Last night I posed a question on Twitter. I wanted some recommendations for books that had romances in them but had a literary fiction tone. There was some back and forth on what literary fiction is, as one would expect, but I thought I would post the list of recommendations I received. In no particular order, here they are (links are Amazon affiliate links):

• The Blades of the Rose quartet by Zoe Archer (SFF)
• The Thief books by Megan Whalen Turner (SFF)
• Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers (Mystery)
• Glitterland by Alexis Hall (LGBT)
• A Woman Entangled by Cecila Grant (Historical)
• Nowhere But Home by Liza Palmer
• Possession by A.S. Byatt
• The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif
• Swann by Carol Shields
• Black Silk by Judith Ivory (Historical)
• The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart
• Fallen Angel by Charlotte Louise Dolan (Historical)
• The Monk Downstairs by Tim Farrington
• Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman
• The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (Alternate Universe)
• The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough (it’s been said this is not at all like her other work)

Authors whose works were recommended but without specifying which works:

• Pam Rosenthal
• Julia Ross
• Susanna Kearsley
• Mary Wesley
• Sherry Thomas
• Old Signet Regency romances (authors are republishing their own backlists, plus Belgrave House is repubbing several)