Oh, and A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews was pretty neat. It made me listen to the Doors and pretend I was living in the seventies for like, a week. Its Canadian, and is from 2004.
Oh, and A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews was pretty neat. It made me listen to the Doors and pretend I was living in the seventies for like, a week. Its Canadian, and is from 2004.
'Unless' by Carol Shields fits all your criteria except that she is (I think) Canadian. It's set in Canada, anyway.
"Foxfire" and "Spider Monkey" by Joyce Carol Oates - OK, she's from US but you could keep her in and throw the rest away.
The "young adult/teenage fiction" objection is a problem though. Anything with teenage protagonists is likely to be classed as "young adult/teenage." I'm thinking, for example, of Peter Dickinson, one of my favourite (British) authors. His books that win awards in the young adult categories, and which have young protagonists, tend to be those in which he explores his more serious themes - EVA, AK, Shadow of a Hero. Some of his "adult" books, on t'other hand, could best be classed as "fluff."
'Girl with a Pearl Earring' (Tracy Chevalier) is beautifully written and matches all your criteria.
Jan Siegel is an English author. her books are Prospero's Children, Dragon Charmer and Witch's Honour. her main characters are a sixteen year old girl and her younger brother.
Maybe
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Junot Diaz
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Lost-Th...2579986&sr=8-2
The Queen's Fool - Philippa Gregory
- British author
- 2004 novel set during the Elizabethan era
- follows the main character from ages 14 to 19
- draws on historical narratives, but the main plot is fiction
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon. A 15 year old autistic teenage boy as the main character, 2003, British author, winner of book prizes, classy book. The only thing is some people put it in YA category, but I think that's because of the protagonist. It's won adult book prizes.
Oops, just noticed Kelby mentioned it....:blush:
God's Own Country - Ross Raisin. About a teenage boy who lives with his parents on a farm in Yorkshire; quite similar to the wasp factory in some respects. Good read. Some great yorkshire words in it.