Books like

Books like Roman Stories

12 books with a reading profile close to Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri. Inward-looking, contemplative and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

1

Inseparable

by Simone de Beauvoir

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

This autobiographical novel tracks the intense friendship between Sylvie and Andrée, fictionalized versions of Simone de Beauvoir and Elisabeth "Zaza" Lacoin.
2

Behind the Scenes at the Museum

by Kate Atkinson

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Ruby Lennox begins her story at the moment of her conception in 1951 in York, and narrates her family's history through her own eyes.
3

Dream Count

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

The novel centers on Chiamaka, a Nigerian travel writer living in America during the pandemic, as she examines the intersections of her past romances and her current desires.
4

The Master Butchers Singing Club

by Louise Erdrich

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

Fidelis Waldvogel returns to Germany from the First World War with a sniper's skill and a plan to become a butcher like his father.
5

Brick Lane

by Monica Ali

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Nazneen is seventeen when she leaves a village in Bangladesh for an arranged marriage to Chanu, a man more than twenty years older, in a London housing estate in Tower Hamlets.
6

A Spool of Blue Thread

by Anne Tyler

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

Redniss Street in Baltimore is where the Whitshank family history anchors itself, centered on a wooden house built by their patriarch.
7

The Kitchen God's Wife

by Amy Tan

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

Winnie Louie has kept her past secret from her Chinese American daughter, Pearl, who in turn is hiding her own diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
8

Nocturns

by Kazuo Ishiguro, Albert Torrescasana Flotats

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

Nocturns is a collection of five interconnected short stories centered on musicians and the professional anxieties of the creative life.
9

The Sentence

by Louise Erdrich

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

Tookie, an Ojibwe woman who survived an unusual incarceration, works at a small independent bookstore in Minneapolis.
10

So Late in the Day

by Claire Keegan

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

On a bright Friday in Dublin, Cathal sits at his office desk counting down the hours until the workday ends.
11

Another Brooklyn

by Jacqueline Woodson

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

In the 1970s, August moves from Tennessee to Bushwick, Brooklyn, after the death of her mother.
12

Stone Mattress: Nine Tales

by Margaret Atwood

Also thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Margaret Atwood's 2014 collection gathers nine stories about aging, grudges and the lingering consequences of old choices.

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