Looking for a substantial literary novel to get lost in

[amoamas]

I have a very rare week to myself coming up, and I'd be grateful for recommendations for a nice thick book to take with me. I don't mind if it's a classic or contemporary fiction, maybe 400 pages or more so I can really get into it.

I have enjoyed: There are rivers in the sky by Elif Shafak, The safekeep by Yael van der Wouden, The hare with amber eyes by Edmund de Waal, Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel, the Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante, the Gormenghast series by Mervyn Peake, the Boudica series by Manda Scott, Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, Orlando by Virginia Wolf. I've read most of the main classics but happy to explore some of the more unusual ones.

I don't enjoy: sci fi, "just" romance, very sad stories or anything that's unrelentingly grim, "light" reading (I want something to get lost in), politics.

Any recommendations gratefully received, TIA.

The Palliser or Barchester Chronicles by Anthony Trollope.

The Crimson Petal and The White, Michel Faber.

Seconding A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth - I love this and have re-read despite its length. It's better on rereading as you know who everyone is.

Also another vote for almost anything by Anthony Trollope. I read Framley Parsonage as a stand-alone because it was what was available on holiday but probably the entire Barchester set would make more sense of it.

I immediately thought of the Poisonwood Bible.

Second “ A Suitable Boy” 🩷.

Apologies to whoever suggested Middlemarch - horrible memories of having to read this for GCE English Lit many moons ago.
Never again !

The Pillars of the Earth trilogy, by Ken Follett. Completely absorbing medieval novels.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People, by John Le Carre, if you have a taste for convoluted intrigue.

And yes yes, to the suggestion of Wild Swans, if you're prepared to branch out from fiction. It's an excellent read.

Cutting for stone or Covenant of water by Abraham Verghese.
God of small things by Arudhati Roy.

Seeing quite a consensus for “A Suitable Boy” ! 🥳
Would also recommend “Memoirs of a Geisha” by Arthur Golden, and “The Glass Palace” by Amitav Ghosh, about the last king of Burma.

Another vote for the above, fantastic book, also Fingersmith Sarah Waters.

This thread is brilliant, I’ve saved it to come back to for my own reading!

Seconding these suggestions:
The Goldfinch
The Secret History
The Luminaries
Fingersmith

Would also add:
Theo of Golden (I could have found this lovely or overly twee, depending on the mood I was in. As it happened I found it the former)
My Friends by Fredrick Backman
Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers
Dream State by Eric Puchner
Wellness by Nathan Hill

Another vote for
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The Lacuna is my favourite Barbara Kingsolver

The Quincunx by Charles Palliser is a proper "lose yourself" book. I started on a daytime flight to the Caribbean and only forced myself to stop reading at 3am Barbados time. It's a Dicken's pastiche with a major twist

Circe by Madeline Miller is amazing. The sort of book I was sad when it ended because I wouldn't meet Circe for the first time again.

Gone With The Wind

Goldfinch
Larchfield
The Covenant of Water.

Loved many of the books on this thread! I recently really enjoyed Ready player one.

Second This Thing of Darkness and A Suitable Boy. Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety is extraordinary.

I recently read David Peace's Munichs. It is immensely good.

I haven't seen William Boyd mentioned yet - Any Human Heart is my favourite and definitely a book you can get lost in.

Another vote for A Little Life too. Although some of the storyline has grim themes there is something compelling about it - I was completely emotionally invested in the characters.

I second The Goldfinch.

Also The Real Charlotte by Somerville & Ross
The House on Paris by Elizabeth Bowen
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

Any Human Heart by William Boyd

Anna Karenina
King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett
James by Percival Everett
Great Circle, Maggie Shipstead

You want Steinbeck OP. The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden totally fulfil this brief.

I second The Goldfish.

Enjoying other suggestions.

Pat Barker's The Trojan Women trilogy.

So glad OP you loved Rivers in the Sky - I LOVED it too.

I love so many of these suggestions and making notes of things for my ‘to read’ list.

I have happy memories of reading Curtis Sittenfeld’s American Wife on holiday. Immediately absorbing and satisfyingly long.

It’s such a wonderful feeling when you’re early on in a long book and you know you’re going to love it.

Great thread!

im listening to Middlemarch on a freebie audible version and it’s wonderful!

100 years of solitude or Love in the time of Cholera.

Panchinko
American Dirt
Demon Copperhead
The Dutch house

A Little Life is the most depressing book ever written 😆 but yes its a chunky one you will get lost in!