10 Fiction Books to Help You Explore Marriage and Family Relationships Deeper

Is everything good in families that seem ideal from the outside? Who can destroy a strong relationship and, most importantly, is love alone enough to become happy? We recommend sagas, warm cozy stories and even a gothic detective story in which the authors reflect on these issues.

1. Love Marriage, Monica Ali

A Marriage for Love is the fifth novel by the British writer Monica Ali, the winner of several literary awards and a member of the Royal Society of Literature. Rights to film adaptation The new book has already been bought by the BBC.

The main characters of the novel, Yasmin and Joe, are going to get married, but before the wedding they have to introduce their parents. Yasmin's mother and father are conservative Muslims, natives of Bengal, Joe's mother is a progressive feminist known for her bright actions. But the book will not have a classic plot about the confrontation between two families who are not ready to reconcile with each other because of different views. This story is much deeper.

Ali's novel is largely about the ability to take responsibility for one's actions and feelings. All the characters love each other, but because of stereotypes and distorted ideas, they do not understand not only their relatives, but also themselves. It is about finding yourself, about loving yourself, and only then about building deep serious relationships that the book of Monica Ali tells.

The novel will appeal to those who love voluminous stories with clearly drawn characters, such as, for example, L. N. Tolstoy, or family sagas similar to "Shadows of our past», «Yes - then and now" or "Ordinary people».

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2. "Another Life" by Jodie Chapman

The debut novel by the English writer and journalist Jodie Chapman, which received good reviews from world critics.

Anna is 19, Nick is 22, they meet at a summer job, fall in love and try to build a relationship. Most of all, their union is not liked by Anna's parents - members of the closed religious society with strict rules. The lovers part, each starts a new life, but after 20 years they meet again. It would seem that we have a typical story about the first love for life, but the plot of the novel turns out to be more complicated and psychological.

The book will appeal to those who appreciate cinematic stories with a plot that plunges into the past of the characters. For example, such as "dutch house», «Under the cicada tree», «The Love Hypothesis" And "Weather forecast for two».

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3. Ordinary People Diana Evans

The third novel by British writer and journalist Diana Evans was included in the lists of the best books of 2018 published by the New Statesman, Financial Times and New Yorker magazines. This is a leisurely thoughtful read about the collapse of family life and finding your own self.

In the center of the story are two married couples living in London next door: Michael and Melissa, Damian and Stephanie. Both families are going through a crisis: someone's marriage will fall apart, and someone will find a second wind. Evans does not divide heroes into right and wrong. It acts more subtly, leading the reader to the idea that the true cause of disappointment in family life is disappointment in itself.

The book will appeal to those who love family sagas similar to "bitter orange», «Shadows of our past», «Jacob's ladder», «Singing in the thorn" And "Book of Baltimore».

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4. "Yes - Then and Now" by Mary Beth Keane

A novel by writer Mary Beth Keane, who was ranked among the top five writers under 35 by the US National Book Foundation in 2011. In 2019, her book Yes - Then and Now won the NAJBA Independent Booksellers Association Award for Best Fiction.

Two families - Gleason and Stanhope - become neighbors. Lena Gleason makes contact and seeks intimacy, but Ann Stanhope remains unapproachable and asks to be left alone. Friendship is tied up between their children - Kate and Peter. Over the years, it develops into something more.

However, everything changes one evening, which put an end to the emerging relationship. After the families disperse, the children build their own. The subsequent story tells how the heroes are trying to create a future on the ruins of the past, burdening life. Will they be able to forgive each other, close their eyes to old mistakes and move on with their lives?

The book will appeal to those who read "Destructive love», «dear enemy" And "Jaffa street».

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5. "Friends or Foes", Anne Patchett

The novel "Friends or Strangers" Ann Patchett in an interview called autobiographical. Being very young, she survived the divorce of her parents and was forced to move with her mother to her stepfather, who already had children. This experience of adaptation in a new family influenced her entire future life.

In "Friends or Strangers", the father of the family goes to his colleague Francis for the christening of his child. Everything happens by itself: it suddenly kisses Beverly, Francis' wife. This act is devastating for both families: four adults and six children. Ann Patchett talks about how their lives unfolded over the next 50 years.

This leisurely saga explores the happiness of the simplest people. Every summer, the two families are forced to meet, even though they hate each other. And even such an epic and sad story can end well. Patchett shows how multifaceted and complex our lives are and what consequences our every choice entails.

The book will appeal to fans of Patchett's prose and those who are interested in psychological dramas like "Apples never fall», «Everything I didn't say" And "Here I am».

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6. “Shadows of our past. History of the Milton Family, Sarah Blake

The latest novel by the American writer who won the Boeke Award for Exclusive Books in 2010 and the New England Society Book Award in 2020.

