Books like

Books like The Accidental Tourist

12 books with a reading profile close to The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler. Inward-looking and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

1

Silver Sparrow

by Tayari Jones

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature

Dana Yarboro knows her father, James Witherspoon, has another family.
2

Ham on Rye

by Charles Bukowski

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature

Henry Chinaski grows up in Los Angeles in the 1930s with a father who beats him and a mother who looks away.
3

Galatea

by Madeline Miller

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature

In this short story, a statue carved from ivory is granted life by a goddess, becoming the wife of her creator, Pygmalion.
4

Rubyfruit Jungle

by Rita Mae Brown

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature

Molly Bolt grows up in impoverished rural Florida and York, Pennsylvania, refusing to conform to the expectations of her adoptive mother or the social dictates of the mid-twentieth century.
5

The Interestings

by Meg Wolitzer

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature

The story begins in 1974 at a summer arts camp where six teenagers—Jules, Ash, Goodman, Ethan, Jonah, and Cathy—form a tight-knit circle based on their shared creative ambitions.
6

The Bonesetter's Daughter

by Amy Tan

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature

Ruth Young, a ghostwriter in San Francisco, struggles to communicate with her mother, LuLing, whose behavior becomes increasingly erratic due to dementia.
7

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

by David Wroblewski

Also inward-looking · narrative, classic literature

Edgar Sawtelle is born mute in rural Wisconsin, into a family that breeds a special line of dogs, the Sawtelle dogs, chosen for their intelligence and character.
8

Burial Rites

by Hannah Kent

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature

Based on the true story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, this novel follows the final months of the last woman executed in Iceland.
9

The Red Pony

by John Steinbeck

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature

Jody Tiflin is a young boy growing up on his father’s California ranch, where he learns the rigid realities of life and death through his relationship with a red pony named Gabilan.
10

The Palace of Illusions

by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

narrative, classic literature

This retelling of the Mahabharata is narrated by Panchaali, also called Draupadi, who emerges from a sacrificial fire to marry the five Pandava brothers.
11

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

by Anne Brontë

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature

Helen Graham arrives at a desolate Yorkshire estate under a shroud of secrecy, sparking intense local gossip and the unwanted attention of a neighboring farmer, Gilbert Markham.
12

The Book of Longings

by Sue Monk Kidd

Also thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature

Ana is the daughter of a wealthy advisor to Herod Antipas, living in a patriarchal society that forbids women from reading and writing.

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