The Best Novels

There's always been a fondness in the English-speaking world for novels about German history, but recently the books being translated into English have become much more diverse and interesting, says award-winning translator and publisher Katy Derbyshire. She introduces us to some her favourite German novels from recent years, taking us beyond Germany to Bosnia, Donbas and even Ghana.

Nigeria is a vast, vibrant, and highly diverse country that offers endless inspiration for fiction writers. Here, the novelist and poet Chioma Okereke—whose new book Water Baby unfolds in Makoko, an extraordinary floating slum in Lagos—recommends five fascinating novels that are also set in Nigeria.

Over the past five years, Pakistani novels have become much more focused on people's lived experience in Pakistan—rather than just catering to the expectations of an international audience, argues novelist, lawyer and publisher Safinah Danish Elahi. She picks five of her favorite novels from Pakistan, four of them published very recently.

The story of America is not one of a manageable unified nation, says novelist and critic David Hering. It may, however, be the story of America's dream — which is why many of the best American novels have a distinctly dreamlike quality. He picks out five of the best American novels of the 20th century, from 1905 through to 1987.

In the novels of the 19th century, the United States comes alive with all its contradictions and complications. Nathan Wolff, a professor of English at Tufts and author of Not Quite Hope and Other Political Emotions in the Gilded Age, introduces us to his picks of the best 19th-century American novels, including two works of historical fiction and a memoir that influenced the novel form.

Modernist novels emerged as a reaction against modernity but, in their focus on inner consciousness, captured the experience of living life like never before. American writer and critic Michael Clune picks five of the best modernist novels from 1936 up to 2013. Modernist literature is still with us, he explains, because what it was reacting against is still with us.

Australia is a highly urban place and yet the imagination of its writers goes to remote places and times, says Australian novelist Nicholas Jose. He picks the best Australian novels.

The stories we tell ourselves affect our decision-making in profound ways, says psychotherapist turned bestselling author Salley Vickers. Here, she recommends five novels that delve into the psychology of the self—and of society.

The skills of a philosopher and those of a novelist are often in tension, but they have much to learn from each other, says novelist and philosopher Rebecca Newberger Goldstein. She chooses her favourite philosophical novels.

Which are the best historical novels? Bestselling author Vanora Bennett recommends her top five.