
Company of Liars
Karen Maitland
2008 · 576 pages · Historical fiction
How it reads
Company of Liars is historical fiction (medieval plague thriller, specifically), and its dominant mood is dark. It goes to difficult places and doesn't look away. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.
It's set in several locations, in the historical past, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are survival, faith and class and society. In weight it's heavy and literary — denser, more serious, and more demanding of you.
It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is bittersweet: it resolves, but at a price. At 576 pages it's a real commitment. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.
Pick it up if…
- you're in the mood for something dark
- you want something to chew on
- you want a complete story in one book
Maybe not if…
- you need something cosy, heartwarming or funny
- you want something you can finish this weekend
All 15 dimensions
- Genre
- historical fiction
- Author gender
- female
- Author experience
- established
- Setting: place
- multiple locations
- Setting: time
- historical
- Mood / feeling
- dark
- Pace
- moderate
- Tone / weight
- heavy and literary
- Length
- long
- Narrative style
- third person, several viewpoints
- Publication era
- recent
- Popularity
- moderately known
- Series vs standalone
- standalone
- Themes
- survival, faith, class and society
- Ending style
- bittersweet
What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.
Books with a similar reading
The closest books in Match Book's catalogue across the same dimensions, and what they share.
The Feast of All SaintsAnne RiceShares: historical fiction, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
The Kitchen HouseKathleen GrissomShares: historical fiction, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
Bone HouseBetsy TobinShares: historical fiction, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
The Doll FactoryElizabeth MacnealShares: historical fiction, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace- The Manningtree WitchesA.K. BlakemoreShares: historical fiction, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
- Clytemnestra's BindSusan C. WilsonShares: historical fiction, dark mood, heavy and literary tone, moderate pace
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