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What to read if you loved a little life?

11 Devastating Books Like A Little Life A Little Life. Author: Hanya Yanagihara. ... The Great Believers. Author: Rebecca Makkai. ... A Home at the End of the World. Author: Michael Cunningham. ... My Dark Vanessa. Author: Kate Elizabeth Russell. ... The Heart's Invisible Furies. ... The Death of Vivek Oji. ... The Kindness of Strangers. ... The Other's Gold. More items...

mindjoggle.com - 11 Devastating Books Like A Little Life - Mind Joggle
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This post may include affiliate links. That means if you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Please see Disclosures for more information. Fans know there are few books like A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. The immersive, sweeping, devastating novel about four friends living in New York–after college and in the decades following–stands alone for so many readers.

But for those looking for A Little Life read-alikes, there are options!

While Yanagihara’s style may be singular–and you can read more about her unique approach and inspiration for the book in The Story of the Story: 15 Things You Didn’t Know About A Little Life–so many of the themes she explores are common. You can find themes of friendship, trauma, ambition, and LGBTQ relationships throughout modern literary fiction. They are endlessly fascinating story fodder and aspects of life that readers are eager to explore.

About A Little Life

A Little Life Author: Hanya Yanagihara A Little Life tells the story of JB, Malcolm, Willem, and Jude, four friends just out of college and making their way in New York. As the story shifts through the perspectives of each friend, finally landing on Jude, you realize that Jude is struggling with more than quarter-life angst. He bears the physical and emotional wounds of a deeply traumatic childhood. As years and decades pass, the friends struggle to understand his trauma and help him move toward healing. Buy on Amazon Buy on Bookshop.org If you loved Yanagihara’s novel, you may like these books that are similar to A Little Life. A Home at the End of the World Author: Michael Cunningham The story of three friends–Jonathan, Bobby, and Clare–who are devoted to one another, in different ways. Jonathan, who is gay, plans to father Clare’s child, until Clare and Bobby fall in love. The three leave New York City and move to a small house upstate to raise Clare and Bobby’s child, creating their own kind of family. Elements in common with A Little Life: Friends creating family

LGBTQ relationships

The isolated, out-of-time feeling Buy on Amazon Buy on Bookshop.org

My Dark Vanessa Author: Kate Elizabeth Russell This story about the relationship between a manipulative teacher and his teen student is reminiscent of Lolita, if told from the girl’s perspective. Well-written, difficult to read, and an interesting take on Vanessa’s determination to remain an actor in her own life, rather than just a victim. Elements in common with A Little Life: Dark, heavy topics

Dealing with childhood trauma as an adult

The effects of sexual abuse Buy on Amazon Buy on Bookshop.org

The Heart’s Invisible Furies Author: John Boyne Born to an unwed mother in Ireland in the 1940s, Cyril is adopted by Charles and Maude Avery. From an early age, Cyril knows he’s different: not a “real Avery,” and not attracted to girls like his friends. The book follows Cyril through his life, from his youth and twenties spent in hiding in a repressive Dublin to a more open life in middle age in Amsterdam and New York. Cyril’s search for identity, belonging, acceptance, and family is by turns funny, frustrating, and sad. Elements in common with A Little Life: Childhood trauma

Struggles with identity

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LGBTQ relationships Buy on Amazon Buy on Bookshop.org

The Death of Vivek Oji Author: Akwaeke Emezi In a Nigerian town, a mother opens the door and finds the body of her son. As she grieves his death, she tries to understand the person Vivek was and find out how he was killed. A gentle soul, Vivek struggled with identity and finding a place in the world. Told from multiple perspectives, the story reconstructs the events leading to Vivek’s death and the heartbreaking struggle for self-acceptance in a world that is determined to deny it. Elements in common with A Little Life: Struggles with identity

