Leah answers “Could anyone recommend something similar...”

Shalini asked this question about Normal People:

Could anyone recommend something similar to this book?

Leah Try White Fur by Jardine Libaire for an American twist on this story, that's similarly frank about sex and class.

See some comparison to Fates and Fur…moreTry White Fur by Jardine Libaire for an American twist on this story, that's similarly frank about sex and class.

See some comparison to Fates and Furies and One Day. While I see some broad contours that are similar (following a couple over several years, with a particular emphasis on their college years), hard disagree--think Normal People is vastly more emotionally true and more tender to its characters.

Something that really bothered me about One Day is that the female character goes through a lot of painful experiences while the male character is such a wanker...and without spoiling, the arc of her experiences in the end seems only to serve to help him have personal growth. Maybe, in other words, you can tell it's a book written by a man and there's a failure of imagination towards his female protagonist. In short, I loved Normal People so much and felt so tenderly towards the characters and intensely disliked the characters in One Day and practically threw it across the room when I finished it.

Whereas in Fates and Furies, I honestly kept asking myself, "are these characters acting in any way like an actual human I have ever observed or interacted with?" and the the answer: a resounding no. Rarely have so looked forward to a book and then been so completely unimpressed. (less)

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