Quiet novels

I’ve been reading Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers, which, for me, qualifies as a quiet novel. Not just in its story but also in Clare Chambers’ writing. I felt the same about her novel from a few years ago, Small Pleasures.

It’s not that little happens in these stories, but often they are more focused on the emotional journey of the protagonist rather than being predominantly plot-driven.

I had a look back at the books I’ve read and can see that I do tend to favour quiet, reflective, emotions-driven books.

Here are a few I’ve read in the past few years that fall into the historical fiction (or at least, written and set pre-Second World War in the case of four of them):

• The Return / After The War – Anita Frank

• Still Life – Sarah Winman

• The Hours – Michael Cunningham

• Pachinko – Min Jin Lee

• These Days – Lucy Caldwell

• The Safe Keep – Yael van der Wouden

• Small Things Like These – Claire Keegan

• Trust – Hernan Diaz

• The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro

• A Single Thread - Tracy Chevalier

• The Enchanted April – Elizabeth von Arnim

• Beyond That, the Sea – Laura Spence-Ash

• The Awakening – Kate Chopin

• Mother’s Boy – Patrick Gale

• On the Black Hill – Bruce Chatwin

• Lincoln in the Bardo – George Saunders

• Madonna in a Fur Coat – Sabahattin Ali