fiction
A novel about purity culture and its harm
At its core, God Spare the Girls is about a family history doomed to repeat itself.
15 London children died in a World War II attack
Francis Spufford’s novel imagines the lives they might otherwise have led.
Jonathan Franzen writes a family that feels familiar
In Crossroads, a troubled associate pastor faces his deepest desires and doubts.
Sister Agatha roller-skates away from the church
The heroine of Claire Luchette’s novel realizes she became a nun to avoid being herself.
Miriam Toews explores religious trauma through the voice of a nine-year-old
Swiv isn’t an unreliable narrator, but she’s living in a world that feels unreliable.
by Amy Peterson
A novel about baseball, wealth, and human frailty
Christopher Beha’s characters find themselves in pits, and the way out is not remotely clear.
by Amy Frykholm
I want more for Deesha Philyaw’s church ladies
I want a sequel where they don’t have to hide their sexuality.
The Death of Vivek Oji shows us what we are afraid of
Akwaeke Emezi’s stunning novel will leave you broken. It will also let the air back into your lungs.
The Kindest Lie is a story about race and much more
In Nancy Johnson’s debut novel, a family secret draws a successful Black woman home to small-town Indiana.
Piranesi is the best kind of fantasy novel
Susanna Clarke weaves magic into her readers’ lives.
Would we recognize a modern-day messiah?
Sean Gandert’s novel asks us to decide if a man is a saint or a sham.
Journeying with Father Dan and a coyote along the via negativa
Daniel Hornsby’s debut novel has a wonderful road-trippy feeling.
by Amy Frykholm
Yaa Gyasi’s beautiful novel embraces faith that changes and grows
Transcendent Kingdom explores an immigrant neuroscientist’s complicated relationship with evangelical Christianity.
by Lance Morgan
Marilynne Robinson’s new Gilead novel makes Jack Boughton make sense
Everything in Jack is a marvel.
Are we trapped by the way others see us?
Brit Bennett’s novel explores racial passing, gender transition, and family trauma.
Louise Erdrich’s novel gives names, faces, words, and life to the Chippewa Turtle Mountain Band
A story of survival in the face of termination
Lydia Millet’s A Children’s Bible is a believable climate fable
The dystopian novel feels about 15 minutes away from becoming reality.
by Amy Peterson
A novel shot through with transcendence
Chelsea Bieker's Godshot drips with truth about motherhood, faith, and power.
Discord on Plymouth Rock
TaraShea Nesbit’s novel about the Mayflower pilgrims and their conflicts
A novel about climate change’s impact on all of us
In Gun Island, Amitav Ghosh practices what he preached in The Great Derangement.