Despite preferring novellas to chunksters, I’ve a fair few of the latter under my reading belt. A good doorstopper which swerves baggy over-indulgence can be a source of great pleasure. I’ve already written about five that fit that bill then posted five more. Below is another batch, all but one with a link to a longer review, each weighing in at 
I’m not overly fond of pre-twentieth-century historical fiction but I’m a keen fan of Andrew Miller’s writing: I loved Ingenious Pain and Pure came a close second, both elegantly slim. Now We Shall Be Entirely Free is a doorstopper set against the backdrop of the disastrous Peninsular War. Captain John Lacroix has bought himself a passage to Scotland from Somerset where he’s been recovering from his wounds, unable to face returning to the brutality of combat. After a misfortune in Glasgow, he travels to the Hebrides on a supply boat, taken in by three English siblings awaiting the leader of their utopian community. Meanwhile, a ferocious English corporal is on his tail accompanied by a Spanish officer ordered to execute Lacroix for his alleged part in an atrocity. Miller pulls the thread of suspense nicely taut, alternating Lacroix’s narrative with Calley and Medina’s chase, neatly avoiding the trite with its ambivalent ending.
Sometimes books arrive with stories about how they came to be written which are almost as fascinating as what’s inside them. 
Kate Atkinson’s gloriously entertaining Shrines of Gaiety is set in Soho in 1926 when it was home to nightclubs offering a host of delights, not all of them legal, several run by Nellie Coker. Just out of prison, she’s determined to reassert her authority despite the secondment of D I Frobisher to Bow Street to sort things out. As the plot thickens, which it pleasingly does, it seems that Nellie has more than one reason to be concerned. Meanwhile bodies keep washing up at Dead Man’s Hole, some of them girls. Atkinson’s novel is wonderfully atmospheric, full of sharply drawn characters, rich in backstories, and an intricate plot into which revelations are casually dropped together with a great deal of sly humour.
Any doorstopping novels you’d particularly recommend?
If you’d like to explore more posts like this, I’ve listed them here. My first five chunksters are here, the second five are here.
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It’s ages since I’ve read the Miller and the Orringer, but both were stand-outs for me, which I’d happily read again. I remember being disappointed in the Atkinson, but the reasons have passed, together with my memory of the novel. I’ve just finished Anthony Horowitz’s Magpie Murders, which is undoubtedly an extremely clever Whodunnit with unending twists. But coming in at 700 + pages (I didn’t know that before I started – the page numbering is deceptive) was a step too far I thought.
That’s too much for me. I gather the Galbrath novels have broken the 1,000+ barrier a couple of times.
If I’d known, I probably wouldn’t have started. It WAS entertaining. But a tad too long.
Wild Swans by Jung Chang is my latest chunky read. Due to the nature of the content it took me a couple of weeks. (Totally skewed my Goodreads stats )
That Kate Atkinson sounds like one for me. And The Paper Palace was a fine read!
I remember taking my time over Wild Swans. A tough read but a very enlightening one.
Exactly Susan! A fascinating and very educational read.
A great set of recommendations for Doorstoppers in December, thank you! I didn’t get on with the Heller, tbh, but haven’t read the others.
I’d forgotten all about DiD! I should have saved this post until then.
I’ve read two of these – loved the Miller and enjoyed the Atkinson though not as much as her other novels.
The Helgason sounds interesting but I know I’d lose interest in all the family stuff.
There is a little too much of that but it’s well worth persevering.
I like Andrew Miller’s writing too and am hoping to read The Land in Winter soon. I also love Kate Atkinson but need to catch up with her more recent books, including Shrines of Gaiety!
I loved The Land in Winter. I have my fingers crossed for the Booker. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
I haven’t read any of these, although I remember you recommending The Paper Palace a while back.
Still, weirdly, one of my most visited posts. I think it’s because it includes the word ‘ending’, not that I’d ever give it away.
I loved the Atkinson but thought it ended rather abruptly (a common complaint I think). I haven’t read any of the others but the The Invisible Bridge sounds very good. I prefer a chunky book and avoid novellas and even short stories. I like to immerse myself in the characters. I have just taken a stack of Dorothy Dunnett’s novels into stock and am wondering about giving them ago. Together they could buttress a garden wall so it could be a bit of a commitment!
Ha! I remember those from bookselling days. They should see you through the winter. I’d recommend The Invisible Bridge which, I think, is the longest of the five.
That’s funny – I’ve read the Miller but don’t recall thinking of it as long! I see it’s 421 pages, though. My memory is of being swept along by it.
The sign of a good doorstopper as opposed to baggy ones stuffed full of extraneous detail!
Totally!
I enjoyed Shrines of Gaiety too! And found it a fairly quick read, I always find her style so readable. I think the Miller may be buried in the TBR somewhere, I should go on a hunt…
It had mixed reviews, I think, but I liked it. Hope you enjoy the Miller if you manage to unearth it!
The Orringer was a favourite of mine. I have a goodly shelf of options for Doorstopper December that I’ll choose at least one from, perhaps Skippy Dies.
You’ll be going from one extreme to another after #NovNov!
True! It’s probably good to have a change of pace once in a while, from racing through loads of short books to settling in with one long one in front of a (fake) fire.
Chunksters are very well suited to winter, I think, unless you’re a beach holiday reader.
I have read Miller’s book. It’s extremely good. The Heller book appeals. I have read a few non-fiction doorstoppers over the last couple of months. The Wedding People is a bit of a doorstopper. And I really enjoyed it.
That’s good to hear – I have it on my tbr shelves.
The Invisible Bridge was very good
I was very impressed by it. She handled the different threads so well.
Oh dear, Shrines of Gaiety is still sitting unread on my bookshelf but good to know I’m likely to enjoy it since you did.
I’ve polished off two chunksters recently – Tombland by C J Sansom and The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel. Big books can be rewarding but they do mean a huge investment of time.
They do, although the good ones pay dividends, don’t they. I must get around to The Mirror and the Light. My partner bought a hardback edition which is impossible to read in bed!
I’ve only read the Heller which I found very enjoyable and don’t remember as being long at all! I love Kate Atkinson but for some reason this one didn’t appeal, I will give it another look. The Miller seems interesting. I really enjoy long novels but of course they must be engrossing- my favourite bit is when I’m about a quarter of the way in, know all the characters etc. and there’s a lovely long story ahead which I know I’m going to enjoy, that’s my idea of bliss. Some that come to mind are Lady’s Maid (Margaret Forster), The Master (Colm Tóibín), Star of the Sea ( Joseph O’Connor- all three are on my 100 best books’ list. Demon Copperhead ( Barbara Kingsover) was my favourite book of last year. I had resisted it as I haven’t enjoyed any of Kingsolver’s other books but I gave it a go on the strong recommendation of two elderly genteel women I met at a charity tea and they were spot on!
What a lovely way to get book recommendations! I love the idea of becoming immersed in a doorstopper but, as you suggest, strong characterisation is essential. I hope you’ve got several lined up for winter.
Re doorstoppers, I recently finished Helen Garner’s collected diaries, found them absolutely compulsive
Definitely adding that to my list. Thank you.