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100 Must-Read Epistolary Novels From the Past and Present

There is something pleasantly, innocently voyeuristic about reading an epistolary novel. They give you the feeling of stumbling on a box of letters left in an attic, but there are no consequences or hurt feelings if you read them. Actually, the author prefers that you read them. Epistolary novels, books told through diaries or letters, have a way of making you feel even closer to story's characters than the average first-person point-of-view story. You're not in the character's head, but you're reading words that they are writing for the eyes of only one or two other people. You're seeing a version of the story that has been edited by the fictional people living it.
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Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister
Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister
1
Pamela (Samuel Richardson)
Pamela
2
Samuel Richardson
Letters of a Peruvian Woman (Francoise De Graffigny)
Letters of a Peruvian Woman
3
Francoise De Graffigny
Julie, or the New Heloise
Julie, or the New Heloise
4
The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (Tobias Smollett)
The Expedition of Humphry Clinker
5
Tobias Smollett
Evelina
Evelina
6
Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Choderlos De Laclos)
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
7
Choderlos De Laclos
Aline and Valcour (Marquis De Sade)
Aline and Valcour
8
Marquis De Sade
Hyperion
Hyperion
9
The Sorrows of Young Werther (Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe)
The Sorrows of Young Werther
10
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
The Wild Irish Girl (Sydney Owenson)
The Wild Irish Girl
11
Sydney Owenson
Persuasion (Jane Austen)
Persuasion
12
Jane Austen
Letters of Two Brides (Aka Memoirs of Two Young Married Women) (Balzac)
Letters of Two Brides (Aka Memoirs of Two Young Married Women)
13
Balzac
Poor Folk and Other Stories (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
Poor Folk and Other Stories
14
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Brontë)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
15
Anne Brontë
The Woman in White (Wilkie Collins)
The Woman in White
16
Wilkie Collins
Lady Susan (Jane Austen)
Lady Susan
17
Jane Austen
Dracula (Bram Stoker)
Dracula
18
Bram Stoker
The American Diary of a Japanese Girl (Yone Noguchi)
The American Diary of a Japanese Girl
19
Yone Noguchi
The Kempton-Wace Letters (Jack London)
The Kempton-Wace Letters
20
Jack London
Daddy Long Legs (Jean Webster)
Daddy Long Legs
21
Jean Webster
You Know Me Al (RING LARDNER)
You Know Me Al
22
RING LARDNER
Givi Shaduri (Mikheil Javakhishvili)
Givi Shaduri
23
Mikheil Javakhishvili
Farthing Hall (Hugh Walpole and J.B. Priestley)
Farthing Hall
24
Hugh Walpole and J.B. Priestley
The Documents in the Case (Dorothy L. Sayers)
The Documents in the Case
25
Dorothy L. Sayers
Anne of Windy Poplars
Anne of Windy Poplars
26
Screwtape Letters (Lewis, C.S.)
Screwtape Letters
27
Lewis, C.S.
I Capture the Castle (Dodie Smith)
I Capture the Castle
28
Dodie Smith
Houseboy (Ferdinand Oyono)
Houseboy
29
Ferdinand Oyono
The Key (Junchero Tanizaki)
The Key
30
Junchero Tanizaki
Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes)
Flowers for Algernon
31
Daniel Keyes
Up the Down Staircase (Bel Kaufman)
Up the Down Staircase
32
Bel Kaufman
Harriet the Spy (Louise Fitzhugh)
Harriet the Spy
33
Louise Fitzhugh
Herzog (Saul Bellow)
Herzog
34
Saul Bellow
Silence (Shūsaku Endō)
Silence
35
Shūsaku Endō
84, Charing Cross Road (Helene Hanff)
84, Charing Cross Road
36
Helene Hanff
Go Ask Alice
Go Ask Alice
37
Carrie (Stephen King)
Carrie
38
Stephen King
A Woman of Independant Means (Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey)
A Woman of Independant Means
39
Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey
So Long a Letter (Mariama Bâ, Trans. Modupé Bodé-Thomas)
So Long a Letter
40
Mariama Bâ, Trans. Modupé Bodé-Thomas
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