Books Like Madame Bovary

Read more

Davina Porter brings a quiet, relentless irony to Emma Bovary's provincial suffering — her voice understands the tragedy without excusing it, and at 13 hours she sustains a register of doomed interiority that Flaubert's prose demands. All ten recommendations are highly rated, and the similar runtimes mean the same sustained attention this novel asks of you carries through — stories that earn their emotional weight through accumulation rather than incident.

10 books for fans of Madame Bovary

  1. 1
    Theo of Golden cover

    Theo of Golden

    by Allen Levi

    More about this pick

    When Theo starts purchasing ninety-two portraits from a coffeehouse wall, he quietly begins changing an entire town through simple acts of recognition.

    4.57 Goodreads (168.5K ratings)
  2. 2
    Sunrise on the Reaping cover

    Sunrise on the Reaping

    The Hunger Games

    by Suzanne Collins

    More about this pick

    Follow teenage Haymitch Abernathy into the arena during the second Quarter Quell, where the Capitol's twisted anniversary celebration doubles the death toll.

    4.50 Goodreads (1.1M ratings)
  3. 3
    A Thousand Splendid Suns cover

    A Thousand Splendid Suns

    by Khaled Hosseini

    More about this pick

    Hosseini traces Afghanistan's tumultuous history through Mariam and Laila, whose friendship becomes their lifeline through Taliban rule and personal tragedy.

    4.46 Goodreads (1.8M ratings)
  4. 4
    The Great Alone cover

    The Great Alone

    by Kristin Hannah

    More about this pick

    Thirteen-year-old Leni watches her father's PTSD tear their family apart in 1970s Alaska, where the wilderness is less dangerous than the man who brought them there.

    4.46 Goodreads (1.2M ratings)
  5. 5
    The Hate U Give cover

    The Hate U Give

    The Hate U Give • Book 1

    by Angie Thomas

    4.45 Goodreads (1.0M ratings)
  6. 6
    The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell cover

    The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

    by Robert Dugoni

    More about this pick

    Sam Hill's rare condition that gives him red pupils makes him an outcast, but with support from his devout mother, practical father, and two misfit friends, he learns to see differently.

    4.45 Goodreads (230.8K ratings)
  7. 7
    Remarkably Bright Creatures cover

    Remarkably Bright Creatures

    by Shelby Van Pelt

    More about this pick

    What starts as a widow's late-night cleaning job at an aquarium becomes something unexpectedly profound when she connects with a giant Pacific octopus who might hold clues to her son's disappearance.

    4.36 Goodreads (1.3M ratings)
  8. 8
    My Friends cover

    My Friends

    by Fredrik Backman

    More about this pick

    Four teenagers forge a friendship so powerful it reaches across twenty-five years to transform a complete stranger's life in ways none of them could imagine.

    4.36 Goodreads (413.4K ratings)
  9. 9
    The Road to Tender Hearts cover

    The Road to Tender Hearts

    by Annie Hartnett

    More about this pick

    PJ Halliday's million-dollar windfall becomes the catalyst for an unlikely road trip featuring two orphaned children, his estranged daughter, and a cat with supernatural abilities.

    4.35 Goodreads (61.9K ratings)
  10. 10
    The River cover

    The River

    by Wally Lamb

    More about this pick

    New father Corby's secret addiction and devastating mistake land him in prison, where he witnesses both human cruelty and unexpected kindness.

    4.30 Goodreads (155.0K ratings)