8 Novels by POC Exploring Complex Relationships
Relationships – romantic, platonic, or familial – are a universal point of human fascination. And the immense popularity of recent media such as Challengers, The Bear and Succession only reaffirms that the appetite for the drama and intricacies of human connection is as voracious as ever. So, if you’re looking for a reading fix of unique and compelling relationships, here are eight book recommendations.
White Ivy – Susie Yang
A Chinese-American woman grows up an outcast in a wealthy white community, but soon learns the double-edged sword of proximity to power and privilege.
Ghana Must Go – Taiye Selasi
When their family patriarch suddenly dies, the complicated Sai family must put aside resentments and secrets to reunite in their homeland and navigate a new reality.
The Three of Us – Ore Agbaje-Williams
Set over one day, with strong echoes of Challengers tension and toxicity, the novel asks – what would you do if your best friend and partner hated each other?
Infinite Country – Patricia Engel
A multi-generational story about a people forced to splinter from their land and loved ones, and the emotive relationship between loyalty to the past and the need for a better future.
Red at the Bone – Jacqueline Woodson
Moving across decades, an unexpected teenage pregnancy brings together two families from different social classes and reveals the ways in which community can make or break us.
A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
Torn by religion, duty, and the changing landscape of post-colonial India, a huge cast of characters navigate the highs and lows of interconnected platonic, romantic, and working relationships.
A Pale View of Hills – Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro’s debut novel is a beautifully haunting story of love, grief, and guilt as Etsuko, the unreliable narrator – a Japanese immigrant living in England – revisits memories of her late daughter’s childhood.
The View was Exhausting – Mikaella Clements & Onjuli Datta
Pretend love turns real in a PR relationship between rising actress, Win and nepo socialite, Leo, as the two must contend with the realities of race, fame, and privilege in a cutthroat industry.
By Zara Baig