Books like

Books like The Great Believers

12 books with a reading profile close to The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. Inward-looking, contemplative and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

1

The Robber Bride

by Margaret Atwood, Deborah Simmons

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

Set in contemporary Toronto, the narrative follows three former college friends—Tony, Roz, and Charis—who believe their shared nemesis, Zenia, died in an explosion years ago.
2

Did You Ever Have a Family

by Bill Clegg

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

On the night before her daughter Lolly's wedding, June Reid's house burns down, killing her daughter, Lolly's fiancé Will, her ex-husband Luke and her boyfriend Adam.
3

Purple Hibiscus

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, psychology

Fifteen-year-old Kambili Achike lives in Enugu, Nigeria, under the rigid authority of her father, Eugene, a charismatic businessman and devout Catholic.
4

The Death of Vivek Oji

by Akwaeke Emezi

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

The novel begins with the discovery of Vivek’s lifeless body on his mother’s doorstep in southeastern Nigeria.
5

Cat’s Eye

by Margaret Atwood

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, psychology

Elaine Risley, a middle-aged painter, returns to Toronto for a retrospective of her art.
6

I Know This Much Is True

by Wally Lamb

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

Dominick Birdsey spends his life anchored to his identical twin, Thomas, whose paranoid schizophrenia leads to a violent act of self-mutilation in a public library.
7

Little Altars Everywhere

by Rebecca Wells

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

Siddalee Walker is a successful theater director in Seattle who must reconcile with her difficult mother Vivi, one of the Ya-Yas, a group of Louisiana women who have been friends since childhood.
8

The Prince of Tides

by Pat Conroy

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

Tom Wingo, an unemployed teacher from the South Carolina lowcountry, travels to New York City after his twin sister, Savannah, attempts suicide.
9

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.
10

The Lying Life of Adults

by Elena Ferrante

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

Giovanna, a teenager living in an upper-class neighborhood in Naples, overhears her father compare her appearance to his estranged sister, Vittoria.
11

Ufak Yangınlar

by Celeste Ng

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

Set in the planned community of Shaker Heights, Ohio, the story follows the intersection of the Richardsons, a wealthy family rooted in local tradition, and Mia Warren, an enigmatic artist who moves into town with her d…
12

Goodbye, Vitamin

by Rachel Khong

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, psychology

Ruth, thirty years old, has lost her fiancé and her job, and she goes home to California to help care for her father Howard, a retired history professor with Alzheimer's.

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