The Far Pavilions

I was a big fan of The Dutch House by Ann Patchett.

+1 on house of the spirits (chile stretching over Kent generations)

A more recent one is The World of Tomorrow by Brendan Mathews (1930s NYC bringing together thread of different communities plus a mob hit).

The Murmur of Bees (Mexico a family over several generrarions through revolution and civil war)

A Suitable Boy is a modern classic set in India.

Pachinko is the best recent epic I can think of.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anything by James Michener?

I've never read any James Michener. Do you think it would feel dated? He's written a lot of books - favorites?

NP, but I enjoyed Texas and Space.

War and Peace is stunning. I liked it even more than Anna Karenina.

Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks is also excellent, but depressing. Also Theodor Fontane’s Effie Briest, which is not quite as depressing.

Middlemarch is another favorite. Mill on the Floss would be good, too (and I haven’t read Daniel Deronda yet, but I think it would fit the bill also).

The Victorians generally are good at big books that follow multiple intertwined characters across time and complicated, dramatic relationships - Dickens, Hardy, Elizabeth Gaskell, Trollope, Thackeray.

And finally, if you can deal with Faulkner (he’s not everyone’s cup of tea), his books aren’t long but Absalom Absalom sure does pack in a lot of drama and emotion.

Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons

Adding to the list:

Sarum by Edward Rutherford
Palace of Desire by Naguib Mahfouz

OP here loving all these recs.

I thought of a few more that I've loved if anyone else is looking.

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard

Vanity Fair

Jane Eyre
Roots
The House of the Spirits (and a lot of Allende’s other books, too)

Doctor Zhivago

Some good recs here.
I’d add the Ibis trilogy by Amitav Ghosh, and Glass Palace by the same author
Poisonwood bible
Loot by Tania James
All the light we cannot see

Condominium by John D MacDonald. Dated but universal emotions. How Lost Florida got lost.

The Cromwell Trilogy by Hilary Mandel.

Pillars of the Earth; Agony and the Ecstasy—these two are right in line with your list.

Jack Whyte’s “A Dream of Eagles” series, the first of which is Skystone, is like a more mature/literary Game of Thrones. It blends Roman military history with antecedents of Arthurian legend. Good stuff. For the more explicitly Arthurian/magic stuff, try the Mists of Avalon.

Others in the grand vein include To Serve Them All My Days (or anything by RF Delderfield) and Trinity (Leon Uris).