Books Like The Scarlet Letter

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Dick Hill reads Hawthorne with the same flat gravity he brings to crime fiction — there's no ornamentation, just a direct, serious delivery that suits the relentless moral pressure of the prose, and the 10-hour runtime feels exactly right for a book this dense. Two of the recommendations feature Hill as , the rest run similar lengths, and several are award winners, so if you want that same combination of literary seriousness and a who stays out of the way of the writing, these follow the same pattern.

10 books for fans of The Scarlet Letter

  1. 1
    Provinces of Night cover

    Provinces of Night

    by William Gay

    4.20 Goodreads (3.0K ratings)
  2. 2
    Jennie cover

    Jennie

    by Douglas Preston

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    Dr. Hugo Archibald rescues an orphaned baby chimpanzee in West Africa, bringing her home to Boston where she becomes the inspiration for Curious George.

    3.86 Goodreads (810 ratings)
  3. 3
    Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban cover

    Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

    Harry Potter • Book 3

    by J.K. Rowling

    4.58 Goodreads (4.9M ratings)
  4. 4
    The Correspondent cover

    The Correspondent

    by Virginia Evans

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    An epistolary novel built from discovered correspondence reveals one woman's journey through decades of artistic ambition, romantic heartbreak, and historical upheaval. Evans explores how letters create intimate connections across time and preserve the fragments that define a life.

    4.53 Goodreads (364.9K ratings)
  5. 5
    A Thousand Splendid Suns cover

    A Thousand Splendid Suns

    by Khaled Hosseini

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    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)
  6. 6
    The Hate U Give cover

    The Hate U Give

    The Hate U Give • Book 1

    by Angie Thomas

    4.45 Goodreads (1.0M ratings)
  7. 7
    The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell cover

    The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

    by Robert Dugoni

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    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)
  8. 8
    Remarkably Bright Creatures cover

    Remarkably Bright Creatures

    by Shelby Van Pelt

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    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)
  9. 9
    Atmosphere: A GMA Book Club Pick cover

    Atmosphere: A GMA Book Club Pick

    by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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    A physics professor leaves academia to become one of NASA's first female astronauts, trading telescopes for shuttles in pursuit of the cosmos she's studied from afar.

    4.33 Goodreads (758.2K ratings)