Here’s a list of feel-good novels to help with uncertain times
Submit answer to quiz by Oct. 15 for chance to win free tour of National Gallery
“Four more years! What to do?”
In January 2025, that yelp echoed throughout the landscape — north of the 49th parallel. You may have heard it, felt the emotion or yelped yourself. “What to do?” indeed.
It is challenging to simply feel good in times bereft of a clear horizon, clouded by the fogs of war and jingoistic bluster. The media’s reporting on our booming, buzzing world is even more confounding. Especially so when accompanied by maze-like ‘rabbit holes’ and seductive ‘echo chambers’, both of which skew perspectives. Then there’s the allure of the addictive and darkening distractions of ‘doom-scrolling’.
How to get some distance from it all? I lucked into a couple of gentle and refreshing oases in the form of two strategies. Both strategies are well known to boost one’s wellbeing.
The first strategy focused on reading one feel-good novel every month for the next 48 months. (Note, I’ve already read eight — see a few titles below — as of this writing there are 40 months left).
See below for the second strategy and quiz to win a free tour at the National Gallery of Canada.
Started in January
This past January, I had just finished a novel that simply made me feel good. I regretted finishing this story and I wanted further chapters to reveal or hint at a possible after-novel story.
When reading a feel-good novel, one is provoked to quietly cheer when things go well for the key characters. On the other hand, you hope for reversals when things do not. It is life affirming to feel alleluias when plot lines inch toward redemption or resolution.
The following month, I chanced upon a second feel-good novel. Two for two in the feel-good reading experience! It is then I embarked on a feel-good reading project: to read a feel-good novel every month for the next four years.
What does a feel-good novel look like?
Regardless of style or era, a feel-good story has relatable characters whose challenges are familiar. These deal with events we have witnessed, have personally experienced or can easily imagine. Examples include the dips, swirls and epiphanies rooted in friendships, the setbacks and detours in pursuits of elusive goals, or chancing upon unexpected self-discovery.
The range of emotions and character traits are equally realistic and not foreign to us as they embody the many aspects of the human drama with which we can identify — the everyday hopes and fears, victories and vulnerabilities, anxieties and vindications.
The characters, themes and plot lines may involve true-to-life twists and the challenges of overcoming difficulties that are the usual fare of most novels. But, in feel-good novels the narrative tone tends to be bighearted.
The story line is on the spectrum of endearing, exuberant, passionate and life-affirming. The characters tend to be victorious personalities, invulnerable even when flawed; they are redeemable, recognizable, and realistic.
Being a story well told also counts. Having an unaffected literary aura and an engaging narrative flow cannot but add to the pleasure of the reading experience.
No mystery
There’s no mystery to this. You know that you have read a feel-good novel when you’ve smiled that interior happy smile. When that happens, you know you have had a privileged reading experience.
Seven months in, the seven feel-good reads have been a beneficial boost. As a bonus, they have provoked many feel-good conversations with my neighbours and fellow dog-walkers.
What qualifies as a feel-good novel? Here are a few that have encouraged me to keep the project going. Perhaps you have read one or more from this list?
You Are Here, by David Nicholls
The Year Of The Child, by Niall Williams
Mr. Loverman, by Bernardine Evaristo
Still Life, by Sarah Winman
Three Years To Play, by Colin MacInnis
Himself, by Jess Kidd
So far, the feel-good project feels good. I’ve kept my resolution. Those who have joined me have also felt an uplift in wellbeing,
This is an invitation for you to join me in this 48-month feel-good project and perhaps make a suggestion or two.
With three-and-half-years to go, I need to shore up my list of feel-good novels. So, I look forward to recommendations that Chronicle readers may make. Please email your suggestions to editor@manorparkchronicle.com and these will be shared in a future article.
Draw for a free National Gallery tour
The second feel-good strategy involves a free tour of the National Gallery of Canada. To win a free tour, submit an answer to the quiz below.
I have been a docent at the Gallery for close to 20 years. I can talk about some of the Gallery’s treasures — having a conversation about art is invariably life-affirming. During a mindful and purposeful meander, we will look, think and wonder about why art matters. We’ll also look at why it makes art viewers feel good.
The winner of the free tour will be drawn from the names of those who have submitted the right answer to the question below. If there are no right answers, the draw will be from those who have expressed interest in a guided Gallery tour.
• Submit your answer to editor@manorparkchronicle.com.
• The draw will take place on Oct. 15, 2025.
• The winner will be announced in the next issue of the Chronicle, to be published on Nov. 6.
Question:
The “elbows up” figure in the featured image is a blow-up from one of the National Gallery’s treasures. Who is the artist?
