Book cover of Greenville

Book description

Inspired by a troubled family history, this “book of grace and dignity . . . will be around for a long, long time” (Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World Spin).
 
In this “terrific” novel, award-winning author Dale Peck recounts the childhood of his father, Dale Peck Sr.…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Greenville as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Divergent, yet shockingly similar, life experiences are chronicled in Greenville and my own book. A poor white family from Long Island with eight children sent one son to live and work on a farm in the Catskill region during the 1950s. Harsh living conditions downstate with an alcoholic father and abusive mother were replaced upstate with a loving uncle, welcoming peers, and athletic success. Circumstances changed again dramatically, and the author tidies up the chaos that was his father’s life by visiting the farm 45 years later. 

From Jonathan's list on rural life in upstate New York.

If you love Greenville...

Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Want books like Greenville?

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

Browse books like Greenville

Book cover of The Search for the Underground Railroad in Upstate New York
Book cover of New York Amish: Life in the Plain Communities of the Empire State
Book cover of More Scenes from the Rural Life

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,397

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Greenville, you might also like...

Book cover of The Tao of Poison

The Tao of Poison by Isham Cook,

A poisonous maiden, a Daoist sex cult, and a violent insurgency.

The polyandrous Yan family in China's rural Shaanxi Province takes in two carpenter brothers. When one brother is convicted of murder after killing their neighbor in a dispute, a constable threatens to expose the family's rumored polyandry and extorts…

Book cover of Draakensky: A Supernatural Tale of Magick and Romance

Draakensky by Paula Cappa,

A wind sorcerer. A dark spirit. An unsolved murder.

On the haunted Draakensky Windmill Estate, sketch artist Charlotte Knight arrives to live on the property, hired to illustrate the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke—a bright and lucrative opportunity to boost her struggling art career. 

She meets the reclusive spinster Jaa…

5 book lists we think you will like!