10 Older Books Primed for a New Reading Frenzy

Elizabeth Berg’s NEVER CHANGE is the perfect example of a book that’ll hook you from the beginning and deliver a heart-wrenching ride. Myra Lipinsky is a visiting nurse and a self-described spinster. At age fifty-one all she has are her relationships with an eccentric collection of patients. Loneliness is nothing new for Myra, though, as she has always been considered the “ugly duckling” from a very young age—which makes her newest patient that much more interesting. Chip Reardon was a former high school classmate of Myra’s. In fact, he was the classmate—the most popular guy at school. But now, with end-stage brain cancer, he’s seeking any kind of companionship and finds it, unexpectedly, with Myra. As Chip nears the end, he and Myra form a close bond and reflect on their lives of isolation while embracing this latter period of connection. Powerful and unforgettable, NEVER CHANGE will leave you breathless as it has with countless readers since its publication.

Sometimes an older novel’s impact is its simple charm. Such is the case of Ivan Doig’s THE WHISTLING SEASON about one small Montana town in the early twentieth century that is transformed by its latest occupants. Oliver Milliron, recently widowed, moved his family from Wisconsin to Montana to be a dryland farmer but, as of 1909, is seeking help with his home and his three boys. Moved by an ad for an available housekeeper, Oliver hires Rose Llewellyn and pays her way from Minneapolis, only to find that she has brought along her brother Morrie. With Rose managing the Milliron home and Morrie quickly taking on the position of teacher at the local school, it isn’t long before the siblings' presence is felt by the townspeople and Oliver’s family. All seems well until the thirteen-year-old son, Paul, discovers Rose and Morrie are on the run and life is temporarily thrown into tumult. It’s a charming read with vivid scenes from a midwestern life that are moving to any modern readers with a love of small-town intrigue.

A relationship between a mother and daughter is the definition of a (near) universal theme, which is why THE CAREGIVER, Samuel Park’s posthumously published novel, is still so impactful today. Mara Alencar is an undocumented Brazilian immigrant working in California as a caregiver to a woman dying of stomach cancer. It is while treating Kathryn, her patient and new mother figure, that Mara begins to reflect back on her life and relationship with her biological mother, Ana. Ana, an actress in Brazil, struggling to put food on the table for her and Mara, was once swept up in an anti-government plot. As the novel bounces between the present and 1970s Rio de Janeiro, readers learn of the lengths to which Ana went to keep her family afloat until a painful separation from Mara became her only means of protecting her. Reckoning with her mother’s decision and the relationship with the dying Kathryn, Mara begins to unlock the truth about what it is to be a caregiver in a book that will move you deeply.

We’ve covered mother-daughter relationships, so how about a novel about fathers and sons for “hard-hitting”? THE BEAUTIFUL MISCELLANEOUS by Dominic Smith is the story of Samuel Nelson, a genius of sorts, striving to pull forth the same high-level intelligence from his son Nathan—but to no avail. Despite pop quizzes in science and math and enrollment in countless camps for the gifted, Nathan doesn’t seem to possess the same intellectual qualities as his father. That is until a car crash with his drunken grandfather results in a near-death experience. Upon awakening from a coma, Nathan finds he has synesthesia, which Samuel seems to believe may be the solution to the problem of his previously “ordinary” son. Samuel immediately enrolls Nathan in an institute for talent development, and it isn’t long before his father again is disappointed. An emotionally crushing portrait of a father’s unrealistic expectations of his son, this novel will stay with you for years to come.

Caribbean author Maryse Condé’s novel THE STORY OF THE CANNIBAL WOMAN is about one woman’s search for her identity after a violent event forces her to reassess her past. After her partner, Stephen, is murdered in a supposed robbery, Rosélie must use her gifts of clairvoyance and tell fortunes to get by without his support. A local detective in Cape Town, South Africa, doesn’t believe the case is as straightforward as others and is soon preoccupied with Rosélie’s past. It is then readers are taken on a journey from Paris to New York and, ultimately, back to present-day Cape Town. All the while we learn about Rosélie’s colorful relationships, which are often surrounded by racial and sexual tensions. She does eventually begin an investigation of her own in the hope of getting answers about Stephen’s killing, but only ends up with more questions about him and his own secret past. Gripping, rich in detail, and filled with fascinating multicultural themes, THE STORY OF THE CANNIBAL WOMAN is one that seems to hit harder as it ages.

Little Gold, as she is known, is an eleven-year-old girl living in Brighton. While most children her age are enjoying summer in a coastal town, Little Gold watches her family come completely undone. It starts when her father abandons the family and her mother turns to alcohol to cope. With both parents unable (or unwilling) to contribute, Little Gold’s older sister Ali steps into the role of caregiver until she’s expected at university. Her sensitive, asthmatic brother, Malcolm, seeks refuge at a friend’s home while Little Gold strikes up an unexpected friendship with an elderly neighbor. Peggy Baxter is well aware of her limited time left and finds comfort in Little Gold as her new companion, offering her home as a much-needed escape. But something dark and sinister lurks in this small beach town and begins to threaten the family. A coming-of-age novel with a serious twist, Allie Rogers’s LITTLE GOLD is a painful story that is beautifully written and worth reading even all these years later.

Stories of tragedies are always hard-hitting and, sadly, always relevant, regardless of their publication date. AN EXALTATION OF LARKS offers a unique twist on tragedy with a small collection of characters that have experienced two violent events twenty-eight years apart and the relationships formed as a result of them. On September 11, 1973, a young Alejandro Penda bears witness to a bloody military coup in his native Chile—an experience that forces Alejandro to America to be adopted by the Larks. There, “Alex” finds solace in his new family and cultivates a fierce loyalty to them, even wedding their daughter Valerie. Almost thirty years later, on September 11, 2001, readers are introduced to Javier, a male escort in New York City, who watches in horror as terrorist attacks destroy the lives of thousands. For Jav, it means taking guardianship of a nephew and an abrupt life change. The emotionality of this novel is found in the encounters that Alex, Valerie, and Jav share both early in life and later in middle age. More than sharing tragic experiences, the threesome find commonality in their strange, powerful attractions to one another. Through vivid imagery and quiet dramatic moments, Suanne Laqueur delivers a novel that both stimulates and astounds.

Published in 2014, AFTER EVERYTHING is Suellen Dainty’s novel about middle-aged life and its many complications. The story’s main driver is Penny, recently divorced and seeking to hit the reset button on life by moving to a small French town. She leaves behind an adult daughter (recently escaped to India), an addict son unable to manage his recovery, and an ex-husband, Sandy, who is reckoning with his marital failures. Having come to terms with his role as the reason for the split, Sandy attempts to take his own life but ultimately fails. His motivations quickly turn to reconnecting with his children in hopes of making amends with Penny. Meanwhile, readers meet a surrounding cast of characters all in midlife turmoil, including a self-destructive banker, a sexually frustrated therapist, and an American philosophy professor who catches the eye of Penny. Totally engaging and filled with insights about “people of a certain age,” AFTER EVERYTHING will make you reflect deeply on your past, present, and future.