We all know a bout the book club and high school reading list staples, the iconic works by beloved authors. But if you’ve made it through their greatest literary hits, however, why not explore the deep cuts? Here are some lesser-known works by some well-known writers:
Scott Fitzgerald
Known for:The Great Gatsby
Check out:The Last Tycoon
Technically unfinished and technically not published by Fitzgerald himself, this gripping novel was his very last work. Telling the story of a Hollywood studio manager, his rise to power and the many conflicts her encounters, this novel was published after Fitzgerald’s death at age 44 by his close friend.
John Steinbeck
Known for:The Grapes of Wrath
Check out:The Pearl
One of Steinbeck’s many novellas, this shorter piece was inspired by a Mexican folktale and chronicles man’s relationship to greed, evil and conventional society through a poor family’s discovery of a pearl.
Madeleine L’Engle
Known for:A Wrinkle in Time
Check out:And Both Were Young
Stepping away from the fantastical realms of quantum mechanics and magical realism, this novel is couched as a blossoming young romance but really explores the depths of the traumas of war.
Bram Stoker
Known for:Dracula
Check out:The Mystery of the Sea
While Stoker’s Gothic tale of an infamous vampire grew to largely overshadow all his other works, this gripping novel feels born of the same blood. It features supernatural touches but is a thriller that follows a dangerous romance involving kidnapping and political intrigue.
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Known for:The Secret Garden
Check out:The Shuttle
A bit of a departure from her books geared for younger audiences, here Burnett tackles a complicated story for adults, following the complex marriages between American heiresses and poor Englishmen.
Have you read any of these overshadowed novels? Do you have a favorite book that you think is better than an author’s most famous work?