To add context to the post title – the protagonist's reality is just ripped to shreds. They have no idea who they are anymore or what they want in life or what they stand for. They are forced to reckon with the fact that their entire sense of self was built on societal expectations, family dynamics, etc. and goes through a transformation and learns something valuable about themselves and their place in the world.
by thenaturalinquirer
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The first such I recall is King Lear. Ran was the remake…many lessor inbetween…have fun
These first three are romance novels from a series about a family, but really do check your boxes. All three are by Mary Balogh
Someone to Love- Woman who has grown up all her life in an orphanage believing she had no family and no real prospects for her future, discovers that she is in fact the only legitimate child of a wealthy Earl, and since his death, has inherited everything.
Someone to Hold- book about the oldest half- sister of the FMC from Love. After it comes out that she is illegitimate and has nothing, her engagements is ended, her family is in splinters, and she no longer has a home. She picks up the pieces in an unexpected way.
Someone to Care-The mother of the FMC of Hold has lived her life in a very unhappy marriage, but always doing her duty as a wealthy countess, and raising her children to be good people in their turn. Then she finds out her marriage was bigamous, her children all illegitimate, and she has nothing, as well as the more crushing fact that her husband knew this the entire time, could have fixed it, and deliberately chose not to.
Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder by Bellamy Rose – Pomona Afton has been a spoiled wealthy heiress all her life- but her grandmother has been murdered and she has been cut off completely from her trust funds, along with her family. In order to get it all back, she has to solve the murder, but also has to figure out how to survive.
Murderbot. All of life’s important lessons can be learned there.
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold. Both Miles’s and Illyan’s arc.
It can stand alone. But to understand it better, it’s best to read Mirror Dance (CW for torture). And to understand THAT better it’s best to read Brothers in Arms. I hesitate to recommend reading two extra books, but I do NOT hesitate to recommend just about any book by Bujold. Read the entire Vorkosigan series!
Inheritance by Dani Shapiro.
Patrick melrose series
Great Expectations!