When you make a purchase using links on our site, The Week may earn a commission. All reviews are written independently by our editorial team.
Novelist Julia Phillips is the author of "Disappearing Earth," a 2019 international best-seller that was also a National Book Award finalist. In her new novel, "Bear," the bond between two sisters is tested when a grizzly arrives on the island where they live.
"Middlemarch" by George Eliot (1871)
About marriage, love, expectations, and class, this novel is an exquisite and moving account of how the people in one small town built their lives together. Eliot crafts her characters with unparalleled honesty and tenderness. She shows people as they really are. Buy it here.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez (1967)
Through the story of the rise and fall of one family, this novel shows the entire world, not only as it is but as it might be: lush, fantastical, heartbreaking. Nobody does it like García Márquez. Nobody could. Buy it here.
"The Color Purple" by Alice Walker (1982)
From its very first words, this novel is ferocious — a gorgeous and shocking depiction of violence, intimacy, desire, and dreaming. Walker's voice on the page is like no other. She grabs you and doesn't let you go. And somehow, though this story contains so much pain, it ultimately is built on hope: the belief, eventually made real, that these characters can not only survive but also triumph. Buy it here.
"The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead (2016)
Whitehead is, without a doubt, one of our greatest living writers, creating stories that are as beautiful as they are brutal, as narratively satisfying as they are form-breaking and inventive. This novel is my favorite of his. To read it is to witness a genius at work. Buy it here.
"Women Talking" by Miriam Toews (2018)
A truly perfect novel, this book is unforgettable. It takes the facts of a real story — a series of sexual assaults at a Mennonite colony in the early 2000s — and creates from those an astounding work of art that explores justice, forgiveness, and faith. It asks what is, to my mind, the most essential question of all: How do we keep going? How do we live? Buy it here.
"The End of Drum-Time" by Hanna Pylväinen (2023)
A work of historical fiction about the collision between reindeer herders and Lutheran missionaries in the Scandinavian tundra, this novel astounded me. It is epic, rich, and deeply beautiful, like seeing the northern lights on the page. Buy it here.
This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.
-
DHS preps for major ICE expansion, rankling local law enforcementIN THE SPOTLIGHT As the Trump administration positions ICE as the primary federal police force, its recruitment efforts have been met with a less-than-enthusiastic response
-
The return of 'Wednesday,' an 'Alien' prequel and a dramatic retelling of the Amanda Knox trial all happening in August TVthe week recommends This month's new television releases include 'Alien: Earth,' 'The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox' and a new season of 'Wednesday'
-
How does a 401(k) hardship withdrawal work and is it smart to take one?the explainer More Americans than ever are resorting to this option in a pinch
-
Savages: a tragi-comedy set in a 'quirky handcrafted world'The Week Recommends This new animated film by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Claude Barras is undeniably political, but it has a hopeful message
-
Merryn Somerset Webb chooses five books on how the world worksThe Week Recommends The financial columnist picks works by Peter Turchin, Adam Smith and Christopher Clark
-
6 sturdy post-and-beam homesFeature Featuring a wood stove in New York and hand-hewn beams in New Hampshire
-
The Naked Gun: 'a dumb comedy of the expert kind'The Week Recommends Liam Neeson shows off his comedy chops in this reboot of Leslie Nielsen's crime spoof
-
King of Kings: 'excellent' book examines Iran's 1979 revolution and its global impactsThe Week Recommends Scott Anderson 'easily and elegantly' paints a picture of a century of Iran's history
-
Music reviews: Tyler Childers and MadonnaFeature "Snipe Hunter" and "Veronica Electronica"
-
Art review: Noah DavisFeature Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, through Aug. 31
-
Beatriz Williams' 6 timeless books about history and human relationshipsFeature The best-selling author recommends works by Jane Austen, Zora Neale Hurston, and more
