Books like…
Loved A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving? If its literary fiction, first person narrator and death of a parent hooked you, these 20 books hit the same notes — starting with The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, The Outsiders and The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing. Every pick is matched by what’s actually inside the book, not just its genre, and we skip other books by the same author so you find someone new.
What’s inside A Prayer for Owen Meany: Literary Fiction · First Person Narrator · Death of a Parent · Emotional · Character-Driven
Robert Dugoni
Faith Crisis · Religious Identity · Character-Driven · Literary Fiction · First Person Narrator
S.E. Hinton
Bittersweet · Grief Over a Parent · Character-Driven · Death of a Parent · Emotional
Melissa Bank
Coming of Age · Grief Over a Parent · Character-Driven · Literary Fiction · Bittersweet
Kazuo Ishiguro
Literary Fiction · Bittersweet · Boarding School · Coming of Age · Character-Driven
Chris Whitaker
Grief Over a Parent · Death of a Parent · Coming of Age · Emotional · Small Town
Charles Martin
Faith Crisis · Small Town · Religious Identity · Bittersweet · Character-Driven
Abraham Verghese
Death of a Parent · Literary Fiction · Bittersweet · Coming of Age · Character-Driven
W. Somerset Maugham
Faith Crisis · Literary Fiction · Bittersweet · Character-Driven · Death of a Parent
Barbara Kingsolver
Death of a Parent · Literary Fiction · Small Town · Emotional · First Person Narrator
Jonathan Tropper
Death of a Parent · Bittersweet · Character-Driven · First Person Narrator · Literary Fiction
Sue Monk Kidd
Grief Over a Parent · Death of a Parent · Emotional · First Person Narrator · Coming of Age
Jerome David Salinger
Boarding School · Literary Fiction · Character-Driven · Bittersweet · First Person Narrator
Marcela Fuentes
Literary Fiction · Small Town · Coming of Age · Character-Driven · Bittersweet
Kenneth M. Cadow
Bittersweet · Small Town · Character-Driven · Emotional · Coming of Age
Kaveh Akbar
Grief Over a Parent · Death of a Parent · Literary Fiction · Religious Identity · Emotional
Arthur Golden
Coming of Age · Literary Fiction · Bittersweet · Character-Driven · Death of a Parent
Charmaine Wilkerson
Grief Over a Parent · Death of a Parent · Literary Fiction · Bittersweet · Character-Driven
Charlotte Bronte
Boarding School · Literary Fiction · Religious Identity · Character-Driven · Emotional
Harper Lee
Literary Fiction · Bittersweet · Character-Driven · First Person Narrator · Coming of Age
Marie-Helene Bertino
Grief Over a Parent · Literary Fiction · Bittersweet · Character-Driven · Emotional
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