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Recommendations based on Beyond Blackby Hilary Mantel
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Wolf Hall
by Hilary Mantel
A historical fiction about the rise of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII.
England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry ... (Goodreads)
May We Be Forgiven
by A.M. Homes
After a tragic accident, a man's life spirals out of control as he navigates family drama and personal crises.
The central character is Harry Silver, a professor based in New York City whose specialty is "Nixonology", the study of former US President Richard Nixon . , His brother George is a TV executive who ... (Wikipedia)
The Little Stranger
by Sarah Waters
A mysterious and haunting tale of a family living in an eerie old manor house.
Faraday, a country doctor with humble beginnings, is called to Hundreds Hall, an 18th-century estate that has lived far beyond its former glory. He treats a young maid who dislikes the large, ... (Wikipedia)
The Call
by Peadar Ó Guilín
Nessa must survive the brutal fairyland hunt to save humanity from being decimated by the Sidhe.
Imagine a world where you might disappear any minute, only to find yourself alone in a grey sickly land, with more horrors in it than you would ever wish to know about. And then you hear a horn and ... (Goodreads)
The London Eye Mystery
by Siobhan Dowd
When Ted's cousin Salim disappears from the London Eye, Ted and his sister Kat use their unique perspectives to solve the mystery.
The story begins with Aunt Gloria visiting Ted's family. Ted is a boy with Asperger syndrome. She is accompanied by her son Salim, a half- Asian boy who is about a year older than Ted. People with ... (Wikipedia)
Regeneration
by Pat Barker
Story of WWI soldiers & their experiences of trauma, set amidst the backdrop of a psychiatric hospital.
The novel begins as Dr W. H. R. Rivers , an army psychiatrist at Craiglockhart War Hospital , learns of poet Siegfried Sassoon 's declaration against the continuation of the war. A government board ... (Wikipedia)
This Book Will Save Your Life
by A.M. Homes
A man's mundane life is turned upside down when he has a health scare, leading him on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected connections.
From the author of, Music for Torching,-an uplifting and apocalyptic tale set in Los Angeles about one man's efforts to bring himself back to life Since her debut in 1989, A. M. Homes has been among ... (Goodreads)
The Secret History
by Donna Tartt
A small group of misfit college students uncover a sinister secret and their lives become entangled with dangerous consequences.
Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the ... (Goodreads)
The Sittaford Mystery
by Agatha Christie
A seance goes wrong when a guest is murdered. The suspects are trapped in a snowstorm, and amateur sleuths race to solve the case.
Sittaford is a tiny village on the fringe of Dartmoor . Mrs Willett and her daughter Violet are the newly installed tenants of Sittaford House, a residence owned by Trevelyan, a retired Navy captain. ... (Wikipedia)
Case Histories
by Kate Atkinson
A series of intertwining stories of people whose lives are changed by an unexpected event.
'Case Histories' tells the story of Jackson Brodie, a private investigator who tries to find out the truth of some cases. Brodie meets some people who reclaims his help to solve their cases Kirkus ... (Wikipedia)
Prep
by Curtis Sittenfeld
A teenage girl's struggle to find her place and identity in an elite prep school.
Curtis Sittenfeld’s debut novel, Prep , is an insightful, achingly funny coming-of-age story as well as a brilliant dissection of class, race, and gender in a hothouse of adolescent angst and ... (Goodreads)
Shades of Grey
by Jasper Fforde
A satirical fantasy adventure through a world divided by the ability to see colors.
Chromatacia is a future dystopian society that exists at least five hundred years (although possibly more) after the collapse of our own society, identified as 'the Previous'. All life is governed by ... (Wikipedia)
Life After Life
by Kate Atkinson
A woman lives multiple lives, reflecting on choices and consequences and the power of love.
The novel has an unusual structure, repeatedly looping back in time to describe alternative possible lives for its central character, Ursula Todd, who is born on 11 February 1910 to an ... (Wikipedia)
The Children's Book
by A.S. Byatt
Story of a family's life in Edwardian England and their intergenerational relationships.
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, A spellbinding novel, at once sweeping and intimate, from the Booker Prize–winning author of Possession, that spans the Victorian era through the World War I ... (Goodreads)
The Son
by Jo Nesbø
A man's quest to avenge the death of his father uncovers a dark family secret.
Sonny Lofthus is serving time for crimes he did not commit. As payment, he receives a steady supply of drugs to satisfy his addiction. His life changes completely when he learns the truth about his ... (Wikipedia)
Mortal Engines
by Philip Reeve
In a post-apocalyptic world, cities are mobile and hunt each other for resources. Two teens uncover a sinister plot that could destroy everything.
