If you liked
Books like The Hours
by Michael Cunningham
Michael Cunningham's The Hours is the rare novel that earns its triple-helix structure: three women, three timelines, one Mrs. Dalloway. If the layered consciousness and the lit-fic patience are what you loved, these are the next five we put in people's hands.
The shortlist
What to read next
Venus Envyby Rita Mae Brown
“Venus Envy by Rita Mae Brown 1993 review. A Virginia gallery owner mistakenly told she has weeks to live writes the truth to every important person in her life. Then she does not die.”
Microserfsby Douglas Coupland
“Microserfs by Douglas Coupland review. The 1995 novel about Microsoft programmers starting a Bay Area startup. The defining Silicon Valley novel of its decade.”
The Sand Castleby Rita Mae Brown
“The Sand Castle by Rita Mae Brown 2008 review. A multigenerational Maryland family rents a beach cottage on Chincoteague for one last summer day before the matriarch dies.”
The Casanova Embraceby Warren Adler
“The Casanova Embrace by Warren Adler 1978 review. A Chilean dissident in Washington beds a string of women for political intelligence. An FBI handler tries to piece it together after his death.”
Blood Tiesby Warren Adler
“Blood Ties by Warren Adler 1979 review. An assimilated American Jewish lawyer travels to Bavaria for a family wedding and uncovers a Nazi-era secret that pulls his identity apart.”
FAQ
Common questions about The Hours read-alikes
- I am scared of literary fiction that takes itself too seriously. Are these all heavy?
- No. Rita Mae Brown's Venus Envy is a comic novel about lying to your family that you are dying. Coupland's Microserfs is the funniest serious book about Microsoft you will ever read. The seriousness is real but the prose is not punishing.
- Are any of these similar to Mrs. Dalloway?
- The Hours is the most obvious Mrs. Dalloway descendant, by design. None of these other books are doing the explicit homage, but Cunningham's interest in consciousness moving through one day is closer to the Coupland and Adler picks than to the comic Brown ones.
- Why are there two Rita Mae Brown picks?
- Because she is the most underrated novelist on this list. The Hours fans tend to discover Brown's standalones late and wish they had started earlier.
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