James Clavell, Taipan
A historical adventure novel about the clash of two completely different cultures: East and West, stiff Britain and ancient Hong Kong. Political intrigues, lust for power, opium wars, friendship, betrayal and, of course, love. The magnificent language and complete immersion in the atmosphere of the 19th century make it impossible to tear yourself away from history. The combination of an intriguing plot, detailed exploration of the mysterious Chinese culture, and vivid, vibrant, conflicting characters made the book a huge success. The novel withstood dozens of reprints, was translated into many languages ​​and filmed according to the script of the author himself.

Fazil Iskander, "Sandro from Chegem"
Fazil Iskander himself attributed his work of several stories to the genre of a picaresque novel. The idea of ​​creating a novel about folk life came to him as a child, because the writer's mother was from Chegem. As a result, the work "Sandro from Chegem" became one of the main ones in his life. The main character, as the name implies, is Sandro, and all the novellas are dedicated to his life, as well as the stories of his friends, acquaintances and relatives.Sandro himself - a peasant, the son of old Khabug and an inhabitant of a large house - lived a long life full of bright events. And now he shares stories about his adventures and thoughts about life. The writer worked on the novel for more than thirty years, repeatedly rewriting and expanding individual short stories, and along with the stories about Sandro's adventures, we are faced with the difficult history of Abkhazia of the 20th century.

Isabelle Allende, Eva Luna
A novel created in the classical tradition of Latin American mystical realism. Even the very conception of the main character occurred under mysterious circumstances. Secrets and mystical coincidences become part of her life, in which she will meet her love, face the reality of the streets, and experience difficult historical events. In parallel with Eva Luna, the boy Rolf Carle lives on another continent - his life is not at all like what happens with a girl. It would seem that between them can be common? But sooner or later their destinies will cross.

Zhang Yueran, "Cocoon"
A Chinese novel about families, destinies, relationships with parents, secrets that can destroy even the strongest friendship. A very colorful and atmospheric story, from which it is impossible to break away. The whole history of China in the second half of the 20th century is shown through the life of the main characters. But despite the fact that China always personifies the "mysterious East", the listener is very close and sincerely experiences the tragic moments that happen to the characters, completely dissolving in the plot of the novel.

Victoria Hislop, "Island"
Almost all of the most interesting long novels involve family secrets from the past. And this one is no exception. This time, the main character Alex will unravel the secrets of her mother, who never talks about her life at all. It is only known that she grew up in a small town on the island of Crete, and then for some reason moved to live in London. During his trip to Crete, Alex passes by the village where his mother once lived. A friend of her mother's relative still lives there. This means that the secrets will sooner or later be revealed.

Geoffrey Eugenides, "Wedding Plot"
America in the 80s, graduating from university, a love triangle: a girl and two men. Leonard, Mitchell and Madeleine will have to figure out their feelings, understand what they want from their lives, make difficult choices, say goodbye to youth and learn to live on their own. The author himself says this: "This book is addressed to lovers - a book about love, containing the word" love "in almost every sentence."