"It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea." The great traction city London has been skulking ... (Goodreads)
Nicholas Nickleby
by Charles Dickens
Exploring themes of morality and justice through the story of a young man and his family.
Nicholas Nickleby's father dies unexpectedly after losing all of his money in a poor investment. Nicholas, his mother and his younger sister, Kate, are forced to give up their comfortable lifestyle ... (Wikipedia)
What Was She Thinking? [Notes on a Scandal]
by Zoë Heller
An intriguing tale of a manipulative teacher and a forbidden affair, told through a colleague's perspective.
Barbara, a veteran history teacher at a comprehensive school in London , is a lonely, unmarried woman in her early sixties, and she is eager to find a close friend. However, she reveals that she has ... (Wikipedia)
White Teeth
by Zadie Smith
A multi-generational saga exploring identity, race, and culture in modern-day London.
On New Year's Day 1975, Archie Jones, a 47-year-old Englishman whose disturbed Italian wife has just walked out on him, is attempting to take his own life by gassing himself in his car when a chance ... (Wikipedia)
Lisey's Story
by Stephen King
A woman's journey to confront her past and unravel the secrets of her husband's death.
Lisey's Story is the story of Lisey Landon, the widow of a famous and wildly successful novelist, Scott Landon. The book tells two stories—Lisey's story in the present, and the story of her dead ... (Wikipedia)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
by Michael Chabon
Two cousins create a comic book superhero and find success and adventure in 1940s New York.
The novel begins in 1939 with the arrival of 19-year-old Josef "Joe" Kavalier as a refugee in New York City , where he comes to live with his 17-year-old cousin, Sammy Klayman. With the help of his ... (Wikipedia)
Cloud Atlas
by David Mitchell
A dynamic narrative spanning centuries, exploring the interconnectedness of humanity.
The book consists of six nested stories; each is read or observed by a main character of the next, thus they progress in time through the central sixth story. The first five stories are each ... (Wikipedia)
The Fortress of Solitude
by Jonathan Lethem
A young man's exploration of friendship, identity and belonging in a rapidly changing world.
From the prize-winning author of Motherless Brooklyn , a daring, riotous, sweeping novel that spins the tale of two friends and their adventures in late 20th-century America. This is the story of two ... (Goodreads)
Written on the Body
by Jeanette Winterson
A genderless narrator recounts their passionate love affairs with a married woman, exploring the complexities of desire and identity.
Written on the Body is a secret code only visible in certain lights: the accumulation of a lifetime gather there. In places the palimpsest is so heavily worked that the letters feel like braille. I ... (Goodreads)
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
by Haruki Murakami
A surreal journey of self-discovery, exploring the inner and outer worlds.
The first part, "The Thieving Magpie", begins with the narrator, Toru Okada, a low-key and unemployed lawyer's assistant, being tasked by his wife, Kumiko, to find their missing cat. Kumiko suggests ... (Wikipedia)
Special Topics in Calamity Physics
by Marisha Pessl
Blue van Meer navigates her senior year at an eccentric school, uncovering secrets and tragedies along the way.
Blue van Meer is a film-obsessed, erudite teenager. She is the daughter of itinerant and arrogant academic Gareth van Meer, who, after the death of his amateur lepidopteran-catching wife (and Blue's ... (Wikipedia)
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
by Susanna Clarke
A whimsical tale of two magicians mastering the mysteries of English magic.
The novel opens in 1806 in northern England with The Learned Society of York Magicians, whose members are "theoretical magicians" who believe that magic died out several hundred years earlier. The ... (Wikipedia)
Tipping the Velvet
by Sarah Waters
A coming of age story of a young woman's queer journey through Victorian England.
Nancy "Nan" Astley is a sheltered 18-year-old living with her working-class family and helping in their oyster restaurant in Whitstable, Kent. She becomes instantly and desperately enamoured with a ... (Wikipedia)
No One Belongs Here More Than You
by Miranda July
Short stories of everyday people struggling to find their place in the world.
Screenwriter, director, and star of the acclaimed film Me and You and Everyone We Know, Miranda July brings her extraordinary talents to the page in a startling, sexy, and tender collection. ... (Goodreads)
The Wasp Factory
by Iain Banks
A disturbed teenage boy discovers startling truths about his family and himself.
The story is told from the perspective of 16-year-old Frank Cauldhame. Frank lives with his father on a small island in rural Scotland , and he has not seen his mother in many years. There is no ... (Wikipedia)
