swap_horiz Divided Kingdom Alternatives

1

Middlesex

Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex explores themes of identity and family through the life of Cal Stephanides, an American man...

American Satire 21ST Century Identity

8.7 Great

2

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Junot Díaz’s *The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao* explores the complex experiences of an isolated Dominican-American m...

American Satire 21ST Century Diaspora

8.7 Great

3

Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress

Roxana is Daniel Defoe's 1724 novel, notable for its first-person account of a woman using disguises, wealth, and sexual...

18TH Century Classic Satire British

8.2 Great

4

The Luck of Barry Lyndon

The Luck of Barry Lyndon is William Makepeace Thackeray's 1844 serial picaresque, narrated by an Irish fortune-hunter se...

19TH Century Satire Rogue British

8.2 Great

5

The Adventures of Roderick Random

Roderick Random is a 1748 picaresque novel by Tobias Smollett, partly based on his service as a naval surgeon's mate in...

18TH Century Satire Rogue British

8.1 Great

6

The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman

The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman is Angela Carter's 1972 surreal picaresque about Desiderio in a war betwe...

Adventure Satire 20TH Century British

8.0 Great

7

Phineas Finn

Phineas Finn is Anthony Trollope's 1869 political novel, the second Palliser book, following an Irish MP through Parliam...

Classic Satire British Political

8.0 Great

8

The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, the Great

The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, the Great is a 1743 satiric novel by Henry Fielding, using a London thief-taker to...

18TH Century Classic Satire British

7.9 Good

9

Baudolino

Baudolino is Umberto Eco's 2000 Italian historical novel, following a 12th-century fabulist linked to Frederick Barbaros...

Italian Satire Medieval 21ST Century

7.8 Good

10

The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan

The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan is James Justinian Morier's 1824 English satire of Qajar Iran, drawing on his se...

19TH Century Satire Rogue Persia

7.7 Good

11

The Slaughterman's Daughter

The Slaughterman's Daughter is Yaniv Iczkovits's 2015 Hebrew historical adventure, translated into English in 2020 and w...

Israeli Satire 21ST Century Historical

7.7 Good

12

The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle

Peregrine Pickle is Tobias Smollett's 1751 picaresque novel, notable for satire of European society and an early printed...

18TH Century Classic Satire Rogue

7.5 Good

13

Fanny Hill

Fanny Hill is John Cleland's 1748 English erotic novel, notable as an early novel-form pornography and for a long histor...

18TH Century Satire British Erotic

7.4 Good

14

Maiden Voyage

Maiden Voyage is Denton Welch's 1943 autobiographical first book, recounting schooldays and a journey to Shanghai, where...

Youth Satire 20TH Century Rogue

7.4 Good

15

Quichotte

Quichotte is Salman Rushdie's 2019 Don Quixote-inspired metafiction, shortlisted for the Booker Prize and set on a road...

Satire 21ST Century British Road

7.3 Good

16

Colonel Jack

Colonel Jack is Daniel Defoe's 1722 picaresque novel, notable for tracing an orphan from pickpocket training to Virginia...

18TH Century Satire Crime Rogue

7.2 Good

17

The Last Witchfinder

The Last Witchfinder is James Morrow's 2006 historical novel about Jennet, who uses Enlightenment science to challenge E...

Quest American Satire 21ST Century

7.2 Good

18

The Flying Inn

The Flying Inn is G. K. Chesterton's 1914 comic satire, following Humphrey Pump and Patrick Dalroy as they evade England...

Comic Satire 20TH Century British

7.1 Good

19

The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim

The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim is Jonathan Coe's 2010 novel about a lonely salesman crossing Britain, noted for its...

Comic Satire 21ST Century British

7.0 Good

20

Ben, in the World

Ben, in the World is Doris Lessing's 2000 sequel to The Fifth Child, following Ben Lovatt as an exploited outsider after...

Satire 20TH Century British Journey

6.4 Fair