Trending in Literary Fiction

The Correspondent

Virginia Evans · Literary Fiction

Discover the word-of-mouth hit hailed by Ann Patchett as “A cause for celebration”—an intimate novel about the transformative power of the written…

slow burn · second chance romance · workplace romance

Yesteryear

Caro Claire Burke · Literary Fiction

***'My name is Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive…'*** Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle – and has the social media…

dark academia · psychological thriller · twist ending · unreliable narrator · gothic atmosphere

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol 3

Beth Brower · Literary Fiction

historical fiction

Kin

Tayari Jones · Literary Fiction

A Most Anticipated Book for 2026 according to the New York Times, New Statesman, NPR, Guardian, Independent, Financial Times, Daily Express, Mirror,…

coming of age · found family

Heart the Lover

Lily King · Literary Fiction

*You knew I’d write a book about you someday.* Our narrator understands good love stories—their secrets and subtext, their highs and their free…

historical fiction

The Secret History

Donna Tartt · Literary Fiction

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of…

dark academia · psychological thriller · morally grey character · found family

Remarkably Bright Creatures

Shelby Van Pelt · Literary Fiction

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night cleaner shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium.

found family · coming of age · missing person · cozy vibes

Audition

Katie Kitamura · Literary Fiction

Two people meet for lunch in a Manhattan restaurant.

psychological thriller · obsessive love · unreliable narrator · morally grey character

Homebound

Portia Elan · Literary Fiction

'A work of joyous and serious invention' KALIANE BRADLEY 'Gripping...

magical realism · historical fiction · multiple timelines

The Bright Years

Sarah Damoff · Literary Fiction

Ryan and Lillian Bright are deeply in love, recently married, and now parents to a baby girl, Georgette.

coming of age · found family · trauma recovery

The Favorites

Layne Fargo · Literary Fiction

**To the world, they were a scandal.

enemies to lovers · coming of age · slow burn · obsessive love · forbidden romance

Moderation

Elaine Castillo · Literary Fiction

Girlie, a thirty-something Filipinx-American, works a day job at a social-media moderation centre, flagging and removing the very worst that makes it…

morally grey character · workplace romance · coming of age · psychological thriller

Cleopatra

Saara El-Arifi · Literary Fiction

Cleopatra tells her own story in this evocative and sensuous historical epic from the bestselling and award-winning author of Faebound and The Final…

historical fiction · forbidden romance

Nowhere Burning

Catriona Ward · Literary Fiction

Nowhere Burning is a harrowing tale of survival that places the dark fairy tale of Peter Pan and the ruthless dangers of Lord of the Flies into the…

dark academia · coming of age · survival · morally grey character

1984

George Orwell · Literary Fiction

"Big Brother is Watching You." In a world where truth is dictated by the Party, freedom is slavery, and war is peace, Winston Smith dares to think…

dystopian society · psychological thriller · political intrigue · survival

The Reformatory

Tananarive Due · Literary Fiction

"Gracetown, Florida. June 1950. Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for…

coming of age · historical fiction · trauma recovery · survival

A Guardian and a Thief

Megha Majumdar · Literary Fiction

In a near-future Kolkata, Ma, her two-year-old daughter, and her elderly father are just days from leaving the collapsing city behind to join Ma's…

historical fiction · coming of age

The Calamity Club

Kathryn Stockett · Literary Fiction

Oxford, Mississippi, 1933. Eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one. Ever since her beloved mother failed to come home…

coming of age · found family · historical fiction · trauma recovery

Daisy Jones and the Six

Taylor Jenkins Reid · Literary Fiction

A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous…

historical fiction · found family · road trip · coming of age

Into the Blue

Emma Brodie · Literary Fiction

'The truth is there's no such thing as a normal life.

coming of age · small town · slow burn

Flashlight

Susan Choi · Literary Fiction

One summer night, Louisa and her father take a walk on the breakwater.

unreliable narrator · multiple timelines · psychological thriller · twist ending · trauma recovery

Kingfisher

Rozie Kelly · Literary Fiction

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION She smelled like jasmine.

obsessive love · workplace romance · morally grey character · forbidden romance

A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing

Alice Evelyn Yang · Literary Fiction

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION A dark, magical realist debut family saga that moves through the Japanese occupation of Manchuria,…

magical realism · historical fiction · coming of age · trauma recovery

The Nightingale

Kristin Hannah · Literary Fiction

Despite their differences, sisters Vianne and Isabelle have always been close.

historical fiction · coming of age · survival

Gloria Don't Speak

Lucy Apps · Literary Fiction

Gloria has a learning disability.

coming of age · found family · trauma recovery · small town

The Others

Sheena Kalayil · Literary Fiction

Secrets, lies and love as the DDR collapses.

coming of age · historical fiction · found family · forbidden romance

Paradiso 17

Hannah Lillith Assadi · Literary Fiction

The intimate, sweeping tale of one man’s restless search for home the world over, as the pendulum of fate swings between loss and life, grief and…

coming of age · road trip

The Benefactors

Wendy Erskine · Literary Fiction

AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVEL 2025 'I couldn't put this book down' Sheena Patel, author of I'm a Fan 'A powerful, moving, compelling, utterly…

found family · coming of age · small town

Love

Toni Morrison · Literary Fiction

The epitome of a group of women's ideals about love, fatherhood, and friendship, wealthy hotel owner Bill Cosey finds his life compromised by his…

forbidden romance · dark romance · trauma recovery · obsessive love · morally grey character

