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  1. Genres
  2. ›Literary Fiction

Best Literary Fiction Books

Character-driven literary works

1,050 summaries

Showing 169–192 of 1,050

  1. The Wonder

    Emma Donoghue

    ★ 3.6 (66k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    In a remote 1859 Irish village, an English nurse must determine if an eleven-year-old girl's months-long fast is a divine miracle, a cruel hoax, or a desperate act of faith, forcing her to confront the dark heart of belief and the lengths one will go to save a life.

  2. The Luminaries

    Eleanor Catton

    ★ 3.7 (66k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    In 1866 New Zealand, a young prospector uncovers a mystery involving twelve men, a missing fortune, and strange events, all tied to fate and the stars.

  3. American Pastoral

    Philip Roth

    ★ 3.9 (65k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    A decorated athlete's American dream shatters when his daughter commits an act of political terrorism, forcing him to confront the dark side of a seemingly perfect society.

  4. News of the World

    Paulette Jiles

    ★ 4.1 (65k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    In a fractured post-Civil War Texas, an aging news reader reluctantly guides a wild, Kiowa-raised girl across dangerous land, forming a bond that redefines family and home.

  5. Tropic of Cancer

    Henry Miller

    ★ 3.7 (65k) average on Goodreads

    In 1930s Paris, an American writer's hunger for life, art, and experience unfolds in a novel that redefined literature and challenged society.

  6. Animal Dreams

    Barbara Kingsolver

    ★ 4.0 (64k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    A woman returns to her dying Arizona hometown, confronting a distant father, an environmental crisis, and a captivating Apache philosopher who challenges her to reclaim her dreams and identity.

  7. Mudbound

    Hillary Jordan

    ★ 4.0 (63k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    On a Mississippi Delta farm in the Jim Crow South, a white veteran and a Black veteran form a forbidden friendship, igniting racial prejudice and familial secrets that lead to tragedy.

  8. Saturday

    Ian McEwan

    ★ 3.6 (63k) average on Goodreads

    On a single Saturday, a contented neurosurgeon's ordinary London day off unravels into a terrifying confrontation with a disturbed young man, forcing him to use his medical knowledge to protect his family amidst a city on the brink of war.

  9. This Side of Paradise

    F. Scott Fitzgerald

    ★ 3.7 (62k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    Fitzgerald's semi-autobiographical debut explores the Jazz Age's glamorous parties and sad disappointments through the eyes of an idealistic Princeton student dealing with love, ambition, and a changing generation.

  10. The Nix

    Nathan Hill

    ★ 4.1 (62k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    A struggling writer's quest to understand his estranged, radicalized mother's past after she becomes a media sensation reveals a complex family story, forcing him to confront hidden truths and reclaim his own life.

  11. Tenth of December

    George Saunders

    ★ 4.0 (62k) average on Goodreads

    In a world of backyard pole decorations and unsettling drug trials, George Saunders illuminates the struggles of ordinary people lost within their own minds and a subtly crumbling America.

  12. Fall On Your Knees

    Ann-Marie MacDonald

    ★ 4.0 (61k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    On Cape Breton, four sisters face a multigenerational saga of forbidden love, ambition, and a secret that threatens to shatter their family's web of sin, guilt, and redemption.

  13. A Thousand Acres

    Jane Smiley

    ★ 3.8 (61k) average on Goodreads

    An aging Iowa farmer's plan to divide his land among his three daughters backfires, uncovering generations of family secrets and resentments, much like the story of King Lear in the American heartland.

  14. The Lacuna

    Barbara Kingsolver

    ★ 3.8 (61k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    Between Frida Kahlo's Mexico and WWII America, Harrison Shepherd navigates a life shaped by art, revolution, and the space between personal truth and public perception.

  15. Our Souls at Night

    Kent Haruf

    ★ 3.9 (61k) average on GoodreadsRelationships

    Two widowed neighbors in rural Colorado form an unconventional bond, sharing their beds and their deepest truths to ease the loneliness of aging.

  16. The Mothers

    Brit Bennett

    ★ 3.9 (61k) average on Goodreads

    A secret teenage abortion in a Southern California town casts a long shadow over three intertwined lives, making them face the lasting impact of youthful decisions.

  17. Behold the Dreamers

    Imbolo Mbue

    ★ 3.9 (61k) average on Goodreads

    A Cameroonian immigrant family's American dream collides with the opulent, crumbling world of their Lehman Brothers executive employers as the 2008 financial crisis erupts, forcing them to confront the true cost of their aspirations.

  18. The Japanese Lover

    Isabel Allende

    ★ 3.8 (60k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    In San Francisco, a Polish heiress and a Japanese gardener's son fall in love, a secret that endures for nearly seventy years through letters and stolen moments, even as wartime internment forces them apart.

  19. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

    Aimee Bender

    ★ 3.2 (60k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A young girl who tastes emotions in food navigates her family's hidden feelings and the complexities of growing up, learning that some truths are too subtle even for her special palate.

  20. Geek Love

    Katherine Dunn

    ★ 4.0 (60k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    The Binewskis, a family of self-made human oddities, run a carny act fueled by ambition and arsenic, blurring the lines between beauty and grotesque, love and depravity, and making you question what normalcy means.

  21. Swing Time

    Zadie Smith

    ★ 3.6 (59k) average on Goodreads

    From London to West Africa, two childhood friends, linked by dance and the challenges of race and class, navigate ambition, betrayal, and the lasting impact of a broken bond.

  22. Portnoy's Complaint

    Philip Roth

    ★ 3.7 (59k) average on Goodreads

    Alexander Portnoy confesses his funny, guilt-ridden struggle between sexual desires and the strictures of his Jewish mother and upbringing.

  23. The Hotel New Hampshire

    John Irving

    ★ 3.9 (58k) average on Goodreads
  24. Pigs in Heaven

    Barbara Kingsolver

    ★ 4.0 (57k) average on Goodreads

    After a heroic rescue at the Hoover Dam puts six-year-old Turtle and her adoptive mother Taylor in the national spotlight, their new fame sparks a custody battle over Turtle's Cherokee heritage, sending them on a journey to define family and belonging.

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