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If all happy families are alike, it makes sense that the ones with a little “friction” make for the most interesting subject matter, right? So, it’s no wonder that so many of our greatest writers have chosen to explore the darker side of happily ever after. (Look at Shakespeare. Would Hamlet have gotten so stabby if he hadn’t suspected Gertrude of cheating on his dad?) To err is human. To read about someone’s else’s errings is divine.

• The Awakening by Kate Chopin
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
• The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
• The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthrone
• Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
• The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
• Katherine by Anya Seton
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
• Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

This entry was posted on Monday, November 12th, 2012 at 9:08 am and is filed under Classics, Fiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.