31 must-read fiction books like Undercurrent by Barney Norris

Cover of Undercurrent by Barney Norris

Undercurrent

By: Barney Norris

3.55

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

'The beginning of summer. Perhaps it crosses my mind even now while I wait for news of Amy that som…

If you liked the fiction plot in Undercurrent by Barney Norris , here is a list of 31 books like this:

Cover of The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan

1. The Spinning Heart

By: Donal Ryan

4.27

Format: 637 pages, Hardcover

In the aftermath of Ireland's financial collapse, dangerous tensions surface in an Irish town. As v… read more

Similar categories in Donal Ryan's The Spinning Heart book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of Caledonian Road by Andrew O'Hagan

2. Caledonian Road

By: Andrew O'Hagan

3.96

Format: 608 pages, Hardcover

A biting portrait of British class, politics, and money told through five interconnected families a… read more

Similar categories in Andrew O'Hagan's Caledonian Road book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry

3. Old God's Time

By: Sebastian Barry

3.85

Format: 261 pages, Hardcover

From the two-time Booker Prize finalist author, a dazzlingly written novel exploring love, memory, … read more

Similar categories in Sebastian Barry's Old God's Time book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
"Per ell aquest era el sentit de la jubilació, de l'existència: estar-de immòbil, feliç i inútil"

-Sebastian Barry, Old God's Time

"Per ell aquest era el sentit de la jubilació, de l'existència: estar-se immòbil, feliç i inútil"

-Sebastian Barry, Old God's Time

"No one minds life as long as they are not trying to leave it. Nor death, as long as they are not dying."

-Sebastian Barry, Old God's Time

Cover of Bournville by Jonathan Coe

4. Bournville

By: Jonathan Coe

3.81

Format: 354 pages, Hardcover

From the bestselling, award-winning author of Middle England comes a profoundly moving, brutally fu… read more

Similar categories in Jonathan Coe's Bournville book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of Shy by Max Porter

5. Shy

By: Max Porter

3.63

Format: 136 pages, Hardcover

A novel about guilt, rage, imagination, and boyhood, about being lost in the dark and learning you’… read more

Similar categories in Max Porter's Shy book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
"He could learn to speak this language: night-end."

-Max Porter, Shy

"He feels colossally sad. Blisteringly sad. Almost ecstatically sad."

-Max Porter, Shy

"Shy said It's our music, coming out of our shit towns, it's not from Staten Island or Seattle or Detroit, it's from Walsall and Watford. Shaun and his mate Andy burst out laughing and Andy did a sque…"

-Max Porter, Shy

"He smells of pond. Everything smells of pond. He feels like he could sniff his way into individual microbes, earthy worming growgreen liquid stink, newts and shoots, silty, fruity, and as he walks he…"

-Max Porter, Shy

Cover of Water by John Boyne

6. Water

By: John Boyne

4.33

Format: 176 pages, Hardcover

The first thing Vanessa Carvin does when she arrives on the island is change her name. To the local… read more

Similar categories in John Boyne's Water book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of Earth by John Boyne

7. Earth

By: John Boyne

4.34

Format: 168 pages, Kindle Edition

From million-copy-bestselling author John Boyne, an inescapably gritty story about one young man wh… read more

Similar categories in John Boyne's Earth book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of The Romantic by William  Boyd

8. The Romantic

By: William Boyd

4.15

Format: 451 pages, Paperback

Set in the 19th century, The Romantic is the story of life itself. Following the roller-coaster for… read more

Similar categories in William Boyd's The Romantic book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
Cover of Close to Home by Michael  Magee

9. Close to Home

By: Michael Magee

4.06

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

While growing up in West Belfast, Sean does every­thing he's supposed to do. He works hard, he stud… read more

Similar categories in Michael Magee's Close to Home book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of The New Life by Tom  Crewe

10. The New Life

By: Tom Crewe

3.77

Format: 392 pages, Hardcover

Two Victorian marriages, two dangerous love affairs, one extraordinary partnership . . .London, 189… read more

Similar categories in Tom Crewe's The New Life book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
"Science requires a rational audience."

