If you liked
Books like The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead
The Underground Railroad is Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer-and-National-Book-Award double winner with the structural conceit of a literal subterranean rail network carrying Cora north from a Georgia plantation through alternate-history American states. If you finished it and needed another book of equivalent structural ambition, these are the closest matches in our catalog.
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.”
Jamesby Percival Everett
“James by Percival Everett 2024 review. A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the enslaved man Jim, in his own voice. The most important American novel of 2024 and the right Everett entry point.”
The Vanishing Halfby Brit Bennett
“The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett 2020 review. Identical twin sisters from a small light-skinned Black Louisiana town diverge in the 1960s: one returns with her daughter, the other passes for white in California. Bennett's second novel and one of the canonical 2020s American literary novels.”
Song of Solomonby Toni Morrison
“Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison 1977 review. Macon "Milkman" Dead III, born into a comfortable Black family in 1930s Michigan, travels south to discover his ancestral history. Morrison's third novel and one of her two unquestioned masterpieces alongside Beloved.”
The Handmaid's Taleby Margaret Atwood
“The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood 1985 review. In the near-future Republic of Gilead, women have been stripped of their rights, and the handmaid Offred remembers the world before. The most-cited dystopian novel of the late twentieth century.”
The Fifth Seasonby N. K. Jemisin
“The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin 2015 review. On a continent where seismic activity defines life, three women's stories converge as a fifth season begins. Hugo Best Novel 2016, the first volume of the Broken Earth trilogy, and the most important fantasy debut of the 2010s.”
FAQ
Common questions about The Underground Railroad read-alikes
- What is the closest match for The Underground Railroad?
- Beloved. Toni Morrison is the writer The Underground Railroad reads as a direct response to, and Beloved is the canonical historical-American novel of institutional racial violence handled in a register that uses speculative scaffolding to do literary work.
- Should I read The Nickel Boys next?
- Yes. Whitehead's 2019 follow-up Pulitzer winner (making him the fourth writer in history to win two Pulitzers for fiction). The Nickel Boys is the contemporary Florida-set companion novel and reads as the realist counterpart to the speculative Underground Railroad. Both are essential.
- I want more Colson Whitehead.
- Harlem Shuffle (2021) and Crook Manifesto (2023) are the recent Harlem-set crime trilogy (the third book is forthcoming). John Henry Days (2001) is the earlier mid-career novel. The Intuitionist (1999) is the debut.
- I want more speculative-historical fiction.
- The Fifth Season (N. K. Jemisin) is the highest-craft contemporary speculative novel doing adjacent political work. The Handmaid's Tale handles the same project in a near-future register.
The original