7 Literary Novels That Sparkle With the Magical and Surreal

A finalist for the National Book Award in 2014, Station Eleven isn’t your average dystopian fiction. Taking place before and after a pandemic that irrevocably alters the fabric of society, it is an elegiac novel of art, memory, and beauty.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a bewitching and harrowing novel of mystery and survival, memory and magic. Told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, it shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out.

The sunshine state lies in darkness, Los Angeles in ruins. California, a gripping and provocative debut novel, imagines a frighteningly realistic near future, in which clashes between mankind’s dark nature and irrepressible resilience force us to question how far we will go to protect the ones we love.

The unforgettable eleven-year-old girl at the heart of The Age of Miracles is coming of age against the backdrop of an utterly altered world. With crystalline prose and the indelible magic of a born storyteller, Karen Thompson Walker has crafted a story about people going on with their lives in an era of profound uncertainty.

Swamplandia! takes us to the swamps of the Florida Everglades and introduces us to Ava Bigtree. Set against a backdrop of hauntingly fecund plant life animated by ancient lizards and lawless hungers, it is an utterly singular novel about one family’s struggle to stay afloat and an unforgettable young heroine on a harrowing odyssey.

The Handmaid’s Tale is a horrifying vision of our society radically overturned by a theocratic revolution has become one of the most powerful and widely read novels of our time. It has endured not only as a literary landmark but also as a scathing satire and dire warning of a possible future that is still chillingly relevant.

The circus arrives without warning, and within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements and magic. The Night Circus is written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for anyone lucky enough to discover it.

Here are more great book recommendations from our friends at Off the Shelf:

• 8 Glorious and Triumphant Novels of Scientific Discovery
• A Masterful and Moving Tale of Too Much Time
• Harper Lee and the One-Book Wonder Phenomenon