Books like

Books like Open Water

12 books with a reading profile close to Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson. Inward-looking and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

1

Young Mungo

by Douglas Stuart

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · romance, narrative

Set in the housing schemes of 1990s Glasgow, the story follows Mungo Hamilton, a Protestant teenager defined by his gentleness.
2

Trespasses

by Louise Kennedy

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · romance, narrative

Set in 1970s Belfast during the Troubles, the narrative follows Cushla Lavery, a Catholic primary school teacher who divides her time between her classroom and her family’s pub.
3

The Paying Guests

by Sarah Waters

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · romance, narrative

Set in 1922 South London, the narrative centers on Frances Wray and her widowed mother, who are forced by financial ruin following the Great War to take in lodgers.
4

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

by Akwaeke Emezi

Also inward-looking · romance, narrative

Five years after the car accident that killed her husband, Feyi Adekola is finally re-entering the dating scene in Brooklyn.
5

The Island of Missing Trees

by Elif Shafak

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · romance, narrative

In 1974 Nicosia, teenagers Kostas and Defne meet secretly at a taverna to navigate their forbidden relationship across the Greek-Turkish partition.
6

Like Water for Chocolate

by Laura Esquivel

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · romance, narrative

Set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution, the narrative follows Tita de la Garza, the youngest daughter in a household governed by a strict family tradition that forbids her from marrying.
7

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

by Emily M. Danforth

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · romance, narrative

After her parents die in a car accident, Cameron Post moves to rural Montana to live with her conservative aunt and grandmother.
8

Exciting Times

by Naoise Dolan

Also inward-looking · romance, narrative

Ava is a twenty-two-year-old Irish expatriate teaching English to wealthy children in Hong Kong.
9

HEART THE LOVER

by Lily King

Also inward-looking · romance, narrative

Decades after the height of a complex romantic entanglement involving two different men, a woman reconstructs the timeline of her early adulthood to understand the lasting impact of her decisions.
10

Tin Man

by Sarah Winman

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · romance, narrative

Ellis and Michael are two boys who become friends as teenagers in Oxford in 1960s England, where Ellis' working-class father works at a car factory.
11

Evenings and Weekends

by Oisín McKenna

Also inward-looking · romance, narrative

Set during a sweltering weekend in London, the narrative follows a group of interconnected friends navigating the precariousness of the modern city.
12

In Memoriam

by Alice Winn

Also inward-looking · romance, narrative

In 1914, Gaunt and Ellwood are students at Preshute College, an elite English boarding school where they hide their romantic feelings for one another behind a shared obsession with epic poetry.

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