Julia Armfield recommends 6 books that charm, excite and surprise

In Julia Armfield's acclaimed debut novel, "Our Wives Under the Sea," a woman is troubled by the ways her ailing marine biologist wife has changed since returning home after a deep-sea disaster. The book is now available in paperback.

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn (1989)

A novel about love and cruelty, "Geek Love" somehow makes me cry more every time I revisit it. It is, I think, one of the great novels about family and what people do to one another — more grounded and relatable than you would think a novel about a traveling freak show could be. Buy it here.

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (1905)

"The Age of Innocence" may well be her masterpiece, but "The House of Mirth" is, to me, Wharton at the height of her powers. Following the slow social descent of a protagonist who is at once infuriating and impossible to resent, it mounts a stunningly blunt attack on class and the curious cruelty of politeness. Buy it here.

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (1997)

A personal account of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, this book was the jumping-off point for my current obsession with climbing narratives. It was a wildly compelling and often surprisingly affecting place to start. Buy it here.

The Shipping News by Annie Proulx (1993)

A Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that doesn't at first appear to be hopeful, "The Shipping News" builds from a place of grief to a wonky but wonderful joy. One of the finest novels about a specific place I've ever read. The coastal setting is palpable, the writing itself somehow tinged with salt. Buy it here.

It by Stephen King (1986)

As Sally says to Harry during "Auld Lang Syne" in the closing scene of "When Harry Met Sally:" "Anyway, it's about old friends." Buy it here.

Blue Nights by Joan Didion (2011)

This is nonfiction made to work hard around absence and the lack of a story where there perhaps ought to be one. Written by Didion after her daughter, Quintana, died at 39, it's a book that deals with grief and what follows grief — the long stretch of lack that comes when understanding doesn't appear to fill the void. I return to "Blue Nights" very often both for its impact and its spare, strange rhythm. Buy it here.

This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.

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