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New Hampshire, the setting for Small‑Town Sagas, Lakeside Stories & New England Classic Novels
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items Discover the best novels set in New Hampshire that explore family bonds, small‑town life, and the secrets that echo across generations. From classic literary works to heartfelt contemporary sagas, these stories capture the essence of New England — it...
Sections
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Small‑Town & Rural Family Life
Coming‑of‑Age & Academic Life in New Hampshire
Historical & Generational New Hampshire Dramas
Coastal & Lakefront Family Stories
Small‑Town & Rural Family Life
Explore the intimate lives of families and neighbors in New Hampshire’s rural towns and villages. These novels and memoirs capture small‑town bonds, generational secrets, and the rhythms of everyday life in New England.
I gave this memoir‑style novel 5 stars — it’s a raw, unforgettable portrait of growing up in gritty Manchester, New Hampshire, with a violent father and a chaotic family. Perfect for readers who love intense coming‑of‑age dramas rooted in real places...
KooKooLand: A Memoir
Set in the fictional town of Darby, NH, this literary novel explores working‑class struggles, family tensions, and small‑town secrets with gritty authenticity.
Dogs of March: The Darby Chronicles #1
The continuation of Hebert’s Darby Chronicles, following Howard as he confronts aging, change, and unresolved family dynamics in rural New Hampshire.
Howard Elman's Farewell: The Darby Chronicles #7
A modern classic set in a fictional New Hampshire town inspired by Exeter, exploring faith, friendship, and destiny. Perfect for readers who love small‑town family dramas with profound emotional depth.
A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Novel
This Pulitzer Prize‑winning play captures love, loss, and everyday life in a small New Hampshire town inspired by Peterborough. A timeless portrait of community and connection across generations.
Our Town
A heartwarming romance series set in a charming New Hampshire town, following the Marshall family and Hayes siblings through love, friendship, and small‑town drama. Perfect for fans of cozy family sagas and feel‑good New England settings.
Red Maple Falls Series Bundle: Books 1-3
A darkly comic family saga about the eccentric Berry family and their unforgettable adventures running hotels across New England and Europe.
The Hotel New Hampshire
Set in a small New Hampshire town, this gripping novel examines the aftermath of a school shooting and the rippling impact on families and community.
Nineteen Minutes
Set in a small New Hampshire town, this gripping novel explores family secrets, identity, and love through a courtroom drama that unfolds after a shocking death. I love how it blends emotional family drama with timely social issues, making it both he...
Mad Honey: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Novel
This sweeping family saga follows Eleanor, an artist living in rural New Hampshire, as she navigates love, heartbreak, and motherhood over decades. Maynard captures the quiet beauty of New England and the complicated bonds of family in a way that fee...
Count the Ways: A Novel
Coming‑of‑Age & Academic Life in New Hampshire
From elite prep schools to secluded liberal arts colleges, these New Hampshire‑set novels explore the trials and triumphs of adolescence and early adulthood. Perfect for readers who love academic settings and coming‑of‑age stories with a regional twi...
A New Hampshire classic about friendship, rivalry, and tragedy at a fictional boarding school during WWII — one of the most iconic coming-of-age novels set in New England.
A Separate Peace
Set at an elite New Hampshire boarding school, this novel examines class, privilege, and the complexities of adolescence among the wealthy and ambitious.
Expectations
A nuanced novel set at a fictional NH prep school, exploring privilege, ambition, and emotional disconnection in the lives of its students.
A Wonderful Stroke of Luck: A Novel
Set at a fictional New Hampshire college, this darkly satirical novel follows a tangle of love triangles, privilege, and disillusionment among students in the 1980s. A cult classic of generational angst and messy relationships.
The Rules of Attraction
National Book Award–winning novel set at a fictional New Hampshire college, blending campus life, family ties, and the blurred lines between memory and storytelling. A quiet classic of New England literary fiction.
The Hair of Harold Roux: A Novel
Historical & Generational New Hampshire Dramas
Dive into New Hampshire’s past through sweeping family sagas and generational dramas. These novels illuminate the state’s coastal villages, mill towns, and hidden histories, revealing the enduring bonds and secrets that shape lives across decades.
The first novel published by an African American woman, chronicling the life of Frado, a young Black girl in 19th‑century New Hampshire — an essential piece of literary and cultural history.
Our Nig: Sketches from Life of a Free Black
This four‑book series (Fortune’s Rocks, The Pilot’s Wife, Sea Glass, and Body Surfing) is set in the same evocative coastal New Hampshire house, tracing different families across generations. I love how Shreve weaves love, loss, and resilience into e...
Fortune's Rocks
Dual‑timeline novel set on the Isles of Shoals, blending a 19th‑century murder with a modern family unraveling secrets on the New Hampshire coast.
The Weight of Water
A haunting New England classic set in a bleak rural village, exploring forbidden love, duty, and the crushing weight of generational hardship. Perfect for readers who love stark family dramas with a sense of place.
Ethan Frome
Coastal & Lakefront Family Stories
Set along New Hampshire’s rugged coastlines and quiet lakes, these stories capture families shaped by water — from fishing villages to mill towns — where secrets, love, and legacy run deep.
Spanning decades, this novel follows a father and son across New Hampshire’s riverside towns — a sweeping story of love, loss, and survival.
Last Night in Twisted River: A Novel
Set on New Hampshire’s Newfound Lake, this heartfelt romance follows Solia and Jackson as they navigate love, family secrets, and the pull of returning home. Perfect for fans of small‑town lakefront dramas with a romantic twist.
183 Reasons (The Newfound Lake Series)
A summer novel set on the shores of a New Hampshire lake, blending family reconnection, second chances, and small‑town charm.
The Lake Season: A Novel (Women's Fiction)
The second book in the Newfound Lake Series returns to New Hampshire’s Lakes Region, where love, family ties, and personal growth unfold against the stunning backdrop of Newfound Lake. Perfect for fans of heartfelt small‑town romances and lakefront d...
43° North (The Newfound Lake Series)