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Recommendations based on The Optimist's Daughterby Eudora Welty
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As I Lay Dying
by William Faulkner
A family's struggle to fulfill the dying wish of their mother, amidst personal and societal challenges.
The book is narrated by 15 different characters over 59 chapters. It is the story of the death of Addie Bundren and her poor, rural family's quest and motivations—noble or selfish—to honor her wish ... (Wikipedia)
Wise Blood
by Flannery O'Connor
A darkly comic Southern Gothic tale of faith and sin, and a man's struggle to find redemption.
Recently discharged from service in World War II and surviving on a government pension for unspecified battle wounds, Hazel Motes returns to his family home in Tennessee to find it abandoned. Leaving ... (Wikipedia)
The Confessions of Nat Turner
by William Styron
A fictionalized account of the life of Nat Turner, a slave who led a rebellion in Virginia in 1831.
The time is November, 1831. African American slave Nat Turner sits in a Virginia jail awaiting execution for his crimes. Nat led a slave rebellion which ended in the deaths of dozens of white people ... (Wikipedia)
The Complete Stories
by Flannery O'Connor
A collection of stories that explore aspects of the human condition through surreal and darkly comedic lenses.
This is the original cover edition of, ISBN: 0374515360, (ISBN13: 9780374515362 Winner of the National Book Award The publication of this extraordinary volume firmly established Flannery O'Connor's ... (Goodreads)
Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston
A woman's journey of self-discovery, liberation and empowerment.
Fair and long-legged, independent and articulate, Janie Crawford sets out to be her own person – no mean feat for a black woman in the '30s. Janie's quest for identity takes her through three ... (Goodreads)
A Death in the Family
by James Agee
A man's struggles with grief and regret after the sudden death of his father.
The novel is based on the events that occurred to Agee in 1915 when his father went out of town to see his own father, who had suffered a heart attack. During the return trip, Agee's father was ... (Wikipedia)
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
by Carson McCullers
Exploring the lives of diverse characters in a small Southern town, unearthing secrets and desires.
The book begins with a focus on the relationship between two close friends, John Singer and Spiros Antonapoulos, deaf-mutes who have lived together for several years. Antonapoulos becomes mentally ... (Wikipedia)
The Awakening
by Kate Chopin
A woman's journey of self-discovery, challenging the norms of the Victorian era.
When first published in 1899, The Awakening shocked readers with its honest treatment of female marital infidelity. Audiences accustomed to the pieties of late Victorian romantic fiction were taken ... (Goodreads)
The Moviegoer
by Walker Percy
A young man's journey of self-discovery, as he confronts the meaninglessness of life.
The Moviegoer tells the story of Jack "Binx" Bolling, a young stock-broker in postwar New Orleans . The decline of tradition in the Southern United States , the problems of his family and his ... (Wikipedia)
Beloved
by Toni Morrison
A haunting story of loss and resilience in the aftermath of slavery.
Beloved begins in 1873 in Cincinnati, Ohio , where the protagonist Sethe, a formerly enslaved woman, has been living with her eighteen-year-old daughter Denver at 124 Bluestone Road. The book ... (Wikipedia)
The Sound and the Fury
by William Faulkner
Tragic story of the decline of a southern family, exploring the human condition.
The first section of the novel is narrated by Benjamin "Benjy" Compson, a source of shame to the family due to his diminished mental capacity; the only characters who show genuine care for him are ... (Wikipedia)
Gilead
by Marilynne Robinson
A reverend's reflections on life in the Midwest, and the lessons of faith and family.
The book is an account of the memories and legacy of John Ames as he remembers his experiences of his father and grandfather to share with his son. All three men share a vocational lifestyle and ... (Wikipedia)
Housekeeping
by Marilynne Robinson
A story of two sisters navigating their lives in a small town, and the matriarchal figure that unites them.
Ruthie narrates the story of how she and her younger sister Lucille are raised by a succession of relatives in the fictional town of Fingerbone, Idaho (some details are similar to Robinson's ... (Wikipedia)
All the King's Men
by Robert Penn Warren
A powerful political drama that follows a governor's rise and fall as he grapples with ambition, morality and power.
All the King's Men is a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. Its title is drawn from the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty". The novel tells the story of charismatic populist governor Willie Stark and his ... (Goodreads)
Sula
by Toni Morrison
Story of two childhood friends, exploring social and racial issues in a small Ohio town.
The novel begins when the construction of a golf course is announced, the site being the destroyed remnants of what used to be the Bottom. The Bottom is a black neighborhood on the hill above the ... (Wikipedia)
A Letter of Mary
by Laurie R. King
A young woman's detective journey to uncover the truth behind a 2,000-year-old mystery.