Lord of the Flies

William Golding · Literary Fiction

Introduction by E.M. Forster.

coming of age · survival · closed circle · grimdark

The Women

Kristin Hannah · Literary Fiction

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the…

historical fiction · coming of age · found family · survival

SHE WHO REMAINS

Rene Karabash · Literary Fiction

High in the Accursed Mountains, in a village ruled by the ancient laws of the Kanun, Bekija escapes an arranged marriage by becoming a sworn virgin,…

historical fiction · coming of age · forbidden romance · trauma recovery

The Names

Florence Knapp · Literary Fiction

**The extraordinary novel that asks: Can a name change the course of a life?** In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her…

psychological thriller · trauma recovery · survival

Honey

Jack Woodford · Literary Fiction

historical fiction

The Hive

Melissa Scholes Young · Literary Fiction

The Hive is a story of survival, sisters, and secrets.

found family · coming of age · small town · survival

Boy's Life

Robert McCammon · Literary Fiction

An Alabama boy's innocence is shaken by murder and madness in the 1960s South in this novel by the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song.

coming of age · small town · trauma recovery · historical fiction

Transcription

Ben Lerner · Literary Fiction

Named a Novel Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026 by the New York Times • One of Literary Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2026 From the “most…

unreliable narrator · twist ending · psychological thriller

The Things We Never Say

Elizabeth Strout · Literary Fiction

Pulitzer Prize–winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Strout’s new novel tells the story of a chance incident that sparks a powerful…

coming of age · small town · found family

The Emperor of Gladness

Ocean Vuong · Literary Fiction

One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting…

coming of age

The Midnight Train

Matt Haig · Literary Fiction

When your life flashes before your eyes, where would you stop?

magical realism · time travel · second chance romance · trauma recovery

The Burning Side

Sarah Damoff · Literary Fiction

When their house goes up in flames, family secrets and thorny histories emerge as they are forced to decide what is worth salvaging.

coming of age · trauma recovery · secret identity

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë · Literary Fiction

The novel is set somewhere in the north of England.

gothic atmosphere · slow burn · workplace romance · forbidden romance · second chance romance

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

Fredrik Backman · Literary Fiction

Grandpa and Noah are sitting on a bench in a square that keeps getting smaller every day.

historical fiction · trauma recovery · found family · coming of age

We Burned So Bright

T. J. Klune · Literary Fiction

Husbands Don and Rodney have lived a good long life.

found family · coming of age · survival

Theo of Golden

Allen Levi · Literary Fiction

“[A] word-of-mouth smash hit.” —The New York Times One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden.

magical realism · small town

Beloved

Toni Morrison · Literary Fiction

Toni Morrison--author of Song of Solomon and Tar Baby--is a writer of remarkable powers: her novels, brilliantly acclaimed for their passion, their…

historical fiction · magical realism · trauma recovery · haunted setting · ghosts

Middlemarch

George Eliot · Literary Fiction

Eliot’s epic of 19th century provincial social life, set in a fictitious Midlands town in the years 1830-32, has several interlocking storylines…

historical fiction · small town · coming of age

Taipei Story

Rebecca F Kuang · Literary Fiction

TAIPEI STORY is the electrifying new novel by bestselling literary phenomenon Rebecca F.

coming of age · romantic comedy · fish out of water

Moby Dick

Herman Melville · Literary Fiction

A literary classic that wasn't recognized for its merits until decades after its publication, Herman Melville's Moby-Dick tells the tale of a whaling…

revenge plot · obsessive love · survival · historical fiction

Atmosphere

Taylor Jenkins Reid · Literary Fiction

Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember.

historical fiction · coming of age · forbidden romance

I Capture the Castle

Dodie Smith · Literary Fiction

Cassandra, the 17-year-old narrator, lives an eccentric existence in a crumbling castle in the English countryside in the 1930s.

coming of age · historical fiction · found family

Lessons in Chemistry

Bonnie Garmus · Literary Fiction

Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman.

historical fiction · coming of age · workplace romance · opposites attract

Lady Chatterley's Lover

D. H. Lawrence · Literary Fiction

Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically.

forbidden romance · historical fiction · slow burn · opposites attract

Death of the Author

Nnedi Okorafor · Literary Fiction

Preorder now and receive the stunning DELUXE LIMITED EDITION while supplies last―featuring a special alternate cover design on the hardcover case,…

magical realism · paranormal romance

Demon Copperhead

Barbara Kingsolver · Literary Fiction

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with…

coming of age · trauma recovery · redemption arc

Make Me Better

Sarah Gailey · Literary Fiction

Sarah Gailey's MAKE ME BETTER is an eerily seductive look at the desire for community connection and self-improvement---and the darkest places inside…

The Forgotten Midwife

Laura Anthony · Literary Fiction

Set in the dual timelines of present-day and 1950s Ireland and based on real historical events, a powerful, poignant novel of feminism and resilience…

historical fiction · coming of age · trauma recovery · multiple timelines

Yellowface

R.F. Kuang · Literary Fiction

White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences… Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn’t write the book she claims she…

psychological thriller · unreliable narrator · morally grey character · revenge plot · twist ending

The Future Saints

Ashley Winstead · Literary Fiction

A most anticipated book from Goodreads, Woman's World, Brit + Co, and more!

found family · coming of age · redemption arc

King of Ashes

S. A. Cosby · Literary Fiction

When eldest son Roman Carruthers is summoned home after his father’s car accident, he finds his younger brother, Dante, in debt to dangerous…

historical fiction · revenge plot · morally grey character · trauma recovery