The Best Fiction of 2020

I adore reading fiction. Good novels help me understand the world. While 2020 was a momentous year that most of us wouldn't want to repeat, it was a stellar year for fiction. New novels from favorite authors including Louise Erdrich, Peter Geye, Colum McCann, and Anne Tyler always make me smile. Toss in fabulous debut novels and second and third efforts by writers that never disappoint and it made for a great year to sit at home and read. I didn't read much in translation -- I vow to do better this year, but A Girl Returned was a stellar novel and translation and one of the best I read this year.

The Best Novels – It’s a tie. 

The Best Novel I read this year that was published this year:

Northernmost by Peter Geye tells the harrowing tale of Odd Einar Eide trying to survive alone in the Arctic Circle in 1897 combined with his great-great-great granddaughter’s struggles redefining herself and her own escape from a frozen marriage. When Greta discovers her ancestor’s story, she examines her own life as she retells his remarkable adventures. This is a compelling adventure, but first it’s a love story told with heat and compassion. This is the third novel in the Eide trilogy, but it stands alone and can be enjoyed without reading the previous books. The writing is exquisite. It’s one of the best books out this year. Read my complete review here. 

The Best Novel I read it this year that was published in 2019 (That it's also a debut and National Book Award finalist is amazing):

Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips leads the reader through the remote Kamchatka Peninsula on the northeastern edge of Russia where two young sisters disappear. Phillips uses interrelated vignettes to portray the indigenous and Russian inhabitants and their relationship to the girls’ disappearance. The novel makes the reader feel the land then it explodes into one of the best conclusions ever written. Bravo! Sense of place, fascinating details, and brave characterizations make this a debut novel deserving of its accolades. The tension builds over twelve months until we learn the girls’ fate. Book clubs will want to explore themes of xenophobia, racism, gender, vulnerability, and grief. This debut novel was a National Book Award finalist. (2019)

Two others that could have tied as the best of the best:

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich is pure Erdrich perfection. Based on the life of Erdrich’s grandfather Patrick Gourneau, a night watchman and tribal elder who fought the US attempt to remove natives from their North Dakota land in 1953, this story offers an intriguing tale with compelling characters, a touch of magic realism, and a view of history we all need to see. Erdrich notes, “if you should ever doubt that a series of dry words in a government document can shatter spirits and demolish lives, let this book erase that doubt. Conversely, if you should be of the conviction that we are powerless to change those dry words, let this book give you heart.” Readers, it did give me heart. You won’t be able to read this without falling in love with Patrice, Thomas, and the other residents of the Turtle Mountain Reservation. It’s a masterpiece. Read my complete review here.

Writers & Lovers by Lily King is simply a great novel. It has boundless energy, extraordinary characters, and an evocation of grief that will lift you. Casey is 31 and trying to finish writing her first novel while working as a waitress to pay her college loans. She’s a wreck with grief over her mother’s death and she doesn’t choose boyfriends who treat her well until she meets Oscar, a famous older author with a delightful family, and one of his endearing students. King is such a gifted writer and this novel feels like a master lesson in creating characters, building a love story, creating a pace that compels the reader to turn the page, and writing authentic dialogue. It will make you believe in love.

The other best novels in alphabetical order by title because they're all great:

Apeirogon by Colum McCann took me three months to read because it requires acute attention and early in the pandemic, I couldn’t concentrate enough to do it justice. I kept coming back for the exquisite metaphors, for the words of the protagonists, and for the birds, especially for the birds. The novel is inspired by the real-life friendship between Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian, and Rami Elhanan, an Israeli, whose young daughters were killed in the Middle East. The book has 1001 chapters, some only one sentence, some a blank space, and some interviews with the men. The chapters refer to 1001 Arabian Nights. This is a masterpiece. I plan to reread it when my brain has more bandwidth to appreciate it.

Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey by Kathleen Rooney, In 1918, Cher Ami, a British-trained carrier pigeon, flew a dangerous mission in France and delivered a vital message that might save US troops. One hundred years later, the pigeon, now stuffed, is on display at the Smithsonian where she remembers the past. Major Charles Whittlesey, an erudite Manhattan attorney and the leader of what became known as The Lost Battalion, tells how he and his men were trapped in enemy territory for six days by the Germans and US friendly fire. He wrote the note Cher Ami carried. Returning home, the Major is hailed as a hero but feels responsible for so many deaths. Flying above it all, Cher Ami sees everything clearly. This is based on actual events of World War I. It touched me deeply.

Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler is quintessential Tyler with its quirky protagonist, a glimpse of a chaotic family, quotidian details, and the joy of the unexpected. Micah Mortimer is a self-described tech hermit who fixes people’s computer woes. He lives a carefully constructed life, but the unexpected finds and upends him when his “woman-friend” is threatened with eviction and he responds poorly and when the college-age son of an old girlfriend appears at his door thinking Micah is his father. In 178 pages that I gulped voraciously, Tyler created a world I’ve pondered far longer than it took me to devour her words.Read my complete review here.

Saving Ruby King by Catherine Adel West is a testament to friendship and the reality of living with secrets and the sins of the father. This debut honestly and realistically describes the south side of Chicago where churches are family and flawed characters work to support each other. I adored this poetic exploration of fear and violence that offers redemption and hope. I flagged almost every page. It’s a compelling story told by multiple narrators including Calvary Church, the place where the characters share their lives and secrets. I still can't believe it's a first novel. It completely captures the south side of Chicago. I was reading it this summer and my daughter who lives in the Beverly area of Chicago, one of the neighborhoods portrayed in the book, was sitting near me. I read a description of a coffee shop in Beverly aloud and said that it captured the area beautifully and wondered if she was describing the Beverly Bakery. My daughter immediately said, "No, that's B-Sides." Catherine Adel West nails the south side down to the coffee shops.

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart is an exquisite character study that delves into the lives of Shuggie Bain, his alcoholic mother Agnes, his older brother and sister, and his absent father in 1980s Scotland. Stuart portrays Agnes’s vanity and pride while showing the underbelly of her addiction. This was emotionally one of the most difficult novels I’ve ever read. I appreciate Stuart’s skill, yet the novel left me drained. It deserves its accolades as a National Book Award finalist and Booker Prize winner, but it’s one tough read. That it’s a debut novel makes it even more impressive. You must read it, but pick a time when you can handle it. The way it conveys the personal cost of the Thatcher years is magnificent. 

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid satirizes the casual racism of supposedly woke liberals while offering a meaningful story. When her white boss calls Emira, the family’s Black babysitter, to take 3-year-old Briar to the supermarket so she won’t be home when the police come to investigate the breaking of a window, Emira, needing the cash, hurries to help. At the store a security guard accuses Emira of kidnapping white Briar and another shopper’s video of the encounter goes viral. This is both a “fun” novel and a surprisingly serious look at race, culture, money, influence, and love. A debut novel isn’t often long-listed for the Booker Prize. It’s perfect for book clubs. I read it months ago and it continues to resonate and make me question myself and current events.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett explores identity through the lives of twin sisters escaping their tiny hometown in 1968. All the town’s residents are light-skinned African Americans. Twin Stella easily passes as white and her sister Desiree marries the darkest man she meets. Ten years later, Desiree returns home with her coal-black daughter. Desiree and Stella’s grown daughters later illustrate how secrets affect being. The novel beautifully probes issues of colorism, sexual identity, and self-hatred via careful attention to its vibrant characters and compelling story line. This will be among the most talked about book club selections as there's much to discuss. Go back and read her debut The Mothers. One of my book clubs will discuss it in February.

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan won the Scotiabank Giller Prize, was a Man Booker finalist, and was on the New York Times best books of 2018 list. It combines a swashbuckling adventure with a sensitive tale of slavery and freedom. “Wash” Black is an enslaved ten-year-old on a Barbados plantation in 1830 when he’s selected to assist his master’s brother with his invention. After a bounty is put on Wash, he escapes with Titch, who is now his master. This is a miraculous tale of loyalty and freedom. Select it for your book club and get ready for an endless conversation. (2018)

A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum begins in 1990 when 17-year-old Palestinian Isra is forced into marriage and moves to Brooklyn where she is treated brutally when she bears daughters. Rum draws on personal experience and her own escape from such a marriage. The book also shows Isra’s daughter in 2008 who’s imprisoned in the same system. Fans of Netflix’s “Orthodox” will see similar patterns despite the religious differences. This is a powerful, yet disturbing debut. You could have an entire book club discussion about the ending.

Best Translated Novel of 2020:
A Girl Returned by Donatella Di Pietrantonio, A Girl Returned takes place in 1975 in a small Italian town where a 13-year-old girl is returned to her birth mother and her poor family by the aunt and uncle who’d adopted her. Why? How will she cope with sharing a slim cot with a younger sister who wets the bed every night? This is a beautifully written and translated short novel that will capture readers as the girl returned shares her story twenty years later. A Best Book of the Year by the Washington Post and Kirkus Reviews as well as the winner of the Campiello Prize.  (2019)