-Tom Crewe, The New Life

"True development does not respect comfort."

-Tom Crewe, The New Life

"We British are used to being ruthless, of course, but only the men. The women aren't. We don't grab. We shouldn't . But we have to, to make some room for ourselves."

-Tom Crewe, The New Life

"...John wondered if she would ever be so unthinkingly imperious again; whether her childish powers of command would survive the dislocation from home, the knowledge of her smallness in the greater wo…"

-Tom Crewe, The New Life

Cover of In Memoriam by Alice Winn

11. In Memoriam

By: Alice Winn

4.53

Format: 382 pages, Hardcover

A haunting, virtuosic debut novel about two young men who fall in love during a time of war. It'… read more

Similar categories in Alice Winn's In Memoriam book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
"It’s intimate."

-Alice Winn, In Memoriam

"Call me Sidney,"

-Alice Winn, In Memoriam

"Where’s the rest of it?"

-Alice Winn, In Memoriam

"Do you believe in magic?"

-Alice Winn, In Memoriam

Cover of Lessons by Ian McEwan

12. Lessons

By: Ian McEwan

4.00

Format: 448 pages, Hardcover

When the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has closed, … read more

Similar categories in Ian McEwan's Lessons book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
"Books are difficult to tidy. Hard to chuck out. They resist."

-Ian McEwan, Lessons

"Only the backward look, the well-researched history could tell peaks and troughs from portals."

-Ian McEwan, Lessons

"What must it be, to burst out of deep infant sleep into the shocking singular fact of existence."

-Ian McEwan, Lessons

"The years slid over old deaths like a heavy lid. Nearly everything that happens to you in life you forget. Should have kept a journal."

-Ian McEwan, Lessons

Cover of Absolutely and Forever by Rose Tremain

13. Absolutely and Forever

By: Rose Tremain

3.90

Format: 177 pages, Kindle Edition

A piercing short novel of thwarted love and true friendship from one of our greatest living writers… read more

Similar categories in Rose Tremain's Absolutely and Forever book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy

14. Soldier Sailor

By: Claire Kilroy

4.10

Format: 256 pages, ebook

Well, Sailor. Here we are once more, you and me in one another's arms. The Earth rotates beneath us… read more

Similar categories in Claire Kilroy's Soldier Sailor book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
"I laughed and then we were doing that thing again, our thing: laughing into one another's eyes. All that time I had thought I was jollying you along when all that time you were jollying along me."

-Claire Kilroy, Soldier Sailor

"I tell my husband about my childhood and he tells me about his but it isn't the same. We can never know each other as we were then. But I know you. I will see the child you were in the man you will b…"

-Claire Kilroy, Soldier Sailor

"Hated cling film. Hated it more than I hated kinetic sand. Defeated by something that lacked a third dimension. While I'd been off tinkering on the cerebral plane, the smart money has been mastering …"

-Claire Kilroy, Soldier Sailor

"I knelt down to pick up the hatchling to . . . . what? Give it back to its mother? Here is your dying chick? Just before I made contact with it, she dive-bombed me. The mother actually dive-bombed me…"

-Claire Kilroy, Soldier Sailor

Cover of Western Lane by Chetna Maroo

15. Western Lane

By: Chetna Maroo

3.51

Format: 160 pages, Hardcover

Shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize A taut, enthralling first novel about grief, sisterhood, a… read more

Similar categories in Chetna Maroo's Western Lane book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of In Ascension by Martin MacInnes

16. In Ascension

By: Martin MacInnes

3.79

Format: 496 pages, Paperback

An astonishing novel about a young microbiologist investigating an unfathomable deep vent in the oc… read more

Similar categories in Martin MacInnes's In Ascension book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
"I questioned what else I had already missed so far, in my own life, simply through the limits of my character."

-Martin MacInnes, In Ascension

"Once he had committed to this life, there was no way he could get out of it. He was angry at us, his daughters, because the financial demands of our existence bound him to it."

