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Novels for the Spiritual but not Religious
10
items Literary Fiction for readers who wouldn't consider themselves churchy but are interested in spiritual or religious themes. My favorite genre.
An old man who calls himself the Prophet paints his visions on old windows and works on The Plan. His life is upended when he crosses paths with a girl who needs saving. This one shifts tones in a way that will mess with your head.
Two-Step Devil
A Black Southern family drama centered around patriarchy, religion, and the secrets women keep for men.
Dominion: A Novel
Ruth lives in a primitive religious community where everything is shared and no one's individual identity is relevant. Can you be happy in a world like this?
Ruth: A Novel
A biracial man inherits a former plantation from his estranged white grandfather. Less religious and more mystical - you follow the actual events but more so the somatic and mental response of the narrator.
Devil Is Fine: A Novel
An all-time favorite of mine! This book looks at how we search for meaning through art, relationships, ourselves. The plot will keep you turning the pages but the writing will have you annotating as you go. Beautiful.
Martyr!: A Novel
A teen girl is sent to a radical convent after a family tragedy. The sisters don't follow the usual rules, and the convent is threatened by the local priest who doesn't approve. Beautiful writing, characters you'll be obsessed with.
Angeline
Five nuns who have lived a quiet life together for ten years are forced to move into a new role as caretakers in a halfway house. They have to reckon with what they learn about the world and rethink everything they know. This one is surprisingly funn...
Agatha of Little Neon: A Novel
From bookshop: It's Holy Week in the small town of Las Penas, New Mexico, and thirty-three-year-old unemployed Amadeo Padilla has been given the part of Jesus in the Good Friday procession. He is preparing feverishly for this role when his fifteen-ye...
The Five Wounds
The women of a Mennonite community are faced with a decision - should they stay or should they go? A group of men from their community have been drugging and assaulting them, and have been sent to jail. When the other men leave to bail them out, the ...
Women Talking
A young monk and his twin, who has rejected the monastic life, set out in search of the reincarnation of a great teacher who may have been born anywhere in Mongolia. As their country stretches before them, questions of faith—along with more earthly m...
When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East: A Novel