Really great modern literature for someone with conservative taste?

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Originally Posted by LivesForever

Thank you, everybody! I know this criteria might seem ridiculous to some people, but I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help! I'll check out the ones given so far. If anyone has more ideas, by all means, keep them coming.

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After careful research, you will notice that my suggestions are the best ones by a mile.

Jus' sayin'.

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Originally Posted by mal4mac

That's a good one, and a less risky choice than the Time Travellers Wife, which tends to split people...

Brideshead Revisited gets very painful to read, after a glittering start. A Room With A View isn't painful at all.

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I didn't find Brideshead at all painful but I will agree that 'A Room With a View' is an outstanding novel. The only problem is that it was written early in the 20th century and therefore doesn't fall within the last 60 years as requested.

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Originally Posted by Emil Miller

I didn't find Brideshead at all painful but I will agree that 'A Room With a View' is an outstanding novel. The only problem is that it was written early in the 20th century and therefore doesn't fall within the last 60 years as requested.

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Brideshead Revisted was published 67 years ago.

I hear 50 Shades of Grey is popular with women... :brow:

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

Brideshead Revisted was published 67 years ago.

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Well I mentioned it as being published in 1945 but that's quite a bit different to 1908.

Awesome. Would anyone else recommend Housekeeping, A Room with a view, A Thousand Splendid Suns, or Winter's Tale?

I'm still open to other suggestions, too.
Thanks!

Oh, has anyone read "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri? Someone recently suggested that, or her other book, "Namesake", to me.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett (This one is very popular with the lady's book clubs.) They also made it into a movie, so you could get her both.

The problem with this book is that it is not "literature," although it is a best seller and a very likable read by many. It is engaging and well written, but I doubt it will be read a hundred years from now. It fits the conservative bill very well. Ask the ladies at your work if anyone read it, I'm sure there will be a few who can tell you about it.

Good luck to you! What a nice husband you are- lucky lady.

Thanks, she's read The Help and really liked it. You were spot on! I just forgot to mention it. Maybe I should clarify- I don't suppose it necessarily has to be a literary masterpiece. Just a pretty darn good book is all that's required. I'd like it to be accessible, engaging, and memorable, if possible.

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Originally Posted by LivesForever

Awesome. Would anyone else recommend Housekeeping, A Room with a view, A Thousand Splendid Suns, or Winter's Tale?

I'm still open to other suggestions, too.
Thanks!

Oh, has anyone read "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri? Someone recently suggested that, or her other book, "Namesake", to me.

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Housekeeping ~ Heavy with descriptions and introspection to the point of depressing. If you will consider something by Robinson, I would recommend Gilead.

A Room with a View ~ An engaging storyline (love story, to boot) and already established itself as a "classic".

A Thousand Splendid Suns ~ An engaging tearjerker with some hope thrown in so that the Western reader does not feel too upset.

Interpreter of Maladies ~ A short story collection. Some of them read easily, some harder going but all very good... If you are interested in cultural issues.

How about Middlesex?

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

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I'll second that one as well - a fascinating book.

I also give that one a thumbs up. It was very popular when it first came out.

Perhaps have a look at some of the films you've watched and enjoyed recently, as many films are adapted from original novels.

Sounds like Anthony Powell's 'A Dance to the Music of Time' would be a pretty good fit for what you're looking for.

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

Thousand Splendid Suns

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I agree I have read both of them and loved them.

I have just finished reading The Giver - there are four books in the series. I read it because I read a review that said if you like The Hunger Games you will love this book. It is more like 1984 than The Hunger Games but still a good read.

A set of novels by Barbara Pym might be what she would enjoy.