In August 1923, Mary Russell and husband Sherlock Holmes receive an unexpected visit from Dorothy Ruskin, an elderly amateur archeologist from the Holy Land , who met the couple four and a half years ... (Wikipedia)
Breathing Lessons
by Anne Tyler
A couple's journey of self-discovery over the course of one day.
The story describes the joys and pains of the ordinary marriage of Ira and Maggie Moran as they travel from Baltimore to attend a funeral and back home again in one day. It also examines Maggie's ... (Wikipedia)
Absalom, Absalom!
by William Faulkner
A tangled web of family secrets, betrayal, and tragedy in the American South.
Absalom, Absalom! details the rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen , a white man born into poverty in West Virginia who moves to Mississippi with the complementary aims of gaining wealth and becoming a ... (Wikipedia)
Ellen Foster
by Kaye Gibbons
A young girl's struggle to find a permanent home and family in the face of abuse and neglect.
Ellen is an only child who does not have a real home, even at the time when both her parents are still alive. Her father is " trash " and has a drinking problem , and the whole atmosphere is one of ... (Wikipedia)
The Orphan Master's Son
by Adam Johnson
A man's struggle to survive in a totalitarian North Korean regime and his journey to freedom.
Part 1 details Jun Do's upbringing in a state orphanage and his service to the state, including as a kidnapper of Japanese citizens , and later as a signal operator stationed on a fishing boat. Due ... (Wikipedia)
Ironweed
by William Kennedy
An exploration of the struggles of the homeless, and the power of redemption.
Ironweed is set during the Great Depression and tells the story of Francis Phelan , an alcoholic vagrant originally from Albany, New York , who left his family after accidentally killing his infant ... (Wikipedia)
The Killer Angels
by Michael Shaara
A gripping story of the Battle of Gettysburg, told through the eyes of the soldiers on both sides.
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain , one of the major characters, remembers reciting to his father a speech from, Hamlet, : "What a piece of work is man...in action how like an angel!" Sgt. Buster Kilrain ... (Wikipedia)
Bastard Out of Carolina
by Dorothy Allison
A young girl's coming of age amidst poverty, abuse, and a broken family.
The book opens with Bone relating the details of her birth. Bone's 15-year-old mother Anney gives birth to her after being seriously injured in a car accident. Anney, who is comatose during the ... (Wikipedia)
Hotel du Lac
by Anita Brookner
A woman's journey of self-discovery, confronting her past and discovering her identity.
Edith reaches Hotel du Lac in a state of bewildered confusion at the turn of events in her life. After a secret and often lonely affair with a married man and an aborted marriage, she is banished by ... (Wikipedia)
Vampires in the Lemon Grove: Stories
by Karen Russell
A collection of short stories that blend the supernatural with the mundane, exploring the human condition through fantastical elements.
Named a Best Book of the Year by:,The Boston Globe,O, The Oprah Magazine,Huffington Post,The A.V. Club,A, Washington Post, Notable Book,An, NPR, Great Read of 2013, From the author of the novel ... (Goodreads)
Richard II
by William Shakespeare
King Richard II's downfall and deposition, as he loses the support of his nobles and faces the consequences of his actions.
Written in 1595, Richard II occupies a significant place in the Shakespeare canon, marking the transition from the earlier history plays dominated by civil war and stark power to a more nuanced ... (Goodreads)
The Violent Bear It Away
by Flannery O'Connor
Exploration of religious faith and fanaticism in the American South.
Mason Tarwater, an outspoken evangelist and self-ordained prophet, dies many years after kidnapping his great-nephew Francis, raising him in a backwoods cabin and preparing him to someday take his ... (Wikipedia)
Interpreter of Maladies
by Jhumpa Lahiri
Collection of stories exploring the struggles of Indian-American immigrants in the US.
A married couple, Shukumar and Shoba, live as strangers in their house until an electrical outage brings them together when all of sudden "they [are] able to talk to each other again" in the four ... (Wikipedia)
The Member of the Wedding
by Carson McCullers
A young girl's struggles to find her identity and connection in the face of life-changing events.
The novel takes place over a few days in late August. It tells the story of 12-year-old tomboy Frankie Addams, who feels disconnected from the world; in her words, an "unjoined person." Frankie's ... (Wikipedia)
Her Fearful Symmetry
by Audrey Niffenegger
Two sisters explore a haunted London estate, uncovering secrets of a mysterious past.
Elspeth dies of leukemia. Her apartment, located beside Highgate cemetery in London, is left for the daughters of Edwina, her estranged twin sister. Elspeth's nieces, identical twins Julia and ... (Wikipedia)
