Books about two people who should have NEVER been married
Looking for books about horrible marriages. Or the slow decline of a marriage. This would be ideal if it was literary fiction. Im looking for inspiration for my debut novel, a southern gothic literary fiction piece.
Liars by Sarah Manguso–you want her to leave him by page 5 and then you get like 200 more pages =))))
Woo Woo by Ella Baxter also felt this way to me but others may find this relationship workable or redeemable
The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
The Most by Jessica Anthony
Pretty-Plankton on
Middlemarch, George Eliot
sivez97 on
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi. It’s not literary fiction, but It is a gothic novel about a toxic marriage. A professor of mythology marries a beautiful but mysterious heiress who makes him promise to never ask any questions about her past. But he can’t resist when he visits her childhood home for the first time. Very atmospheric and dreamlike.
MossAvenger on
Recipe For A Perfect Wife by Karma Brown
Designer-Swan-3687 on
It’s not southern gothic, but lots of couple drama and marriage drama:
Crazy Rich Asians trilogy by Kevin Kwan
CittaMindful on
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?
zeroborders on
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates is perfect for this.
No-Strawberry-5804 on
Not marriage, but long term relationship – The Favorites
blueblah_001 on
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
lady_lane on
The War of the Roses by Warren Adler. It’s what the movie with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner is based on.
And it’s a deeper/weirder cut, but Comfort Me with Apples could also fit this prompt.
WigNoMore on
Not the only thing this book is about, but see if it interests you: Britt-Marie Was Here: A Novel by Fredrik Backman
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Fates & Furies by Lauren Groff
Rebecca (the past marriage, not the present)
Liars by Sarah Manguso–you want her to leave him by page 5 and then you get like 200 more pages =))))
Woo Woo by Ella Baxter also felt this way to me but others may find this relationship workable or redeemable
The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
The Most by Jessica Anthony
Middlemarch, George Eliot
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi. It’s not literary fiction, but It is a gothic novel about a toxic marriage. A professor of mythology marries a beautiful but mysterious heiress who makes him promise to never ask any questions about her past. But he can’t resist when he visits her childhood home for the first time. Very atmospheric and dreamlike.
Recipe For A Perfect Wife by Karma Brown
It’s not southern gothic, but lots of couple drama and marriage drama:
Crazy Rich Asians trilogy by Kevin Kwan
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates is perfect for this.
Not marriage, but long term relationship – The Favorites
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
The War of the Roses by Warren Adler. It’s what the movie with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner is based on.
And it’s a deeper/weirder cut, but Comfort Me with Apples could also fit this prompt.
Not the only thing this book is about, but see if it interests you: Britt-Marie Was Here: A Novel by Fredrik Backman
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
Dodsworth by Sinclair Lewis
Sorry, I haven’t written my memoir yet.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
Angle of repose – Wallace Stegner