The best historical fiction books by African American authors

Book cover of The Underground Railroad Book cover of The Water Dancer Book cover of Song Yet Sung Book cover of Beloved Book cover of Roots: The Saga of an American Family

The best fiction with gorgeous, nuanced writing that elevates the overlooked experience of moms

Book cover of Mrs Bridge Book cover of Beloved Book cover of Eleven Hours Book cover of Dept. of Speculation Book cover of The Days of Abandonment

The best speculative novels that fictionalize history

Book cover of The Intuitionist Book cover of The Blind Assassin Book cover of Lincoln in the Bardo Book cover of Half Life of a Stolen Sister Book cover of Beloved

The best gothic fiction imbued with atmosphere and dread

Book cover of All the Birds, Singing Book cover of Beloved Book cover of Things We Lost in the Fire: Stories Book cover of Fever Dream Book cover of The Haunting of Hill House

The best books for grown-up time travelers

Book cover of Beloved Book cover of A Gentleman in Moscow Book cover of Hamnet Book cover of Regeneration Book cover of The Garden of Evening Mists

The best books about how we unlock secrets about the past

Book cover of All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake Book cover of Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution Book cover of The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches Book cover of Beloved Book cover of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

The best books on understanding the criminal mind

Book cover of Beloved Book cover of Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic Book cover of Enduring Love Book cover of The Devil You Know: Encounters in Forensic Psychiatry Book cover of The Perfect Nanny

The best books about haunting: how the past lingers with us

Book cover of The Farming of Bones Book cover of Beloved Book cover of The Book of Lost Saints: A Cuban American Family Saga of Love, Betrayal, and Revolution Book cover of These Ghosts Are Family Book cover of The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

The best dysfunctional family novels about mythmaking

Book cover of Tom Lake Book cover of The Family Fang Book cover of Swamplandia! Book cover of Beloved Book cover of Middlesex

The best coming of age books with strong female characters, family secrets, and a touch of magic

Book cover of Brown Girl Dreaming Book cover of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake Book cover of Like Water for Chocolate Book cover of The Secret Life of Bees Book cover of Beloved

The best books that walk the line between real and imaginary

Book cover of A Monster Calls Book cover of The Essex Serpent Book cover of Beloved Book cover of The Street of Crocodiles Book cover of Weetzie Bat

The best modern gothic mystery books

Book cover of The Woman in the Window Book cover of The Stranger Diaries Book cover of Beloved Book cover of The Turn of the Key Book cover of Rebecca

The best compelling creepy books

Book cover of Under the Skin Book cover of Beloved Book cover of Eat Him If You Like Book cover of The Silence of the Lambs Book cover of The People in the Trees

The best books that bring together the characters’ life of feeling and their cultural context and moment in history

Book cover of Riders in the Chariot Book cover of Love Medicine Book cover of Beloved Book cover of The Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield Book cover of The House of Breath

The best books about birth, one of our greatest underexplored subjects

Book cover of The Blue Jay's Dance: A Memoir of Early Motherhood Book cover of Frankenstein Book cover of Beloved Book cover of The Human Condition Book cover of Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution

The best novels whose women characters don’t or won’t conform

Book cover of Beloved Book cover of Dirty Weekend Book cover of Me Before You Book cover of Tess of the D'Urbervilles Book cover of Life After Life

The best books that bring history to life in all its strange and unsettling glory

Book cover of Bring Up the Bodies Book cover of Small Island Book cover of Beloved Book cover of Omeros Book cover of Barkskins

The best books where the past is another country, and you want to visit it

Book cover of The Hawks of Delamere Book cover of Beloved Book cover of Middlemarch Book cover of An Infamous Army Book cover of Persuasion

The best books that only get better with time

Book cover of We Have Always Lived in the Castle Book cover of As I Lay Dying Book cover of Beloved Book cover of Moby-Dick Book cover of The Odyssey

The best literary novels for inducing laughter and tears on the same page

Book cover of Beloved Book cover of Everything Is Illuminated Book cover of The Immortalists Book cover of Beautiful Ruins Book cover of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Want books like Beloved?

Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Beloved.

Book cover of Moby-Dick Book cover of Life After Life Book cover of Bring Up the Bodies Book cover of Lincoln in the Bardo Book cover of Invisible Cities Book cover of A Gentleman in Moscow

Browse books like Beloved

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Ohio, African Americans, and Slavery?

Ohio 82 books
African Americans 849 books
Slavery 320 books