Trending in Literary Fiction

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

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

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

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

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

Land

Maggie O'Farrell · Literary Fiction

The award-winning, bestselling author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait, returns with a soaring historical novel set in Ireland in the years before…

historical fiction · small town

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol 3

Beth Brower · Literary Fiction

historical fiction

Palaces of the Crow

Ray Nayler · Literary Fiction

In Ray Nayler’s speculative novel of the recent past, four young teens caught between Nazis and the Red Army survive winter in the woods with the…

historical fiction · magical realism · survival · found family · coming of age

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

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

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

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

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

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

Whistler

Ann Patchett · Literary Fiction

FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING, PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE DUTCH HOUSE AND TOM LAKE 'One of the most beloved authors of her generation' SUNDAY…

slow burn · second chance romance · found family

Shroud

John Banville · Literary Fiction

From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Sea comes a splendidly moving, "hypnotic" exploration (The New York Times) of identity, duplicity, and…

unreliable narrator · psychological thriller · twist ending

The Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller · Literary Fiction

This is the story of the seige of Troy from the perspective of Achilles best-friend Patroclus.

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

Cloud Atlas

David Stephen Mitchell · Literary Fiction

A stunning, innovative Matyroshka doll of six nested narratives, which start in the 19th century and vault us into a dystopian future.

multiple timelines · magical realism · post apocalyptic · quest

East of Eden

John Steinbeck · Literary Fiction

Steinbeck considered East of Eden to be his masterpiece.

historical fiction · coming of age · redemption arc

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Taylor Jenkins Reid · Literary Fiction

"Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life.

dark romance · historical fiction · forbidden romance · revenge plot

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

V. E. Schwab · Literary Fiction

This is a story about hunger. 1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada. A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of…

magical realism · historical fiction · gothic atmosphere · twist ending

The Mad Wife

Meagan Church · Literary Fiction

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From bestselling author Meagan Church comes a haunting exploration of identity, motherhood, and the…

psychological thriller · unreliable narrator · trauma recovery · twist ending

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

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

This Book Made Me Think of You

Libby Page · Literary Fiction

A woman receives an unexpected gift from the man she loved and lost—a year of books, one for every month—launching a reading-inspired journey to…

second chance romance · coming of age · trauma recovery

Our Sister's Keeper

Jasmine Holmes · Literary Fiction

Mississippi, 1927. The groanings are coming. No town is perfect, but East Cobb comes close. It's a wealthy all-Black Free Town--untouched by white…

historical fiction · haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · ghosts · closed circle

Sense and Sensibility

Jane Austen · Literary Fiction

When Mr. Dashwood dies, he must leave the bulk of his estate to the son by his first marriage, which leaves his second wife and three daughters…

romantic comedy · historical fiction · slow burn · second chance romance · opposites attract

Honey

Jack Woodford · Literary Fiction

historical fiction

Audition

Katie Kitamura · Literary Fiction

Two people meet for lunch in a Manhattan restaurant.

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

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

A Monster Calls

Patrick Ness · Literary Fiction

A brilliant, graphic novel written by young but promising Patrick Ness.

coming of age · trauma recovery · magical realism · found family

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

Tropesick

Lauren Okie · Literary Fiction

"Katie Caruso is a completely normal twenty-five-year-old girl.

World Without End

Ken Follett · Literary Fiction

Two centuries after the building of the elaborate Gothic cathedral in Kingsbridge, its prior finds himself at the center of a web of ambition and…

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

The Midnight Library

Matt Haig · Literary Fiction

Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever.

magical realism · multiple timelines · trauma recovery · redemption arc

Sula

Toni Morrison · Literary Fiction

Two girls who grow up to become women.

coming of age · found family · morally grey character

The Great Alone

Kristin Hannah · Literary Fiction

historical fiction · survival · high stakes survival

The Nightingale

Kristin Hannah · Literary Fiction

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

historical fiction · coming of age · survival

Bunny

Mona Awad · Literary Fiction

Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England's Warren University.

dark academia · magical realism · gothic atmosphere · coming of age · grimdark

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

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

If We Were Villains

M. L. Rio · Literary Fiction

Entreated to tell his side of the story to a detective who put him in prison a decade earlier for a murder he may not have committed, Oliver Marks…

enemies to lovers · friends to lovers · dark academia · obsessive love · found family · revenge plot

The Lion Women of Tehran

Marjan Kamali · Literary Fiction

When Homa, a girl from her childhood, reappears in her privileged world, Ellie, amidst Iran's political turmoil, joins her in pursuing their goals…

coming of age · historical fiction · political intrigue · trauma recovery