If you liked
Books like Song of Solomon
by Toni Morrison
Song of Solomon is the Toni Morrison novel that made her a major figure, a man called Milkman tracing his family's history back to a myth of flight. It is mythic, musical and layered. If you want more lyrical, ambitious fiction about Black American history and inheritance, these are the reads.
The shortlist
What to read next
Belovedby Toni Morrison
“Beloved by Toni Morrison 1987 review. Sethe, a former slave living in Reconstruction-era Ohio, is haunted by the daughter she killed to save from slavery. Pulitzer Prize 1988 and one of the canonical American novels of the late twentieth century.”
The Underground Railroadby Colson Whitehead
“The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead 2016 review. Cora, a slave on a Georgia plantation, escapes north via an actual underground railroad, a literalized version of the metaphor. Pulitzer Prize 2017 and the National Book Award winner that defined the contemporary Black literary moment.”
Sing, Unburied, Singby Jesmyn Ward
“Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward 2017 review. A thirteen-year-old biracial boy and his drug-addicted mother drive to Parchman Penitentiary. National Book Award winner.”
Homegoingby Yaa Gyasi
“Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi 2016 review. Seven generations of two half-sister bloodlines, one in Ghana and one in America, from eighteenth-century Fanteland to present-day Stanford. Gyasi's debut and one of the canonical contemporary American diaspora novels.”
The Nickel Boysby Colson Whitehead
“The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead 2019 review. Two boys at the segregated Nickel Academy reform school in 1960s Florida, based on the real Dozier School. Pulitzer Prize 2020 and the canonical contemporary American novel on institutional violence against Black children.”
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Storeby James McBride
“The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride 2023 review. A 1972 skeleton found at the bottom of a Pottstown, Pennsylvania well sends the novel back to a 1930s neighborhood where Black, Jewish, and immigrant families lived alongside each other. The most important American novel of 2023.”
FAQ
Common questions about Song of Solomon read-alikes
- I want more Toni Morrison.
- Beloved is the essential next read, her Pulitzer winner and the founding text of the haunted-by-slavery American novel. If Song of Solomon showed you what Morrison can do, Beloved is the one that made her immortal.
- Who writes in Morrison's tradition today?
- Jesmyn Ward, directly. Sing, Unburied, Sing carries the same lyric intensity and the same presence of the dead in the living world. It is the closest contemporary match to Morrison's mythic register.
- I want the multi-generational sweep of Black history.
- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi follows two branches of a family from eighteenth-century Ghana to the present, a chapter per generation. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead reimagines the escape as a literal railroad. Both share Song of Solomon's ambition and scope.
- I want warmth and community alongside the history.
- The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride finds humor and tenderness in a hard mid-century neighborhood. A gentler companion to Morrison's mythic weight, and a wonderful read in its own right.
The original