I'm looking for equivalence.
Which novel by which author comes closest to the tale I'm trying to tell?
Is there a match? Does anything come close?
Here are a few contenders. (The list keeps getting longer, so I'd better nail it while I can.)
- Joanna Trollope
- Maeve Binchy
- Mark Haddon
- Nick Hornby
- Jon McGregor
- Kamila Shamsie
- Sebastian Faulkes
- Ian McEwan
- Ian Rankin
- Donna Leon
- Robert Harris
- Sam Bourne
- Kate Moss
My story has historical, crime and suspense elements in it but it is essentially about people and society. If you see where I'm coming from.
So perhaps it is most like Sebastian Faulkes's A Week in December except that it is not a week and it is not in December and it is not set in London and doesn't have a terrorist subplot - yet. But, in its own way it is perhaps a 'state of the nation' novel.
A Week in December
I have blogged elsewhere about Jon McGregor's remarkable first novel, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things; see After the Silence. I can only hope to aspire to his sensitive and realistic portrayal of contemporary society and local community. Joanna Trollope heads the list because of her felicity in handling contemporary family dramas and her clean, elegant writing. This is accessible, contemporary fiction at its best. Similarly Maeve Binchy relates the stories of everyday, ordinary people. Mark Haddon comes close with his book A Spot of Bother. But ... well, he doesn't do Joanna Trollope as well as Joanna Trollope does. The main difference is, I suppose, that he is a man. The book is a male take on the domestic drama with all the disturbing undertow of the male psyche. I have no intention of writing a psychodrama but I wouldn't mind achieving a 'deep, sharp humanity'.
A Spot of Bother
Nick Hornby is another man who had a go at the domestic drama in his novel How To Be Good and, bravely, he takes on the female point of view. Well done him. Again, it might be thought of as a 'state of the nation' novel or perhaps, better, a 'confused mind of the nation' novel if the nation is held to reside in the suburban streets of Greater London. Much of it does, of course (reside in the suburban streets of Greater London); especially the literati and cognoscenti. A large number of them didn't like this novel - which tells you more about them than it does about the novel. It's good, if quirky and off-beam and it touches a nerve.
How To Be Good
- Guardian review
- Author website at Penguin
- Goodreads reviews
- Amazon
Kamilla Shamsie's second novel Salt and Saffron is a confection and a delight but Kamilla Shamsie deals with life-as-it-is-lived with a deep humanity and insight. If this is chick lit then I'm a chick. I love the bounce and vitality of the writing.
Salt and Saffron
- Blogcritics review
- Goodreads reviews
- Amazon
- AMHeath webpage; Authors' Agents
I don't think I have read any Ian McEwan. Or have I?. I did see the film of Atonement and I'd like to try reading Solar sometime; but you can see I have a problem. I am suspicious of Literary literature.
And then there is what I called the historical, the criminal and the sense of suspense, hence, Ian Rankin, Donna Leon, Sam Bourne and Kate Mosse. Robert Harris is in a league of his own with books like The Ghost, Enigma, Pompeii, Imperium. He has it all: clean, clear writing, historical acumen and a sense of plot. If he lacks anything, it is perhaps in depth of character and a certain sense of humanity. His writing can sometimes be, or appear to be, clinical.
Enigma
So, am I any closer?
Like I said,
My story has historical, crime and suspense elements but it is essentially about people and society. If you see where I'm coming from?
Ends
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