Books like

Books like The Friend

12 books with a reading profile close to The Friend by Sigrid Nunez. Inward-looking, contemplative, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

1

Sally Rooney 3 Books Collection Set

by Sally Rooney

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, psychology

This collection gathers Sally Rooney’s early prose, focusing on the intricate social dynamics and intimate exchanges between young adults in modern Ireland.
2

Fates and Furies

by Lauren Groff

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

The novel documents the twenty-four-year marriage of Lotto and Mathilde Satterwhite, beginning with their impulsive college graduation wedding and following their ascent into the New York elite.
3

All the Lovers in the Night

by Mieko Kawakami

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, psychology

Fuyuko Irie is a freelance proofreader in her mid-thirties who lives a solitary, ritualistic life in Tokyo.
4

Life Before Man

by Margaret Atwood

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, psychology

Set in Toronto during the late 1970s, the narrative centers on a stagnant love triangle between Elizabeth, her husband Nate, and his lover Lesje.
5

Intermezzo

by Sally Rooney

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, psychology

Peter and Ivan Koubek are brothers navigating personal crises following their father's death.
6

Sing, Unburied, Sing

by Jesmyn Ward

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, psychology

Thirteen-year-old Jojo lives with his grandparents and toddler sister on the Mississippi Gulf Coast while his mother, Leonie, struggles with drug addiction and grief.
7

On Chesil Beach

by Ian McEwan

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, psychology

Set in 1962, the novella follows Edward Mayhew and Florence Ponting on their wedding night at a hotel on the Dorset coast.
8

My Dark Vanessa

by Kate Elizabeth Russell

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, psychology

In 2000, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Wye begins a sexual relationship with her forty-two-year-old English teacher, Jacob Strane, at a Maine boarding school.
9

Breasts and Eggs

by Mieko Kawakami

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

Natsu is a struggling writer living in Tokyo who receives a visit from her older sister, Makiko, and her niece, Midoriko.
10

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki And His Years Of Pilgrimage

by Haruki Murakami

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, psychology

Tsukuru Tazaki is a railway engineer in Tokyo whose life is defined by a sudden, unexplained rejection from his tight-knit group of high school friends.
11

Shuggie Bain

by Douglas Stuart

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, psychology

Set in 1980s Glasgow, the narrative follows young Shuggie Bain as he grows up in public housing schemes shaped by deindustrialization and poverty.
12

Crossroads

by Jonathan Franzen

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

In suburban Chicago on a single day in 1971, the Hildebrandt family faces individual crises of faith and morality.

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