-Martin MacInnes, In Ascension

"I kind of love it. It's so macabre. The reason we haven't seen or heard from anything off-world is that reaching off-world status is a civilisational death knell. Life either gets stuck there or dest…"

-Martin MacInnes, In Ascension

"The air was thick with teeming life, just as the oceans and the rivers were. A spoonful of seawater or a pinch of soil between your fingers held billions of living things. We were blind to this out o…"

-Martin MacInnes, In Ascension

Cover of Kala by Colin Walsh

17. Kala

By: Colin Walsh

3.99

Format: 416 pages, Hardcover

A gripping literary page-turner from a rising Irish talent in which former friends, estranged for t… read more

Similar categories in Colin Walsh's Kala book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
"Vapers are cunt wands,' Donna snaps."

-Colin Walsh, Kala

"I just want to switch myself off. Disconnect from everything."

-Colin Walsh, Kala

"So much of the night's vague. A film strip with half the frames missing."

-Colin Walsh, Kala

"Who drinks a decaf cappuccino? Be honest with yourself and get a cup of warm milk."

-Colin Walsh, Kala

Cover of Breakdown by Cathy Sweeney

18. Breakdown

By: Cathy Sweeney

3.81

Format: 224 pages, Hardcover

One winter morning, in contemporary Dublin, a middle-class woman wakes up next to her husband in he… read more

Similar categories in Cathy Sweeney's Breakdown book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of The Coast Road by Alan Murrin

19. The Coast Road

By: Alan Murrin

3.99

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

A poignant and heartbreaking debut novel set in the 1990s in a claustrophobic coast town. With divo… read more

Similar categories in Alan Murrin's The Coast Road book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of Enlightenment by Sarah Perry

20. Enlightenment

By: Sarah Perry

3.70

Format: 384 pages, Hardcover

A dazzling new work of literary fiction from the author of The Essex Serpent, a story of love and a… read more

Similar categories in Sarah Perry's Enlightenment book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
"Thomas [Hart] lived where he'd been born, and where (so he often thought without rancor) he'd very likely die; and if he lived alone he was not lonely, that being a condition not of solitude but of l…"

-Sarah Perry, Enlightenment

"So I told her this: that it's true I've only rarely been happy, and perhaps more often been sad. But I have been content. I have lived. I have felt everything available to me: I've been faithless, de…"

-Sarah Perry, Enlightenment

"I wish I could say, James, that we forgave each other in the end. I wish I could say: she put her head on my shoulder and I welcomed it and we laughed and said all was well. But in fact we were quiet…"

-Sarah Perry, Enlightenment

"...in the ordinary way we love because we're loved, and give more or less what we're given. But to love without return is more strange and more wonderful, and not the humiliating thing I'd once taken…"

-Sarah Perry, Enlightenment

Cover of Orbital by Samantha Harvey

21. Orbital

By: Samantha Harvey

3.73

Format: 207 pages, Hardcover

A slender novel of epic power, Orbital  deftly snapshots one day in the lives of six women and men … read more

Similar categories in Samantha Harvey's Orbital book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
"Maybe we're the new dinosaurs and need to watch out."

-Samantha Harvey, Orbital

"The past comes, the future, the past, the future. It's always now, it's never now."

-Samantha Harvey, Orbital

"Raw space is a panther, feral and primal; they dream it stalking through their quarters."

-Samantha Harvey, Orbital

"That's all this great human endeavor of space exploration really is, he thinks, an animal migration, a bid for survival. A looping song sent into the open, a territorial animal song."

-Samantha Harvey, Orbital

Cover of Service by Sarah Gilmartin

22. Service

By: Sarah Gilmartin

4.24

Format: 256 pages, Hardcover

The waitress. The chef. The chef’s wife. Three different stories, but which one contains the truth?… read more

Similar categories in Sarah Gilmartin's Service book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of The Mess We’re In by Annie Macmanus

23. The Mess We’re In

By: Annie Macmanus

3.40

Format: 376 pages, Hardcover

I’m a Londoner now. I’m a voice in the noise. I’m ready. It’s the turn of the millennium and, la… read more

Similar categories in Annie Macmanus's The Mess We’re In book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
Cover of My Friends by Hisham Matar

24. My Friends

By: Hisham Matar

4.34

Format: 399 pages, Hardcover

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Return , a luminous novel of friendship, family, and … read more

Similar categories in Hisham Matar's My Friends book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
"A vast distance exists between a protester and his slogan; the entire history of politics exists in that gap."

