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.

BABEL by RF Kuang is a chunk of book and absolutely fascinating. Such a richly created world and really innovative idea. Similarities to His Dark Materials in some ways but very much for grown ups!

Another vote for Anna Karenina. Would also second Vanity Fair.

The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann - huge, mad, brilliant.

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray is great (but the ending, omfg).

I was totally coming on to recommend Barbara Kingsolver but I see that one was covered in the first few posts! Demon Copperhead or The Poisonwood Bible are both incredible.

I’m enjoying all these suggestions
Two long and satisfying books with multiple narrative strands
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
2666 by Roberto Bolano

So many good recommendations here (the only one I can't bear is John Irving...he's sex-obsessed and his novels are all the same. The only one I liked was The Fourth Hand. I kept trying with his other novels in case they got better...but no.).

My recommendation would be The Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick. Utterly amazing, absorbing piece of work. And then read Moby Dick before/after.

The Hearts invisible Furies - John Boyne

The Dutch House
A Gentleman in Moscow

Both are fabulous

If you haven't read Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, I HIGHLY recommend.

Half a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Such brilliant writing, emotional, great story, little know history (here in the UK)

I haven't RTFT so apologies if this has already been mentioned but The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese was wonderful.

I'm also halfway through The Ministry For The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, which is totally gripping and also alarming.

4321 by Paul Auster
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Or if you really want to push yourself, Infinite Jest

A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth - sweeping family saga/romance set in India. So beautifully written and a really weighty tome!

The Heart’s Invisible Fury - John Boyne - I remember reading this at 3am in a hotel room as I just couldn’t stop reading it!

Longbourn - Jo Baker (I think) - Pride and Prejudice from the servants’ perspective. Surprisingly gritty - Napoleonic Wars

The Poldark series - lighter but really gripping. I read all 12 in a summer! So much better than the TV series.

Seconding "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" and 0livia Manning's Balkan and Levant trilohgies

What a wonderful thread!

Another vote for Wild Swans, The Luminaries, The Goldfinch, Possession and Moby Dick.

More suggestions:
AS Byatt - The Children's Book, Ragnarok (retelling of the Norse myths)
Doris Lessing - The Golden Notebook, the Martha Quest series
Annie Proulx - Barkskins
Elizabeth Gilbert - The Signature of All Things
Neal Stephenson - Anathem (might be too sci fi for you)
David Mitchell - Ghostwritten
Margaret Atwood - The Blind Assassin

Most things by Margaret Atwood, esp. The Penelopiad, Handmaid's Tale, Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake trilogy, and Alias Grace.
Pretty much anything by Rose Tremain, Kate Atkinson, Rohinton Mistry, Hilary Mantel, Barbara Kingsolver (esp. La Lacuna and The Poisonwood Bible), Natalie Haynes...
Also: A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
And: A traveller at the Gates of Wisdom by John Boyne.
Prophet Song (David Lynch?) and The Wall by John Lancaster...
Ah, so many...

What about "Capital" by John Lanchester?

A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

And I second many of the writers recommended here... Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabelle Allende, Donna Tartt, Pat Barker, Michel Faber, Jeffrey Eugenides.

I also like Dominion by C.J.Sansom

Wolf Hall trilogy, Demon Copperhead

Colm Toibin- Brooklyn, The Master, The Story if the Night, Testament of Mary
Dickens- A Take of Two Cities, David Copperfield
Huxley - Brave New Works
Orwell - 1984
Fitzgerald- Great Gatsby
Collins - The Moonstone, The Woman in White
Newer novels with a fresh take on older ones: Introducing Mrs, Collins, Longbourn, The Other Bennet Sister, James,
Andrew Greig- That Summer

I can't stop! Haha

Agreed!
Also, another vote for C J Sandome's Shardlake series. Fantastic books.

I think I'm the only person who didn't enjoy The Goldfinch.

Old Filth series by Jane Gardam
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Young Mungo
and as other have said, a little life, a fine balance, the goldfinch,

This is a great shout 🙂

If you like Hilary Mantel's writing, have a look at A Place of Greater Safety, which is about the French Revolution. It's great.

If you're looking for a more 'classic' novel, then Vanity Fair by Thackeray is really excellent. The main character, Becky Sharpe, is truly a heroine for our times.

Some excellent recommendations on this thread!

The Goldfinch is wonderful - immersive, intelligent and hard to put down.

To Kill a Mockingbird
The Time Travellers Wife
We Must Talk About Kevin.