequent sequels.

DH would say A Dance to the music of time by Anthony Powell.

Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford

This, one hundred times over... Love those books so much.

Also Kate Atkinson's Life after Life and the sequel (God in Ruins)

Ann Patchett's The Dutch House

When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman

A Little Life (but it's a very emotional read) and The Hearts Invisible Furies. Loved both!

Lucy Barton is a character by Elizabeth Stout. I love her contemporary style of writing and Lucy appears in a trilogy of her books, and other characters show up too. I also enjoyed Harold Fry and Queenie Hennessy in the Rachel Joyce books.

Any Human Heart by William Boyd

The Poldark novels are good.

The Romantic by William Boyd

A lot of the Wilbur Smith books follow families/people over different time periods/generations and even merge the different family dynasties with the Courtneys and Ballantynes spanning a couple of centuries. The Egyptian books span even greater time periods but still manage an element of follow through.

Cynthia Harrod Eagles Morland Dynasty plus some of her other sagas

Ken Follett

Delderfield

Barbara Taylor Bradford

These would be my recommendation also. They are excellent

A Traveller At The Gates of Wisdom. It follows the same character but through different time periods and geographical locations, from the birth of Jesus until present day. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read.

The Tales Of The City books by Armistead Maupin are fabulous, and follow the lives of a group of friends, and many other more peripheral characters, over many years

Wow thanks for all the recommendations! A few of these I have read and enjoyed, but I'm making a list of others to try as well 😊