-Hisham Matar, My Friends

"For a writer, exile is prison, a severing from the source, and so, courageous or not, he dies in front of our eyes."

-Hisham Matar, My Friends

"She was older and all the more beautiful, had the weary tiredness of one who, in surrendering to her life, was ennobled by it."

-Hisham Matar, My Friends

"I walked off feeling an emptiness well up inside me. It seemed, for all the emptiness that it was, a presence. It made me want to run away, dive deeper into myself, into that cold desolation, to the …"

-Hisham Matar, My Friends

Cover of This Family by Kate Sawyer

25. This Family

By: Kate Sawyer

3.83

Format: 416 pages, Hardcover

This house. This family. Mary has raised a family in this house. Watched her children play and l… read more

Similar categories in Kate Sawyer's This Family book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore

26. The Garnett Girls

By: Georgina Moore

3.64

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

In this brilliant debut novel full of heart and warmth, three very different sisters--and their fre… read more

Similar categories in Georgina Moore's The Garnett Girls book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
"It wasn't until the small daily gestures of affection disappeared in a marriage that you noticed them or knew how much you relied on them to break up the grind of work and childcare. They were the be…"

-Georgina Moore, The Garnett Girls

Cover of The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller

27. The Memory of Animals

By: Claire Fuller

3.61

Format: 278 pages, Hardcover

From the award-winning author of Our Endless Numbered Days, Swimming Lessons, Bitter Orange, and Un… read more

Similar categories in Claire Fuller's The Memory of Animals book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
"Humans are useless at learning from their mistakes. We just have to keep making new plans."

-Claire Fuller, The Memory of Animals

Cover of Held by Anne   Michaels

28. Held

By: Anne Michaels

3.66

Format: 240 pages, Hardcover

A breathtaking and mysterious new novel from the beloved Anne Michaels, internationally bestselling… read more

Similar categories in Anne Michaels's Held book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
"Who can say what happens when we are remembered?"

-Anne Michaels, Held

"Do we really need our own misery to teach us to be kind?"

-Anne Michaels, Held

"We know life is finite. Why should we believe death lasts forever?"

-Anne Michaels, Held

"Would he know the moment of his death or would it be like night falling."

-Anne Michaels, Held

Cover of The Unwilding by Marina Kemp

29. The Unwilding

By: Marina Kemp

4.23

Format: 404 pages, Kindle Edition

A stunning new novel of power, desire and the secrets all families carry, from the acclaimed author… read more

Similar categories in Marina Kemp's The Unwilding book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
Cover of Undercurrent by Barney Norris

30. Undercurrent

By: Barney Norris

3.55

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

'The beginning of summer. Perhaps it crosses my mind even now while I wait for news of Amy that som… read more

Similar categories in Barney Norris's Undercurrent book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of Gabriel's Moon by William  Boyd

31. Gabriel's Moon

By: William Boyd

4.33

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

In his most exhilarating novel yet, Britain’s greatest storyteller transports you from the vibrant … read more

Similar categories in William Boyd's Gabriel's Moon book and Barney Norris's Undercurrent

  • fiction

24 Best contemporary books like Undercurrent by Barney Norris

Transform Your Habits

The Spinning Heart

Donal Ryan

4.27

Transform Your Habits

Caledonian Road

Andrew O'Hagan

3.96

Transform Your Habits

Old God's Time

Sebastian Barry

3.85

Transform Your Habits

Bournville

Jonathan Coe

3.81

View all the books

21 must-read fiction books like The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller

Transform Your Habits

The Wren, the Wren

Anne Enright

3.55

Transform Your Habits

Normal Rules Don't Apply: Stories

Kate Atkinson

3.71

Transform Your Habits

August Blue

Deborah Levy

3.68

Transform Your Habits

The Future

Naomi Alderman

3.86

View all the books

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