"Shadows of Our Past" is a real family saga, which begins in the 30s of the XX century and ends in our time. Reading plunges into the history of three generations of the influential and wealthy Milton family. It all starts with Kitty and Ogden Milton, who live happily and love each other very much. But one day their family is going through a real crisis - a five-year-old son falls out of the window. To help Kitty cope with her grief, Ogden buys her an entire island with a beautiful house that will become the Milton family home.

The grandchildren of Kitty and Ogden's financial situation is less stable: they are forced to sell the mansion. Evie travels to the island to say goodbye to the place where she spent the best years of her life. She is sure that her family are the pillars of American society. But a chance discovery makes Evie change her mind.

Sarah Blake takes readers to prosperous America, then to Nazi Germany, then to Jewish ghetto. The fates of all Miltons turn out to be closely connected and intertwined both with each other and with the fates of other people.

Lovers of family stories will love this book.Crossroads», «paper palace», «Houses on the edge of the night», «The Forsyte Sagas" And "Wills».

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7. "Bitter Orange", Claire Fuller

Bitter Orange is the third novel by English writer Claire Fuller. Her first book, Our Endless Last Days, won the Desmond Elliott Prize for Best First Novel, and her second book, Swimming Lessons, was shortlisted for the Encore Prize for Best Second Book.

This is a story about one summer in provincial England. Forty-year-old Frances Jellicoe arrives at an old estate for an architectural inventory - she is hired by a wealthy new owner of the house. Here she meets a married couple, Kara and Peter - the latter arrived to evaluate antiques.

Francis immediately falls under the charm of her neighbors: they spend evenings together, drink wine and talk a lot. To her, who has spent virtually her entire life as a recluse, their marriage seems ideal. Intoxicated by these casual relationships, she ignores reality: not very decent and selfish people are seen as perfect by her. She goes too far and, having discovered a secret peephole in the house, spying on her new friends. It turns out that their union is not so simple.

The book will appeal to those who are imbued with the atmosphere "Wuthering Heights”, gothic novels in the spirit of Sebastian Japrisot and Daphne du Maurier.

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8. The Family Knot by Domenico Starnone

Domenico Starnone is an Italian novelist, screenwriter and journalist, author of 14 novels translated into more than 20 languages. "Family Knot" was included in the top 100 best books according to The New York Times.

Starnone lifts the veil of the life of an ordinary family, consisting of a husband, wife and two children. On the surface, they are happy and love each other, but behind the safe façade hide the accumulated resentment, misunderstanding and anger of spouses at each other, and children - at their parents.

The novel is divided into three parts, in each of which the author in turn gives the right to vote to all participants in the family drama. The reader has the opportunity to listen to different versions of what was the reason for the family drama, and draw conclusions about the characters. Starnone skillfully draws the characters, forcing the reader to experience very conflicting feelings towards them.

The novel will appeal to fans of Italian stories with diverse characters. As, for example, in Elena Ferrante, Paolo Giordano or in "Elizabeth and Beatrice. Stories of one friendship» Sylvia Avallone.

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9. "This is the Story of a Happy Marriage" by Ann Patchett

And again the book of Anne Patchett, but this time even more autobiographical. This is a collection of memoirs of the writer, seasoned with fiction. Using his own marriage as an example, Patchett explores the phenomenon affection.

She candidly shares personal stories about her childhood and the painful divorce that resulted from an early marriage, love for your dog, worries about the loss of your beloved grandmother and, of course, a happy marriage. This book is like talking to an understanding friend about the most important things in life.

The book will appeal to fans of autofiction and honest life-affirming stories like "Good Letters"Dmitry Likhachev or"Diary of a monkey» Jane Birkin.

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10. The Winemaker's Wife, Christine Harmel

Christine Harmel is the author of three novels that have been translated into 20 languages. She collaborated with the largest publishing houses in America, and her books were nominated for prestigious awards.

1940, France, Champagne: Ines marries Michel, owner of the legendary Maisons Chauveau champagne house. Their family lives in an idyllic setting of rolling vineyards near Reims, but Ines does not feel happy. The thing is that both her husband and the chief winemaker Theo and his wife Celine do not take Ines seriously, the spouses move away from each other. But soon France occupied by German troops. The relationship between the characters is gradually changing, they have to adjust their own lives to the circumstances. In addition, Ines is the culprit of a misfortune that will change the fate of many people.

In parallel, Harmel introduces another storyline. 2019, New York: Liv is going through a difficult divorce from her husband and the loss of her job. In order to somehow escape from life's problems, she travels with her grandmother Edith to France. There, the granddaughter learns the story of how Edith during the war fought against the German regime side by side with the same strong and beautiful women.

The book will be an ideal reading for those who liked "Nightingale"Kristin Hanna and"Last evening in London» Karen White.

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