The Greatest Books You’ve Never Heard Of
*This article comes with a Bonus Drinking Game: Take a shot for every novel you haven’t heard of. Take a victory shot every time you have, you earned it, bud.*
Slum Virgin by Gabriela Cabezon Camara
A story with so many twists and turns you might just get whiplash. Quity, a journalist on the hunt to write articles that really mean something, finds Cleopatra a cross-dressing renounced prostitute in the slums she used to live near Seduced by Cleopatra's unwavering faith to the Virgin Mary, the odd pair fall into an intense relationship. This story explores poverty and discrimination.
“Happiness radiated from the very heart of the slum. It might have looked like it was because of the Virgin and Cleo, but it was us, it was the power of us all coming together.” (Camara 20)
Piano Stories by Felisberto Hernandez
This is truly a short story collection for those who love lyrical writing. Centered around images of bizarre homes and hidden places, the author takes you along on a haunting journey that is completely original, and honestly, I’d be doing you an injustice if I spoiled even a single story.
“It crossed my mind that I had no right to do what I was doing: relieving her of her painful memories so I could fondle them later on when I was alone.” ( Hernandez 242)
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
A young, enslaved boy named Wash, becomes the manservant to an eccentric, abolitionist inventor. Together they travel the world until a major accident leads their adventure into a race against authorities. Edugyan’s story explores ignorance, human kindness, and redemption. This is one to pick up if you are in the mood for a whimsical adventure with deep, political conversations.
“And so I awoke to myself, my boyhood long behind me. Somehow I had become a stranger in my own skin.” ( Edugyan 214)
Space Invaders by Nona Fernandez
Told from multiple P.O.Vs this story explores a moment during the Pinochet Regime when a young girl is shot in the head in her classroom. The other children in the room recount this moment as well as the other key moments that cemented their personalities and how they coped with the immense trauma. For such a short book, just under 70 pages, It packs a serious punch.
“No one is left. Everybody has gone down the dark drain, who knows where.” (Fernandez 57)
Self by Yann Martel
His novel Life of Pi is an international bestseller, I think we could all spot that iconic orange cover anywhere. But Martel’s other works, which are all similarly rich with spiritual exploration seem to go completely under the radar. Self is a sort of retelling of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando. It’s a deep analysis of what it means to live in a body that is unaccepted by others. It is both complex and heavy as well as being funny and a breath of fresh air.
“Where do men feel ill at ease? In airplane cockpits, dance halls, forest paths, hotels,….No. In all these places, a man will never be told that he is not welcome because he is a man.” ( Martel 159)
Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick
As the title suggests, this story revolves around the narrator's intense relationships. Her mother is cold, unloving, and suffocatingly loving all at once. Her relationships with men are tense and confused. Her relationship with her body is an ongoing painful exploration. This is one to read if you have a complicated relationship with your parents. You might just find some solace in Gornick’s honest portrayal of verbal and emotional abuse.
“It is only the present she hates; as soon as the present becomes the past, she immediately begins loving it. Each time she tells the story it is both the same and different because each time I’m older, and it occurs to me to ask questions I didn’t ask the last time around.” ( Gornick 7)
Empty Set by Veronica Gerber Bicecci
As the blurb of this book will tell you “Empty Set is a novel of patterns…” The author uses graphs and other forms of visual art to depict her complicated relationships and emotional development. Similar to Fierce Attachments estranged relationships are at the heart of this unique novel. It is heartbreaking to watch the narrator struggle to make sense of other people’s intentions as they mistreat her.
“Visualized this way, from above, the world reveals relationships and functions that are not completely obvious.” (Bicecci 83)
Antigona Gonzalez by Sara Uribe
This is perhaps one of the most tragic novellas I’ve ever encountered. Uribe utilizes classical plays to elude the raw emotion of losing her brother. Antigone is the tragic daughter of Oedipus. Antigona Furiosa is a drama depicting government terrorism in Argentina. With these thematic devices, she tackles the horrific violence the Mexican people endure at the border. This little book has so many layers and I highly advise going into it with an empathetic heart and access to the internet nearby.
Bonus fact: the translator of this book John Pluecker was my Thesis 1 Professor at University.
“They say without a body there’s no crime. I tell them without a body there’s no refuge, no peace possible for my heart. For anyone.” (Uribe 29)
I hope you enjoyed this list and hopefully found something new to add to your TBR. Let me know in the comments any other unique and lesser-known works. I am always hungry for an unknown story.
*How tipsy did you get? ;)*
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