Relationship Fiction
Relationship fiction focuses on emotional stories filled with characters seeking to find balance, accept loss, or start anew. Story lines recount moments of inner conflict and domestic discord played out on a small, intimate scale. The problems in these books are rarely too big to overcome and even in the edgier titles there can be a somewhat comforting ethos. Readers enjoy that these stories are meaningful and reveal the core of a situation, character, or issue — and impart lessons learned.
New to relationship fiction? Try these favorites:
A Man Called Ove (2013)
Fredrick Backman
Ove is a curmudgeon with a short fuse. But a young family moving next door leads to a heartwarming and unexpected friendship.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2013)
Maria Semple
A misanthropic matriarch leaves her eccentric family in crisis when she mysteriously disappears in this touching comedy.
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry (2014)
Gabrielle Zevin
AJ lives alone, his bookstore business is failing, and his rare collection of Poe poems has been stolen. But a mysterious package arrives at the bookstore and gives him the change to see everything anew.
Waiting to Exhale (1992)
Terry McMillan
When the men in their lives prove less than reliable, Savannah, Bernadine, Gloria, and Robin find new strength through a rare and enlightening friendship as they struggle to regain stability and an identity they don’t have to share with anyone.
Newer titles you may enjoy:
The Nest (2017)
Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
A warm, funny and acutely perceptive debut novel about four adult siblings and the fate of the shared inheritance that has shaped their choices and their lives.
The Wish (2021)
Nicholas Sparks
Maggie, an ailing renowned photographer, grows closer to her young assistant while telling him stories of her youth and early career.
The Guncle (2021)
Steven Rowley
Patrick (or Gay Uncle Patrick, or Guncle) loves spending time with his niece and nephew. But when he unexpectedly becomes their primary guardian, his eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility.
The Hotel Nantucket (2022)
Elin Hilderbrand
A charismatic (and inexperienced) team renovates and reopens an old Nantucket hotel haunted by a mostly harmless ghost looking to solve the mystery behind her murder.