LGBTQ issues and relationships Buy on Amazon Buy on Bookshop.org

The Kindness of Strangers Author: Katrina Kittle Sarah Laden, a young mother and widow, finds herself caring for her best friend’s son after a shocking revelation rocks the town. Sarah must come to grips with what she thought she knew about her friend, as well as what this boy and her own family need from her and how they might be able to recover–together. Elements in common with A Little Life: The trauma of childhood sexual abuse Difficult, heartbreaking reading *This, along with A Little Life, is one of the few books I give trigger warnings for. It’s well done but can be quite upsetting, so read with caution. Buy on Amazon Buy on Bookshop.org The Other’s Gold Author: Elizabeth Ames Lainey, Ji Sun, Alice, and Margaret are roommates and best friends in college, and the independence and intensity of campus life bonds them forever. Over the years, as the women graduate and move into adulthood, each makes a terrible mistake. The book walks through each–the Accident, the Accusation, the Kiss, and the Bite–examining the shifts and evolution in the women and their friendships. Elements in common with A Little Life: Urban, complex friendships after college

How friendships change in adulthood Buy on Amazon Buy on Bookshop.org

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous Author: Ocean Vuong “Gorgeous” is the perfect word to attach to this novel–the prose is simply breathtaking. Poet Ocean Vuong’s first novel is framed as a letter from a son, Little Dog, to his Vietnamese mother, who cannot read. She is work-worn and sometimes abusive, exhausted by her lack of a homeland, her inability to read or speak English fluently, and her mentally ill mother who was traumatized by the war. In the letter, Little Dog grapples with his identity as a son, an Asian American, and a gay man experiencing his first romance with a troubled farm worker. Elements in common with A Little Life: Immersive, reflective writing

Struggles with identity, abuse

LGBTQ relationships Buy on Amazon Buy on Bookshop.org

Boy Swallows Universe Author: Trent Dalton Twelve-year old Eli Bell loves his messed-up family: his older brother, August, who stopped talking after a childhood trauma, and his mother and stepfather who are heroin dealers and former addicts. Things go south when the violence of his parents’ business comes to their home. His stepfather disappears and his mother ends up in jail. Eli embarks on several missions: to save his mother, to find out what happened to his stepfather, to become a crime journalist, and to become a good man–all while taking down the man running the drug show in his seedy Australian suburb. Elements in common with A Little Life: The sweeping feel of a “big story”

Childhood trauma

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Gritty and sometimes brutal Buy on Amazon Buy on Bookshop.org

Tin Man Author: Sarah Winman At 12 years old, Ellis and Michael begin an intense companionship that evolves into more, until the two boys find themselves at a decision point. Jumping ahead: Ellis is a 45-year-old autoworker, living alone and nursing his flashes of memory. Annie. Michael. The friendship that expanded to enfold the third member, and then closed again, never to allow in a fourth. The story slowly unfolds to reveal the cycles of bonding and breaking that defined their relationships, and how Ellis came to be alone. Elements in common with A Little Life: Intense, insular friendships that evolve into more

LGBTQ relationships

The emotional push-and-pull of lifelong friendships Buy on Amazon Buy on Bookshop.org

The Gunners Author: Rebecca Kauffman Mikey Callahan is the only one of six childhood friends to remain in their hometown, aside from the long-estranged Sally, who has taken her life in adulthood. The remaining friends trickle into town for the funeral, reconnect, and confess old and new secrets. As long-held misunderstandings are remedied, the friends realize that they may not have known each other as well as they thought–but also that this unknowing is a constant in relationships, and they can endure anyway. Elements in common with A Little Life: Groups of friends learning of the trauma of one of their own

Lifelong friendships Buy on Amazon Buy on Bookshop.org

What other books remind you of A Little Life?

Support Local Bookstores Now, more than ever, local bookstores need our support. If you are purchasing books, consider buying local or from Bookshop.org, which supports local, independent bookstores. Shop my book lists or search Bookshop.org for your next great read:

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mindjoggle.com - 11 Devastating Books Like A Little Life - Mind Joggle
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