California isn’t just a place; it’s a whole world of stories. From sunny beaches and dusty valleys to the bright lights of Hollywood and the fog of San Francisco, writers have found endless inspiration here.
If you love getting lost in a book that feels grounded in a real place, here are some novels set in California that I think are worth checking out.
This book drops you right into Monterey during the Great Depression, specifically on a street bustling with sardine canneries. You meet Doc, who studies marine life, and Mack and his group of friendly layabouts.
Their plan to throw a surprise party for Doc goes hilariously wrong, but it shows the strong bonds in this unique, down-on-its-luck community. Steinbeck really makes you feel the salty air and hear the sounds of the cannery.
A big, sprawling novel set mainly in the Salinas Valley. It follows the Trask and Hamilton families over generations. The story digs deep into brotherhood, the scars families leave on us, and whether we can truly choose our own path between good and evil.
It’s a powerful read about love, jealousy, and the land itself.
Lyman Ward, a historian confined to a wheelchair, pieces together the life of his grandmother, Susan Burling Ward. She was an artist from back East who moved West with her engineer husband in the late 1800s.
Through her letters, we see her struggle to adapt to the rough frontier life and the toll it takes on her dreams and marriage. It’s a thoughtful story that connects past and present.
This novel tackles the intense conflict between wheat farmers in the San Joaquin Valley and the powerful railroad monopoly. You see how the railroad’s relentless expansion affects people like Magnus Derrick, a rancher whose ambitions clash with the corporation.
It’s a stark look at the fight for land and survival in late 19th-century California.
Private investigator Philip Marlowe takes a case from a wealthy family in 1930s Los Angeles. He’s supposed to handle a blackmail situation, but soon he’s tangled up in murder, secrets, and the city’s corrupt corners.
Marlowe’s sharp observations and cynical attitude make this a classic detective story. The atmosphere of old L.A. is unforgettable.
Welcome to the dark side of 1950s Los Angeles. This crime novel follows three very different LAPD officers. Their paths cross after a brutal massacre at the Nite Owl coffee shop. Each officer gets pulled deeper into a world of police corruption, Hollywood scandals, and violence.
It paints a picture of a glamorous city with some ugly secrets.
This book offers a stark look at wealthy, disaffected youth in 1980s Los Angeles. Clay comes home from college for Christmas break and finds himself adrift in a scene of endless parties, drugs, and emotional numbness among his high school friends.
It captures a specific time and place with a cool, detached style.
Maria Wyeth is an actress in 1960s Hollywood. Her life is falling apart around her – career troubles, a failing marriage, and difficult memories surface. To cope, she drives the freeways endlessly.
Didion’s writing is sharp and precise; she shows the emptiness that can hide beneath the California sun.
Sam Spade, a private eye in 1920s San Francisco, gets drawn into a dangerous hunt for a jewel-encrusted falcon statuette. Liars, femme fatales, and ruthless criminals all want the bird.
The foggy atmosphere of the city is almost a character itself in this classic hardboiled mystery.
This iconic book follows Sal Paradise and his wild friend Dean Moriarty on their energetic journeys across America. California features prominently. They explore the jazz clubs and Beat scene of San Francisco and experience the sprawl of Los Angeles.
It captures the restless energy of a generation searching for something more.
Here, Kerouac writes about the difficult side of fame. His character Jack Duluoz, reeling from the success of his previous book, retreats to a cabin in the beautiful, wild landscape of Big Sur.
Instead of peace, he finds intense loneliness and confronts his struggles with alcohol and mental strain. The raw beauty of the coast contrasts sharply with his inner turmoil.
This story follows Karana, a Native American girl left alone on an island off the California coast for many years. Based on a true story, it shows her incredible resourcefulness as she learns to survive, build shelter, find food, and deal with loneliness and wild dogs.
It’s a powerful tale of resilience.
Set during Southern California’s oil boom in the early 20th century, this novel follows Bunny Ross, the son of an ambitious oil tycoon. As Bunny grows up amidst the wealth and corruption of the industry, he starts to question the exploitation he sees.
The story contrasts the ruthless pursuit of profit with ideas about social justice.
Arturo Bandini is a young, broke writer trying desperately to make it in 1930s Los Angeles. He struggles with self-doubt and poverty while navigating a fiery, complicated relationship with Camilla Lopez, a waitress.
Fante captures the feeling of chasing dreams in a city that can be both beautiful and brutal. The descriptions of Bunker Hill and the desert landscape are fantastic.
It’s 1948 Los Angeles. Easy Rawlins, a Black WWII veteran needing money, takes a job finding a mysterious woman named Daphne Monet. His search leads him through the vibrant Black neighborhoods of L.A., into jazz clubs, and face-to-face with dangerous people.
It’s a great atmospheric mystery that also explores race and postwar life in the city.
This novel shows the desperate, unglamorous side of Hollywood during the Great Depression. Tod Hackett, an artist working for the studios, observes the wannabes, has-beens, and lonely people drawn to California hoping for fame.
Characters like the aspiring actress Faye Greener and the lost Homer Simpson reveal the broken dreams behind the Hollywood facade. It builds to an unforgettable climax.
Bukowski’s alter ego, Henry Chinaski, writes a screenplay, and this novel hilariously chronicles his experiences with the bizarre world of low-budget filmmaking.
