Sometimes, you just want to read a story set in a familiar setting.
Every state has its hallmark writers. Mississippi has William Faulkner and his incomparable (fictional) Yoknapatawpha County and Missouri can lay claim to Mark Twain. The state of Maine is gifted with Pulitzer winner Richard Russo and horror icon Stephen King. Rural Pennsylvania is the playground of the much-heralded (and occasionally maligned) John Updike, and when many bibliophiles think of New Jersey, they also think of Richard Ford’s series of novels featuring recurring Everyman character Frank Bascombe. Illinois can lay claim to William Maxwell, Sandra Cisneros, and Adam Langer, among numerous others. And what reader can think of Washington State without contending with the sparkle-vampire yarns of Stephanie Meyer?
What makes authors like these inextricably associated with a particular state is not simply the matter of their having been born there or choosing to live there. The connection, from a writerly standpoint, is deeper than that—their work, nearly all of it, is set in “their” state.
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Of course, there are certainly exceptions. Whether a writer sets a tale in the town where they went to college or spent part of their childhood—like Donna Tartt’s “The Secret History” and its New England arts school setting and the almost-factual small town of Jo Ann Beard’s “In Zanesville,” respectively—or crafts a story that follows a social or political theme to a location they know little about but lay narrative claim to anyway, the world is rife with books known, loved, and respected that also capture the essence of place—books where setting itself is one of the strongest characters.
Stacker compiled a list of books set in Virginia from Goodreads. Whether you’re looking for a good read set in the state you call home, or you’re looking to expand your curiosity with a writer you’re already familiar with, we’ve got you covered.
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Misty Of Chincoteague
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.05 (44,172 ratings)
– Author: Marguerite Henry
– Published: January 1, 1947
– Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Classics, Horses
– Read more on Goodreads
She’s My Dad
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.06 (95 ratings)
– Author: Iolanthe Woulff
– Published: November 13, 2009
– Genres: LGBT, Fiction, Transgender, Young Adult
– Read more on Goodreads
The Shaman of Turtle Valley
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.43 (47 ratings)
– Author: Clifford Garstang
– Published: May 14, 2019
– Genres: Fiction
– Read more on Goodreads
Bridge to Terabithia
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.03 (506,348 ratings)
– Author: Katherine Paterson
– Published: October 21, 1977
– Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Classics, Childrens
– Read more on Goodreads
Meet Felicity: An American Girl (American Girls: Felicity, #1)
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.91 (11,875 ratings)
– Author: Valerie Tripp
– Published: September 1, 1991
– Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Fiction, Historical
– Read more on Goodreads
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Wish You Were Here (Mrs. Murphy, #1)
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.84 (10,685 ratings)
– Author: Rita Mae Brown
– Published: November 1, 1990
– Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Animals
– Read more on Goodreads
The Fallen Snow
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.92 (334 ratings)
– Author: John J. Kelley
– Published: December 18, 2012
– Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, War
– Read more on Goodreads
Big Stone Gap (Big Stone Gap, #1)
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.85 (44,596 ratings)
– Author: Adriana Trigiani
– Published: January 1, 2000
– Genres: Fiction, Romance, Chick Lit, Adult Fiction
– Read more on Goodreads
The Diva Runs Out of Thyme (A Domestic Diva Mystery, #1)
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.95 (6,157 ratings)
– Author: Krista Davis
– Published: September 7, 2008
– Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook
– Read more on Goodreads
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.09 (673,080 ratings)
– Author: Rebecca Skloot
– Published: February 2, 2010
– Genres: Nonfiction, Science, History, Biography
– Read more on Goodreads
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True Places
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.93 (21,870 ratings)
– Author: Sonja Yoerg
– Published: January 1, 2019
– Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery, Literary Fiction
– Read more on Goodreads
Boat Girl: A Memoir of Youth, Love & Fiberglass
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.03 (129 ratings)
– Author: Melanie Neale
– Published: September 29, 2012
– Genres: Memoir, Travel, Nonfiction, Biography
– Read more on Goodreads
Be Still My Soul (The Cadence of Grace, #1)
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.12 (1,152 ratings)
– Author: Joanne Bischof
– Published: October 1, 2012
– Genres: Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Christian
– Read more on Goodreads
Murder With Peacocks (Meg Langslow, #1)
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.89 (10,656 ratings)
– Author: Donna Andrews
– Published: January 1, 1999
– Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Humor
– Read more on Goodreads
The Known World
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.82 (40,441 ratings)
– Author: Edward P. Jones
– Published: September 1, 2003
– Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, African American, Historical
– Read more on Goodreads
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Rest in Pieces (Mrs. Murphy #2)
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.98 (4,648 ratings)
– Author: Rita Mae Brown
– Published: August 1, 1992
– Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Animals
– Read more on Goodreads
The Winter Calf (Maple Gap #1)
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.14 (64 ratings)
– Author: Michael S. Nuckols
– Published: February 28, 2014
– Genres: Horror, Novels
– Read more on Goodreads
Gray Mountain
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.63 (91,946 ratings)
– Author: John Grisham
– Published: October 21, 2014
– Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Legal Thriller
– Read more on Goodreads
The Kitchen House
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.20 (255,548 ratings)
– Author: Kathleen Grissom
– Published: February 2, 2010
– Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Book Club
– Read more on Goodreads
Absolute Power
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.18 (100,924 ratings)
– Author: David Baldacci
– Published: October 4, 1995
– Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense
– Read more on Goodreads
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To Have and to Hold
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.98 (727 ratings)
