I’ve been wanting to read more magical realism, but I’m not sure where to start. I love stories that feel grounded in reality but have that subtle, almost dreamlike twist.
I’ve heard great things about One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, but I’d love more suggestions.
by Fresh-Gazelle7014
16 Comments
I can recommend The Spear Cuts Through Water and The Night Circus
Shadow of the wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
If you like murder mysteries, the seven moons of Maali Almeida is a great magical realism take on the genre – basic premise is that a murder victim has 7 days to work out who murdered him. It’s set during the Sri Lankan civil war
The love in the time of cholera, GGM also
We’ll Prescribe You a Cat is magical realism light – might be a good quick read between longer books
Mr Penumbras 24 hour bookstore
Sourdough
Both by Robin Sloan
Like Water for Chocolate
[The Murmur of the Bees](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42306076) by Sofía Segovia.
Both 100 Years and House of the Spirits are great! I’d also add Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie and The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.
The September House by Carissa Orlando
It’s a beautifully written book about a haunted house, a marriage and survival.
Anything by Sarah Addison Allen. Garden Spells is lovely.
The Hummingbird’s Daughter by Louis Alberto Urrea
Song of the Crocodile by Nardi Simpson
Although it isn’t subtle, The Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews is excellent. The first is Burn For Me. It is a current day urban romantasy. Those were some of my few 5-star reads last year.
1Q84 by Murakami
The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia
Time Traveler’s Wife.