…or perhaps better seen as someone’s idea of fifty good reads
FIFTY GOOD NOVELS
REMEMBER this is also a list of good AUTHORS. If you can’t find the novel named here, look for others by the same author.
ALI, Monica – BRICK LANE
A Bangladeshi woman arrives in London for an arranged marriage. Complications of a lover, family life and her religion make for a subtle, engrossing portrait of contemporary British Asian life.
AMIS, Martin – MONEY
Witty and cynical look at the adventures of an upwardly mobile young man in 80s Britain.
ANGELOU, Maya – I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS
Amusing and sad autobiography of early years of poor black girl in Arkansas, U.S.A.
ASHWORTH, Andrea – ONCE IN A HOUSE ON FIRE
Powerful account of young girl’s struggles to achieve academic success and independence from an almost unbearable home environment.
ATKINSON, Kate – BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE MUSEUM
Follows a family from the nineteenth century to the present, funny and involving.
ATWOOD, Margaret – CAT’S EYE
An exploration of the complexity of childhood relationships.
AUSTEN, Jane – PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Comic account of the search by four sisters for the right marriage partner.
BERNIERES de, Louis – CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN
A love story between Italian soldier and Greek woman set on a Greek island in the Second World War with lots of interesting historical background.
BRONTE, Charlotte – JANE EYRE
One of literature’s great love stories with a strong, courageous heroine.
BRONTE, Emily – WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Doomed and passionate love story set on the Yorkshire moors.
CAMUS, Albert – THE OUTSIDER
Observing the facts of life, death and sex from the outside, culminating in a violent incident.
CAPOTE, Truman – IN COLD BLOOD
A novel based on a true crime story where two young men kill an entire family in the course of a robbery and are consequently sentenced to death. An exploration of the morality of the death penalty.
DOYLE, Roddy – THE VAN
The first of a trilogy of novels (THE COMMITMENTS and THE SNAPPER are the other two) based on the experiences of a large family set in Dublin. The novels are funny and almost entirely dialogue.
FAULKS, Sebastian – BIRDSONG
Powerfully characterised tale of love and war set in First World War trenches flashing forward to a modern couple.
FOWLES, John – THE COLLECTOR
Psychological novel that explores the obsessive relationship between a kidnapper and his victim.
GIBSON, William – NEUROMANCER
Cult novel exploring cyberspace and the inspiration for The Matrix.
GREENE, Graham – BRIGHTON ROCK
Atmospheric gangland thriller set in Brighton that confronts faith, violence and sexuality.
GUTTERSON, David – SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS
Thriller concerned with race, war and love.
HADDON, Mark – THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME
Funny and moving novel of detection and adventure, as told by 15-year-old autistic boy.
HARDY, Thomas – THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE
Tragic novel of labouring man who sells his wife at a fair and proceeds to become mayor but his past comes back to haunt him.
HELLER, Joseph – CATCH 22
The novel on which M.A.S.H was based! Set in Bomber command – funny, disturbing satire on war and hierarchy.
HINES, Barry – A KESTREL FOR A KNAVE
Painfully realistic account of a young working class boy’s attempt to escape failure at school and at home.
HUXLEY, Aldous – BRAVE NEW WORLD
Nightmare vision of a future, where people are programmed into a rigid social hierarchy and which examines what it is to be human.
KESEY, Ken – ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST
Compelling account of the repressive regime in a mental asylum which is thrown into turmoil by the arrival of a new patient who questions those in authority.
KINGSOLVER, Barbara – THE BEAN TREES
Funny and optimistic novel about a young woman leaving home to escape early marriage and motherhood, only to find herself taking on the care of a young girl.
LAWRENCE, D. H. – SONS AND LOVERS
A young man coming to maturity pulled between twin influences of relationships and family.
LEVI, Primo – IF THIS IS A MAN
An autobiographical account by an Italian survivor of Auschwitz showing that above all, what the Nazis did, was to rob the camp inmates of their humanity.
MAURIER du, Daphne – REBECCA
Gothic romantic mystery set in Cornwall.
McCULLERS, Carson – THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING
Build up to wedding in small town deep South of U.S.A., through eyes of a young girl on the threshold of sexual maturity.
McEWAN, Ian – ATONEMENT
Gripping story of love and betrayal set in the Second World War. A childhood lie has disastrous consequences right into the present.
MORRISON, Toni – THE BLUEST EYE
The experiences of a young black girl who sees herself as ugly because she judges herself by white standards of beauty.
ORWELL, George – 1984
Written in 1948 this is still a chilling vision of Britain ruled as a police state where all individual freedom has been taken away. The novel that gave us the ideas of Big Brother and Room 101.
PLATH, Sylvia – THE BELL JAR
Set in 1950s America, focusing on a young woman starting out in life after university and suffering a nervous breakdown.
PIERRE, D. B. C. – VERNON GOD LITTLE
Riotous adventures of Vernon Gregory Little in small town Texas. Cutting edge satire drawing on the Columbine shootings.
ROY, Arundhati – THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS
Lyrical account of the devastating effects of the Indian caste system on a family.
SALINGER, J. D. – CATCHER IN THE RYE
Follows 3 days in the days in the life of a young man who has just left school. He wanders around the bars of New York feeling alienated from his family and society.
SHELLEY, Mary – FRANKENSTEIN
Enthusiastic scientist creates new monstrous being and lives to regret it.
STEINBECK, John – THE GRAPES OF WRATH
Epic journey from Oklahoma to California of farming families escaping poverty in the American Depression.
STYRON, William – SOPHIE’S CHOICE
Novel which follows the life of a concentration camp survivor after the war and looks at the tragic consequences of her appalling experiences.
SUSKIND, Patrick – PERFUME
Psychological profile of a murderer, gripping and macabre.
SWIFT, Graham – WATERLAND
Set in 1980s, using flashbacks, a history teacher explores the meaning of his subject in both his personal life and the public sphere.
THACKERAY, W. M. – VANITY FAIR
Follows life and adventures of compelling and single-minded heroine ‘on the make’ in eighteenth century society. Social comedy and a rich cast of character.
WALKER, Alice – THE COLOR PURPLE
Moving account of young black woman’s journey from abuse and oppression to fulfilment and independence.
WAUGH, Evelyn – DECLINE AND FALL
Hilarious satire on society and education, following the fortunes of the hapless Paul Pennyfeather.
WELLS, H. G. – THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
Science fiction classic where the Martians invade.
WELSH, Irvine – TRAINSPOTTING
Frenzied novel of heroin addiction set in Edinburgh.
WILDE, Oscar – THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
Follows the immoral life of a beautiful, rich and talented young man, whose portrait ages while he remains forever young. Style is full of wit and the ideas are thought provoking.
WILLIAMS, Niall – FOUR LETTERS OF LOVE
A poignant Irish love story, in which four separate narratives are interwoven to produce a dramatic and unexpected ending.
WINTERSON, Jeanette – ORANGES ARE NOT THE ONLY FRUIT
Funny novel which follows the female central character from childhood to maturity, as she gradually rejects family and religion and discovers the truth of her sexuality.
WOOLF, Virginia – THE WAVES
Poetic, experimental novel tracing the inner lives of six interconnected characters.
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