Based on Bukowski’s own time working on the movie Barfly, it’s full of absurd encounters with producers, actors, and the general chaos of Hollywood. It’s crude, funny, and surprisingly insightful about the movie business.
This novel connects the lives of twelve Native American characters traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow. Each person carries their own history, struggles with identity, and hopes for the future. Their stories weave together, showing the complexities of urban Native life today.
It’s a really moving and important book.
Imagine if the Earth’s rotation started to slow down. This novel explores that idea through the eyes of Julia, an eleven-year-old girl living in California.
While the world grapples with longer days and environmental changes, Julia deals with normal kid stuff – friendships, family issues. It’s a unique story about growing up during extraordinary circumstances.
This collection of stories follows Panchito and his family. They are migrant workers who move constantly through California’s agricultural regions. We see their hard work, struggles with poverty, and the challenges of always being the new kid in school.
Panchito’s desire for education shines through. It’s a very personal and honest account.
Set in Stockton, California, this novel focuses on the lives of two boxers. Billy Tully is nearing the end of his career, haunted by missed opportunities. Ernie Munger is young, just starting out, full of uncertain hope.
Gardner paints a realistic picture of their world – the rundown gyms, cheap hotels, and the physical and emotional toll of boxing.
Considered one of the first novels written by a Native American author, this book tells the legendary tale of Joaquín Murieta. He was supposedly a Mexican miner during the Gold Rush who turned to banditry after suffering violence and injustice.
The story portrays him as a Robin Hood figure who seeks revenge. It captures the chaos and prejudice of that era.
In a near-future California destroyed by climate change and social breakdown, Lauren Olamina lives in a gated community for protection. She has a condition called hyperempathy, which makes her feel the pain of others.
When her community is destroyed, she must journey north, gathering followers for her new belief system, Earthseed. It’s a challenging but hopeful story about survival and change.
Frank Chambers, a drifter, stops at a roadside diner in rural California. He falls for Cora, the wife of the older owner. Their intense attraction leads them to plot murder. Things don’t go as planned.
This short, punchy novel is a classic of crime fiction, full of desperate characters and bad decisions.
This book takes you into the underground world of male hustlers in American cities during the early 1960s, with significant parts set in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The unnamed narrator drifts from city to city, encountering other lonely souls in bars, parks, and motel rooms.
It was groundbreaking for its time and offers a raw look at life on the margins.
Meet Mickey Haller, a defense attorney who operates out of the back of his Lincoln Town Car in Los Angeles. He thinks he’s landed an easy case defending a wealthy Beverly Hills playboy accused of assault. But the case quickly becomes complicated and dangerous.
It’s a fast-paced legal thriller with plenty of twists.
This sharp, satirical novel won the Booker Prize. The narrator, a Black man living in a fictional agricultural neighborhood in Los Angeles, tries to put his hometown back on the map. His methods are extreme: he attempts to reinstitute segregation and keep a slave.
The book uses outrageous humor to explore race and identity in America, leading all the way to the Supreme Court.
This Pulitzer Prize-winner follows a narrator who was a communist double agent during the Vietnam War. After the fall of Saigon, he comes to Southern California with other refugees but continues to secretly report back to Vietnam.
He gets involved in various schemes, including consulting on a Hollywood film about the war. It’s a brilliant exploration of identity, politics, and the complexities of the Vietnamese refugee experience.
Fitzgerald’s unfinished final novel is set in 1930s Hollywood. It centers on Monroe Stahr, a brilliant, workaholic studio executive modeled after Irving Thalberg. We see the power struggles, the creative process, and the romantic entanglements within the studio system.
Even unfinished, it captures the magic and ruthlessness of the movie business.
Set in San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century, this novel tells the story of McTeague, a simple, unlicensed dentist. His life changes drastically when he marries Trina, who then wins $5,000 in a lottery.
Their newfound wealth doesn’t bring happiness; instead, greed and resentment begin to poison their lives. It’s a powerful story about how money can corrupt.
This complex novel is set in the foggy, redwood-covered coast of Northern California. Nelson Fairchild Jr. is a man involved in drug smuggling and other troubles. He gets mixed up with various strange characters, including a hitman and his ex-wife.
It’s a dark, sometimes confusing, but atmospheric story about fate, failure, and the rough edges of California.
Yes, the author of the Oz books wrote other things! In this book from a popular series, Aunt Jane’s nieces (Louise, Beth, and Patsy) travel to California. They get involved with the early movie industry in Hollywood.
Expect adventure, maybe a little mystery, and a fun look at California life around 1914 from Baum’s perspective.
Terry McCaleb is a retired FBI profiler recovering from a heart transplant in Los Angeles. He discovers that the donor of his new heart was actually a murder victim. Feeling a deep connection to the case, McCaleb comes out of retirement to track down the killer.
It’s a solid thriller that links the detective’s own survival to solving the crime.
Set in Monterey, California, during the Gold Rush year of 1851. Eliza Ripple works as a prostitute after her husband dies. When young women in town start disappearing, Eliza and her friend Jean decide to investigate the murders themselves.
It offers a look at the lives of women in a rough-and-tumble frontier town.
Sixth-grader Leigh Botts lives in Pacific Grove, California. Feeling lonely after his parents’ divorce and struggling at a new school, he starts writing letters to his favorite author, Boyd Henshaw.
Through his letters and diary entries, Leigh works through his problems and discovers his own voice as a writer. It’s a wonderful story about growing up.