– Author: Mary Johnston
– Published: January 1, 1899
– Genres: Historical Fiction, Classics, Fiction, Historical
– Read more on Goodreads
The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.97 (11,865 ratings)
– Author: Kevin Roose
– Published: March 12, 2009
– Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, Memoir, Biography
– Read more on Goodreads
Sea Star: Orphan of Chincoteague (Misty, #2)
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.97 (6,187 ratings)
– Author: Marguerite Henry
– Published: January 1, 1949
– Genres: Horses, Childrens, Fiction, Animals
– Read more on Goodreads
Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County: A Family, a Virginia Town, a Civil Rights Battle
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.84 (1,562 ratings)
– Author: Kristen Green
– Published: May 19, 2015
– Genres: Nonfiction, History, Education, Race
– Read more on Goodreads
The Dying of the Light
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.22 (956 ratings)
– Author: Robert Goolrick
– Published: July 3, 2018
– Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Adult
– Read more on Goodreads
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The Killing Hour (Quincy & Rainie, #4)
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.18 (26,555 ratings)
– Author: Lisa Gardner
– Published: July 15, 2003
– Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense
– Read more on Goodreads
Postmortem (Kay Scarpetta, #1)
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.03 (229,771 ratings)
– Author: Patricia Cornwell
– Published: January 9, 1990
– Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Thriller
– Read more on Goodreads
Weird Virginia: Your Travel Guide to Virginia’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.65 (229 ratings)
– Author: Jeff Bahr
– Published: June 1, 2007
– Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, History, Ghosts
– Read more on Goodreads
Crazy, VA (Lil and Boris, #1)
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.92 (988 ratings)
– Author: Shannon Hill
– Published: December 31, 2012
– Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Animals
– Read more on Goodreads
Flowers in the Attic (Dollanganger, #1)
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.84 (189,658 ratings)
– Author: V.C. Andrews
– Published: January 1, 1979
– Genres: Fiction, Horror, Young Adult, Classics
– Read more on Goodreads
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The Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lecter, #2)
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.23 (519,035 ratings)
– Author: Thomas Harris
– Published: July 1, 1988
– Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery
– Read more on Goodreads
A Little Maid of Virginia
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.75 (36 ratings)
– Author: Alice Turner Curtis
– Published: January 1, 1922
– Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction
– Read more on Goodreads
The Next Accident (Quincy & Rainie, #3)
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.19 (19,886 ratings)
– Author: Lisa Gardner
– Published: August 20, 2001
– Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Fiction
– Read more on Goodreads
Split Second (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell, #1)
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.03 (68,332 ratings)
– Author: David Baldacci
– Published: January 1, 2002
– Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Crime
– Read more on Goodreads
I, Alex Cross (Alex Cross, #16)
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.02 (41,414 ratings)
– Author: James Patterson
– Published: November 16, 2009
– Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Crime
– Read more on Goodreads
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First Lady (Wynette, Texas, #4)
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.99 (12,275 ratings)
– Author: Susan Elizabeth Phillips
– Published: January 1, 2000
– Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit
– Read more on Goodreads
Dead of Night (Doc Ford Mystery, #12)
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.96 (2,045 ratings)
– Author: Randy Wayne White
– Published: March 17, 2005
– Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller
– Read more on Goodreads
Tail Spin (FBI Thriller, #12)
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.08 (9,578 ratings)
– Author: Catherine Coulter
– Published: June 24, 2008
– Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Romance, Thriller
– Read more on Goodreads
Miss Ophelia
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.04 (147 ratings)
– Author: Mary Burnett Smith
– Published: August 20, 1997
– Genres: Historical Fiction, Coming Of Age, Fiction, Drama
– Read more on Goodreads
Candle in the Darkness (Refiner’s Fire, #1)
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.27 (14,981 ratings)
– Author: Lynn Austin
– Published: November 1, 2002
– Genres: Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction, Fiction, Christian
– Read more on Goodreads
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In the Land of Cotton
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.19 (16 ratings)
– Author: Maryann Austin
– Published: May 16, 2013
– Genres: Civil War, Historical Fiction
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Boy in the Ivy: The Inner Child of a Buried Man
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.60 (15 ratings)
– Author: T. McKinley
– Published: June 4, 2013
– Genres: Psychology
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Killer Sweet Tooth: A Daphne Martin Cake Mystery
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.83 (290 ratings)
– Author: Gayle Trent
– Published: October 11, 2011
– Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Chick Lit, Fiction
– Read more on Goodreads
Jericho
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.20 (3,327 ratings)
– Author: Ann McMan
– Published: December 1, 2010
– Genres: Romance, LGBT, Lesbian, Fiction
– Read more on Goodreads
Heartsick
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.48 (87 ratings)
– Author: Caitlin Sinead
– Published: February 16, 2015
– Genres: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Mystery
– Read more on Goodreads
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Imagining Reality
Goodreads
– Rating: 3.98 (785 ratings)
– Author: Lynn Galli
– Published: July 27, 2007
– Genres: Lesbian, Lesbian Romance, LGBT, Romance
– Read more on Goodreads
His Everlasting Love: 50 Loving States, Virginia
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.20 (1,097 ratings)
– Author: Theodora Taylor
– Published: September 25, 2015
– Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Interracial Romance, Ghosts
– Read more on Goodreads
The Killer Angels (The Civil War Trilogy, #2)
Goodreads
– Rating: 4.32 (81,477 ratings)
– Author: Michael Shaara
– Published: January 1, 1974
– Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Civil War, War
– Read more on Goodreads
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