Literary Deep Cuts

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?