I never thought I’d round up a cohesive list of books that includes the likes of Dangerous Liaisons and Daddy Long Legs together, but here we are! Although these reads are about as different as could be, they take a similar storytelling approach that makes for a truly immersive reading experience. I’m talking, of course, about epistolary novels.
Epistolary novels, formatted in written communications like letters, diary entries, texts, or emails, take readers straight into the hearts and minds of heroes and villains alike, offering a much more immersive (and in some cases, voyeuristic) sense of intimacy that would otherwise be unattainable.
Famous epistolary novel examples like The Screwtape Letters and the aforementioned Dangerous Liaisons have persisted through the years as classic reads. Modern epistolary novels, like the extremely bookstagrammable Cover Story, prove that this distinct genre will never go out of style.
1. Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Two ex-lovers, as wicked as they are wealthy, place a cruel bet that involves the seduction of an innocent young girl. If you’re thinking to yourself, “Hey, isn’t this the plot of Cruel Intentions?”, you’re right!
The 1999 film is based on an 18th century French classic, originally titled Les Liaisons Dangereuses. In it, the conniving Marquise de Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar in the movie) seeks revenge on her latest former lover, who cheated on her with a woman named Cecile (Selma Blair). Merteuil does this byy recruiting another former lover, Vicomte de Valmont (Ryan Phillippe), to seduce Cecile. (There’s also a 1988 award-winning film by the same name that adapted this story.)
Written during a time period in which letter-writing was an art form, this classic epistolary novel unfolds via a series of beautifully written missives that belie the sinister and manipulative motivations of the two main villains.
2. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Outside of The Chronicles of Narnia, this is perhaps Lewis’ most well-known work and it’s quite a departure from his beloved children’s tales of a magical land ruled by a benevolent lion.
Senior demon Screwtape’s written correspondence with his nephew, Wormwood, provides succinct instructions on one goal: Securing a newly converted Christian’s eternal damnation in hell.
Praised by Christians and non-Christians alike, Lewis’ famous epistolary novel has persisted through the decades as an entertaining and thought-provoking work of satire.
3. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
This Hugo Award-winning novella contains the chaos of all time and space within its beautifully short, never-ending love story.
Two women, named Red and Blue, fight for opposite factions in the ceaseless time war, flowing from the past to the future, from timeline to timeline. Through a series of letters sent via tea and lava and other delightful delivery systems, Red and Blue fall for each other, and combine for some of the best purple prose around.
4. Dracula by Bram Stoker
Did you know the OG vampire novel is narrated by Dracula himself via a series of journal entries, memos, letters, and telegrams? Count Dracula has been portrayed countless times on stage and screen, with more than 200 versions frightening audiences over the years. But his first appearance in Stoker’s horror novel will always be the best.
5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
It’s a Pulitzer Prize winner, consistently assigned as must-read material in school, a PBS Great American Read, and has inspired two films and a Broadway show adaptation.
Written in a series of letters, the book tells the story of Celie, a poor Black woman in rural Georgia, and her attempt to rise above the unlucky hand she’s been dealt. While at times difficult to read, this is a work of truly transformative literature that weaves in themes of feminism, faith, and the strength of sisterhood.
6. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
From birth, Eva knew something wasn’t quite right with her son Kevin. Her husband Franklin doesn’t see it, despite the warning signs. In the wake of Kevin’s ultimate psychopathic act, Eva reflects on his childhood and her role as a mother. Despite readers knowing the destructive climax the story is headed towards, the suspense is heightened with each letter Eva sends to her ex-husband.
Shriver’s breakout novel addresses uncomfortable themes of nature versus nurture and family loyalty when everything is at stake.
7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chboksy
Quiet implications of deep distress and profound happiness litter this young adult epistolary book, penned by outsider Charlie, who makes inroads with various cliques to move past cliches. It’s a modernized The Catcher in the Rye that spawned a hit movie adaptation starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson.
8. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
After Charlie, a developmentally delayed man, volunteers for a medical experiment to improve his mental capabilities, his life changes in ways he never dreamed of. Keyes’ award-winning epistolary novel is told through Charlie’s self-written progress reports. Each entry provides readers with an intimate look at how rapidly his intelligence is growing.
It’s a clever literary device that makes subtle improvements to not only Charlie’s linguistic competence, but also the nature of his observations and reflections. Poignant, perceptive, and likely to make you cry, Flowers for Algernon explores the nature of intelligence and its effects on how we perceive the world around us.
9. The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
Ware, the modern-day Agatha Christie, reimagines The Turn of the Screw for the tech era in an atmospheric gothic thriller narrated by a murder suspect.
Rowan, a young woman with a murky past, lies to land a dream job working as a live-in nanny in a rich family’s high-tech smart house. But things take a nightmarish turn when one of her young charges ends up dead. Desperate for help, Rowan writes to a defense attorney to convince them to take her case. Full of twists and turns, her point of view of the chain of events sucks readers in, even as they’re left questioning her credibility.
10. Dear Rachel Maddow by Adrienne Kisner
When the going gets tough in this fictional story, high schooler Brynn Harper asks herself one thing: What would MSNBC host Rachel Maddow do? Brynn’s voice, genuine and heartfelt, shines through in each letter that she pens to her hero as she grapples with difficult questions regarding her love life, social justice, school, and the death of her brother.
Thanks to Brynn’s resilience, Kisner’s compelling YA epistolary novel will resonate with readers of all ages and inspire them to find their voice and stand up for what they believe in.
11. The London House by Katherine Reay
The past and present meet in this engrossing work from the author of Dear Mr. Knightley. Alarmed by the discovery that her great-aunt may have betrayed her country to Nazi Germany, Caroline travels to London to uncover the truth. She discovers a trove of journals and letters that weave a complicated story of love, espionage, and grief.
Partially epistolary, the story flips between Caroline's timeline and the past throughy her great-aunt’s writings. The gripping mystery at the heart of this expertly crafted tale will hook readers from the start.
12. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
This Man Booker Prize-winning novel captures the duality of India: A beautiful and plentiful country with seemingly insurmountable income inequality and corruption. The main character, Balram, is a hard-working and charming man trying to build a better life for himself. He’s also a murderer.
In a splintering monologue presented as a letter to the Premier of China, Balram recounts his transformation from slum dweller to successful entrepreneur and confesses to his crimes. The 2021 film adaptation, starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Adarsh Gourav, was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars.
13. Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster
Jerusha, an 18-year-old orphan girl, receives the surprise of her life when she learns that an anonymous donor has agreed to cover the costs of her education.
This sweet, coming-of-age tale is told via letters to Jerusha’s mysterious benefactor over the course of her four years at college. Full of imagination and spunk, Jerusha enthusiastically takes on life and all that it has to offer.
14. Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
Dubbed the “first great millennial author” by The New York Times, Rooney immerses readers in the complexities of desire, friendship, and sex through the lives of Irish millennials grappling with a turbulent world.
Told through emails between two bookish friends, Beautiful World, Where Are You is an absorbing, intimate novel from one of the best writers of her generation.
15. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti
Calling all Inventing Anna bingers: This epistolary mystery is right in line with the zeitgeist of scam artist culture. Journal entries, chat threads, texts, emails, social media posts, and FBI correspondence (you know it’s a good thriller when the FBI is involved) converge to form a tantalizing tale of a young college student pulled into the glamorous but shady world of an editor at Elle magazine.
With more twists and turns than a corkscrew, Rigetti’s debut novel thrusts readers into a riveting mystery with a wild ending that I promise you won’t see coming.
