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  1. Genres
  2. ›Literary Fiction

Best Literary Fiction Books

Character-driven literary works

1,050 summaries

Showing 601–624 of 1,050

  1. In Search of Lost Time

    Marcel Proust

    ★ 4.3 (10k) average on GoodreadsPhilosophy

    A man eats a madeleine, which sends him on a long, inward journey through memory, society, and the nature of time as he puts back together a lost world.

  2. Swimming Home

    Deborah Levy

    ★ 3.3 (10k) average on GoodreadsPsychology

    At a French Riviera villa, a seemingly perfect vacation unravels, exposing the destructive power of hidden depression within a group of flawed tourists over one scorching week.

  3. Le Grand Meaulnes

    Alain-Fournier

    ★ 3.8 (10k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    A story about adolescent longing and the pursuit of a lost estate, chasing the memory of an enchanted day.

  4. Mao II

    Don DeLillo

    ★ 3.7 (10k) average on Goodreads

    A reclusive novelist leaves his quiet life to help release a hostage in Beirut, finding that the power to shape culture has moved from writing to violent acts, leaving his personal life in disarray.

  5. The Custom of the Country

    Edith Wharton

    ★ 4.0 (10k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    Undine Spragg's relentless social climbing in early 20th-century New York exposes the emptiness of ambition and the fleeting nature of success in a world of changing values.

  6. Doctor Faustus

    Thomas Mann

    ★ 4.1 (10k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    A brilliant German composer trades his soul for artistic genius, his tragic decline mirroring Germany's catastrophic embrace of nihilism and the rise of the Third Reich.

  7. The River King

    Alice Hoffman

    ★ 3.7 (10k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a town where social currents run deep and separate, the discovery of a student's body in the river forces a local detective to navigate the hidden truths beneath the polished surface of an elite prep school.

  8. The Music of Chance

    Paul Auster

    ★ 3.9 (10k) average on Goodreads

    After a fireman squanders an inheritance on aimless wandering, he and a brash gambler lose everything in a rigged poker game, forcing them to repay their debt by building a mysterious stone wall for two eccentric millionaires in a desolate Pennsylvania field.

  9. Beware of Pity

    Stefan Zweig

    ★ 4.2 (10k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    A young officer's brief moment of pity for a disabled heiress turns into a web of well-meaning lies, tragically linking their lives and showing how complicated human emotions can be.

  10. This Book Will Save Your Life

    A.M. Homes

    ★ 3.7 (10k) average on Goodreads

    A divorced stockbroker's life implodes with a heart attack and a sinkhole, forcing him to forge unlikely connections in a surreal Los Angeles that mirrors his own apocalyptic transformation.

  11. The Black Book

    Orhan Pamuk

    ★ 3.9 (10k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    In Istanbul, a lawyer's search for his missing wife leads him to assume the identity of a newspaper columnist, blurring reality and history.

  12. The Ginger Man

    J.P. Donleavy

    ★ 3.6 (10k) average on Goodreads

    Follow the uproarious, booze-fueled misadventures of Sebastian Dangerfield, an American ne'er-do-well with an insatiable appetite for women and chaos, as he charmingly navigates post-WWII Dublin.

  13. The Intuitionist

    Colson Whitehead

    ★ 3.7 (10k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In an alternate-reality metropolis, the city's first black female elevator inspector, a master of the mystical Intuitionist method, must clear her name after a catastrophic crash. She uncovers a conspiracy that challenges her perception of truth, technology, and self.

  14. Such a Long Journey

    Rohinton Mistry

    ★ 4.0 (10k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    In chaotic 1971 Bombay, a bank clerk's life spirals into danger and political deceit as he navigates family crises and the birth of a new nation.

  15. Men Without Women

    Ernest Hemingway

    ★ 3.6 (10k) average on Goodreads

    In a world stripped bare by war, sport, and the unspoken tensions between men and women, Hemingway's characters grapple with betrayal, loss, and the stark realities of existence in these gritty, formative tales.

  16. Ghana Must Go

    Taiye Selasi

    ★ 3.8 (10k) average on Goodreads

    A Ghanaian surgeon's sudden death reveals his estranged family's complex history, forcing them to confront secrets and find a path to healing.

  17. Dreaming in Cuban

    Cristina García

    ★ 3.7 (10k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    In a magically real Cuba, the del Pino family faces the bittersweet legacy of revolution, their lives marked by longing, division, and the enduring pull of a homeland both beautiful and broken.

  18. A Case of Exploding Mangoes

    Mohammed Hanif

    ★ 3.8 (10k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    In a dark comedy about political plots, a Pakistani Air Force pilot works with an odd group, including a hash-smoking American and a mango-loving crow, to kill dictator General Zia ul-Haq, only to learn many others also want him dead.

  19. Eleanor Rigby

    Douglas Coupland

    ★ 3.6 (10k) average on Goodreads

    A reclusive woman's life is upended by the sudden return of the eccentric son she gave up for adoption, leading to bizarre and poignant events that force her to confront her loneliness.

  20. The Mosquito Coast

    Paul Theroux

    ★ 3.8 (10k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    A brilliant but increasingly unhinged inventor drags his family into the Honduran jungle to build a 'perfect' society, only to shatter their lives with his escalating paranoia and disastrous ambition.

  21. Love

    Toni Morrison

    ★ 3.8 (10k) average on Goodreads

    In a fading beach town, the ghost of the charismatic Bill Cosey continues to ignite a furious, multi-generational battle among the women who loved, hated, and were forever bound by his complicated legacy.

  22. Zero K

    Don DeLillo

    ★ 3.2 (10k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a secret compound where death is a choice and immortality a promise, a son confronts his billionaire father's pursuit of a technologically-resurrected future, making him face the beauty and terror of life in the present.

  23. To a God Unknown

    John Steinbeck

    ★ 3.9 (9k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    In California's fertile valleys, a man's deep respect for a tree, which he believes holds his father's spirit, conflicts with his brother's strict faith, leading to a devastating fight against nature and the unknown.

  24. Mama Day

    Gloria Naylor

    ★ 4.2 (9k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    On a mystical island where ancestral magic intertwines with modern skepticism, a powerful healer must reconcile with her headstrong great-niece to combat a looming darkness threatening to consume their legacy.

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