Books like Cousin Bette
12 books with a reading profile close to Cousin Bette by Honoré de Balzac. Balanced in tone; a moderate read.
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1
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
by Victor Hugo, Walter J. Cobb
narrative, literary
In fifteenth-century Paris, the deformed bell-ringer Quasimodo lives within the stone walls of Notre-Dame Cathedral under the guardianship of Archdeacon Claude Frollo.
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2
Susan Lenox
narrative, literary
Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise follows an illegitimate girl born into a rigid Midwestern environment.
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3
Dombey and Son
narrative, literary
Paul Dombey runs his shipping house with a singular focus on patriarchal succession and commercial dominance.
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4
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
narrative, literary
Joe Kavalier, a magician and escape artist, flees Nazi-occupied Prague and arrives in New York City to live with his cousin, Sammy Clay.
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5
Adam Bede
by George Eliot, Robert Lewis Weed
narrative, literary
Set in the rural community of Hayslope at the end of the eighteenth century, the narrative follows the upright carpenter Adam Bede and his unrequited love for the beautiful but shallow Hetty Sorrel.
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6
The Old Curiosity Shop
narrative, literary
Nell Trent lives in a London warehouse filled with dusty antiquities, cared for by her grandfather.
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7
Evangeline
narrative, literary
Set in 1755 during the Expulsion of the Acadians, this epic poem follows the separation of two lovers, Evangeline Bellefontaine and Gabriel Lajeunesse.
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8
Empire Falls
narrative, literary
Miles Roby manages the Empire Grill, a greasy spoon in a decaying Maine logging town owned by the wealthy Whiting family.
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9
Shirley
narrative, literary
Set in Yorkshire during the Napoleonic Wars, the narrative centers on the industrial unrest caused by the Orders in Council and the introduction of textile machinery.
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10
The Marriage Portrait
narrative, literary
In sixteenth-century Florence, Lucrezia di Cosimo de' Medici is forced to marry Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, following the sudden death of her older sister.
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11
Hag-Seed
narrative, literary
Felix Phillips is a theater director ousted from his festival job by a treacherous associate.
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12
Prodigal Summer
narrative, literary
In the humid mountains of southern Appalachia, three narrative threads intersect through the lens of evolutionary biology and ecological interdependence.
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