Looking for books with no shred of supernatural themes with complicated characters

[Gini]

I would prefer them to be dark and with male protagonists as well but I will take anything I can get. I enjoy character driven stories with layered and multidimensional depth. Please no mysteries unless they aren't murder based. I'm a writer and since becoming one I've become extremely picky about what I read. Thanks for the help.

[Krazykiwi]

Maybe a little Wally Lamb? The Hour I First Believed jumps to mind as the one to start with, but I Know This Much Is True pretty much fits your request too.

[Gini]

Thank you Krazykiwi! I loved his book "She's come undone" so I will certainly take those recommendations to heart.

[Feliks]

The Wasp Factory

[Feliks]

Staying out of Hell

[Gini]

I read some of the wasp factory and really loved the intense and evocative writing but couldn't stomach the animal torture. I will check out Staying out of Hell. Thanks.

[Gini]

the copy of staying out of hell is almost thirty dollars sadly. Does anyone know where I can find a pdf or ebook of it?

[Feliks]

I've no idea on that aspect of it; sorry. Its an obscure book, you don't have to knock yourself out for it.

[Gini]

LOL OK I won't but it sounded good as hell, I guess you can take that as a pun. I might take some anti-nausous medicne and take another stab at Wasp Factory it was really good. The main character was so twisted and demented.

[Caroline]

I recommend The Secret History, and I know it's been talked to death, but also, Gone Girl really is worth reading. Both books definitely are character driven with intriguing plots.

[Gini]

Hi! Just bought both books Caroline, thanks~

[Kate]

A Severed Wasp has complex characters, and dark themes. The protagonist is female, and there are male characters equally complex. By one of my favorite authors.

[Darcy]

Anything by Iain Banks is darkish. The Crow Road and Espedair Street are quite good.

[Gini]

Kate thanks for the recommendation. I couldn't find an ebook of this so its still on hold. D thank you, just bought both books!

[``Laurie]

What about "The Widow Of Ratchets"? It was absolutely riveting! The young widow returns to her late husbands home, a isolated village in England to tie up a few legal loose ends (and she's never been there before). Things escalate from mildly puzzling to wildly thrilling in short order as she is thrust into a world much different from what appears on the surface. Yes, it even includes a romance with a mysterious protagonist too. You'll be up all night turning the pages to see if the poor widow will be able to navigate the constant threats throw into her path and return to a safer and more sane world.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Bostonians

[Rachel]

Daphne du Maurier is good for psychological novels - I recommend The Parasites and The Scapegoat. If I remember correctly they both have deaths in the plot but not murders.

You might also like The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay which has very interesting characters - it's about two comic book artists before and during World War II.

[Michele]

Donna Tartt's The Secret History and The Goldfinch might fit the bill. Going back to classics, The Count of Monte Cristo is wonderful.

George Macdonald Fraser's Flashman series are great fun -- a male protag who's thoroughly a heel but somehow you still like him. Hilary Mantel's trilogy about Thomas Cromwell, starting with Wolf Hall is quite good.

Iain Pears' The Dream of Scipio and An Instance of the Fingerpost are both excellent. Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow has space travel but nothing at all supernatural, and the most complex and fascinating characters you could ever hope to meet in a story that really makes you think about all sort os "big questions."

Although they generally have female protags you might also like Anita Brookner's books, for example Hotel du Lac. She's an excellent writer who can describe the minutiae of human emotions with remarkable skill.

[Meg]

Dennis Lehane is great and has excellent characters. I love his Kenzie and Gennaro books. 1st in series is A Drink Before the War.

[Brett]

For complicated, well-developed characters, I recommend classics.

For a male protagonist, maybe The Razor's Edge. For female protagonists, The Bell Jar comes to mind and one of my all-time favorites, Ellen Gilchrist's The Annunciation. Also, the earlier Wally Lamb suggestions are good.

I'm curious what you end up using as inspiration.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Heat of the Day

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Debut. Female protagonist.

[Michele]

Lobstergirl wrote: "The Debut. Female protagonist."

Ooh yes. Anita Brookner is an amazing author. My favorite is her Hotel du Lac.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Spring Torrents

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Siege of Krishnapur

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

An Ice-Cream War. It has war scenes and death but also comedic parts.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

A Compass Error, however most of the characters are female.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Razor's Edge. I wouldn't call it dark but otherwise it fits.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Silence in the Garden

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Vanity Fair

[Michele]

You might try The Remains of the Day.

[Nora]

Peter Rushforth has a pair of books you might enjoy: Pinkerton's Sister and A Dead Language

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Of Human Bondage

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Any Human Heart

[Keith]

When We Were Orphans - Detective obsesses over the disappearance of his parents when he was a child.

[Ketutar]

There's a name for this kind of literature. "Literary fiction".

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Portrait of a Lady

The Christmas Oratorio

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Far From the Madding Crowd

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Tono-Bungay

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Germinal

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Sparsholt Affair

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The History of Henry Esmond

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Hotel

[Kathaleen]

Dance of thieves. There is no supernatural abilities with complicated characters, themes, and relationships between countries. It is a fantasy book, but there is no supernatural in it but has that kingdom setup. There's two points of views one of a male and one of a female.

[Walter]

War and Peace? Barchester Towers? Middlemarch? Pride and Predjudice? Catch 22?

There are thousands of great books that meet your criteria.

I recommend getting a copy of "1000 Books to Read before you Die", maybe from a library, and browsing it. Each entry for a book also talks about the author and related books. It is a great resource.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Clown

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Transit of Venus

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Door

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Debt to Pleasure