The Best in Literary Fiction

Literary Fiction is my favourite book genre. I don't exclusively read it, but find I enjoy and appreciate it the most, and if I'm ever in a reading slump I'm naturally pulled towards picking up something literary. My most read authors of 2021 were Elizabeth Strout & Elena Ferrante. Four books by each other and you can bet I’m diving even further into their backlist this year.

Below are some of my favourite literary fiction reads of the past year or two. Hope you find something you enjoy!

The Neapolitan Series by Elena Ferrante: It wasn't until the second book that something finally clicked for me with this story, and I couldn't get enough. I love this series, this author, these characters. This setting, the history, the politics. The drama, the love, the friendship. I love the vivid descriptions of Naples and Italy, how I feel like I could run into Lenu or Lila in the street, and how I MISS THEM after I’m done reading a book. I also highly recommend the audio of this series. The narrator, Hillary Huber is fantastic.

Get started with the first book, My Brilliant Friend, here.

Elizabeth Strout (Olive Kitteridge; My Name is Lucy Barton): The thing I love about Strout’s writing, particularly with the 'My Name is Lucy Barton' series is that there isn’t a lot of dialogue - you’re in Lucy’s head. Her stream of consciousness is a bit all over the place, when she launches into a memory or story she gives you all the context you need then she brings you back.

The Olive Kitteridge series is a bit more unique, each chapter is almost formatted like a short story. Olive is sometimes a main character and sometimes a only a notable background character. All of the stories are interrelated but discontinuous in terms of narrative, and take place in the coastal town of Crosby, Maine. I would recommend reading this series in the fall (the descriptions of Maine are so, so beautifully vivid).

Check out some of Elizabeth Strout's books here.

Ali Smith (the seasonal quartet): In 2020, I started collecting Ali Smith's seasonal quartet: Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer: dubbed the first big post-Brexit novel. I’ve always been a seasonal reader, so I loved the idea of a seasonal quartet. I'm a rule follower, so of course I've only read Autumn and Winter. Autumn was a bit forgettable for me; Winter stood out to me more because of its unique plot and political nuances, but no doubt her writing is stunning in both. I can't wait to read Spring & Summer and see the ways all these books come together.

Ali Smith's series can be found here.

The Paper Palace: This has been on my TBR since it first came out and I was lucky enough to be gifted it for Christmas; I saved it for when I knew I would need a great read. This was one of those rare (but exciting!) books where I fell in love with it, and knew it would be a five-star read within the first 10 pages. This book has a lot of trigger warnings and gets VERY dark, but I loved the jumps between past and present, writing, and how close you felt to Elle Bishop.

The paperback copy of The Paper Palace is on sale now!

Sorrow and Bliss: A book I was furiously annotating; think a more depressing Fleabag. Quite honestly one of the most accurate depictions of depression I’ve ever read, and I absolutely LOVED this book. Definitely in my top five of all time.

Buy Sorrow and Bliss here.

The Love Songs of W.E.B du Bois: How does one sum up an 800-page epic novel about family and where we come from? It was an epic story covering the heritage of a Black American family through the centuries of troubling, turbulent, and all too real American history. It was very reminiscent of one of my favourite books ever, Homegoing.

Buy Jeffers' debut novel here.

Above I provided some links if you're interested in purchasing (I am not affiliated with Indigo and do not receive any commissions for any purchases using the above links). If you're able, I always recommend using your library or buying through a local bookstore!

I've read some of these books on audio. I highly recommend Libro.fm, where you can support your favourite local, independent bookstore with your audiobook purchases. You can use my referral link to get started today: https://libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm153549.