Massachusetts has such a fantastic range of settings for stories – from historic Salem and literary Concord to the bustle of Boston and the quiet coast of Cape Cod. It’s no wonder so many authors have set their novels here.
If you love reading books that really capture the feel of a place, here are 35 novels where Massachusetts is practically a character itself.
Louisa May Alcott’s 'Little Women' introduces the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—who live in Concord, Massachusetts, during the Civil War. Each sister has her own personality and dreams. Jo wants to be a writer, while Amy longs for art and refinement.
The story follows their joys and struggles, family bonds, and personal growth as they face love, loss, and changes in their lives. Their modest home feels so real; you experience the warmth and the everyday challenges right alongside them.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel tells the story of a decaying mansion in Massachusetts and the Pyncheon family members who live within its gloomy walls. A dark history connected to greed and a supposed curse hangs over the house.
The narrative follows Phoebe Pyncheon, a relative who brings a bit of light into the old home, and her cousin Hepzibah, who tries hard to uphold the family legacy.
A mysterious lodger named Holgrave adds another layer of interest as themes of guilt, hidden secrets, and redemption unfold.
Dennis Lehane wrote “Mystic River,” a story about three childhood friends. A traumatic event changed their lives forever. Years later, they are pulled back together after one friend’s daughter is murdered. They must confront their shared past.
The book looks into trust, loyalty, and the ways old wounds continue to shape people.
“The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne unfolds in a strict Puritan community in 17th-century Massachusetts. The story centers on Hester Prynne. She is shamed for adultery and must wear a scarlet “A” on her dress.
She raises her daughter, Pearl, while she endures public scorn. Meanwhile, the secrets of other townspeople slowly start to come apart. The book examines guilt, punishment, and the conflict between personal desires and society’s rules.
“Defending Jacob” by William Landay is about a prosecutor in a quiet Massachusetts town. His whole world shifts when his teenage son is accused of murder. The story focuses on the father.
He must wrestle with his professional role in the case and his own terrible doubts about his son’s innocence. The novel truly gets into family bonds and the crushing weight of suspicion within a tight community.
Dennis Lehane’s “Shutter Island” is set in 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels travels to Ashecliffe Hospital, a mental institution on a remote Massachusetts island. He is there to investigate a patient’s disappearance.
His investigation involves cryptic doctors, unsettling patients, and the island’s genuinely eerie atmosphere. Clues surface that suggest secrets much deeper than just a missing woman.
This novel became a 2010 film directed by Martin Scorsese, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo.
Henry James’s novel “The Bostonians” explores the conflicts between social reform movements and traditional values in 19th-century Boston. The story focuses on Basil Ransom, a conservative lawyer from the South, and Olive Chancellor, a passionate feminist.
They become rivals for the affection and influence of Verena Tarrant, a young woman gifted in public speaking. The book offers a detailed portrait of Boston’s intellectual and social scene at the time.
“Couples” by John Updike takes place in a small Massachusetts town called Tarbox during the 1960s. The story follows ten married couples as they handle their relationships, betrayals, and social interactions.
The novel examines the complexities of their suburban lives and the changing ideas about love and marriage in that era. The characters’ private lives frequently intersect at parties and gatherings, where secrets and desires tend to surface.
David Foster Wallace’s novel “Infinite Jest” is set in a near-future Massachusetts. It follows the lives of many characters connected to a tennis academy and a drug rehabilitation center.
The story weaves together ideas about addiction, entertainment, consumerism, and the search for meaning.
A mysterious film cartridge is central to the plot; the film is supposedly so entertaining that it leaves viewers unable to function, which sets off events that affect everyone.
Katherine Howe’s novel “The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane” connects a modern graduate student, Connie, with the Salem witch trials of 1692. Connie is cleaning out her grandmother’s old house near Salem. She finds a mysterious key tucked inside an old family Bible.
This discovery leads her to uncover the secrets of an ancestor who was accused of witchcraft. The book mixes historical mystery with a hint of magic and explores how a hidden past connects to the present.
Jack Kerouac wrote “The Town and the City.” It’s a story about a young man named Peter Martin and his family in the fictional town of Galloway, Massachusetts.
The novel follows Peter as he grows up, eventually moves to the city, and struggles with the tension between small-town life and the allure of the city. It shows family difficulties, changing relationships, and the search for one’s place in the world.
Sylvia Plath’s book “The Bell Jar” follows Esther Greenwood. She’s a talented young woman who wins an internship at a New York magazine but finds herself struggling deeply with her mental health. The story details her experiences when she returns home to Massachusetts.
There she confronts societal expectations and her own profound sense of isolation. It provides an intimate view of her internal battles within the context of 1950s America.
“The Dante Club” by Matthew Pearl is a historical mystery set in Boston in the 1860s. A group of scholars includes famous poets Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Oliver Wendell Holmes. They are working on the first American translation of Dante’s “Divine Comedy.”
Their work is horribly interrupted when a series of gruesome murders begins. Each murder mirrors a punishment described in Dante’s “Inferno.” The group realizes the killings are connected to their translation work and must solve the crimes before they become targets themselves.
Phoebe Atwood Taylor wrote “The Cape Cod Mystery,” a fun whodunit set in a quiet Cape Cod town. The story kicks off when a famous author is found dead at a summer home. The town’s clever and quirky handyman, Asey Mayo, gets drawn into solving the crime.
As clues appear, secrets about the local residents emerge. Mayo’s sharp thinking keeps the investigation lively. The seaside setting really adds to the book’s charm.
“At Risk” by Alice Hoffman tells the story of the Farrell family in a small Massachusetts town. They must cope with the devastating impact of their eleven-year-old daughter’s AIDS diagnosis in the 1980s.
The book focuses on how the illness affects their family relationships and how their community reacts with fear and sometimes compassion. It’s a touching story about resilience, fear, and love within a family that faces an immense challenge.
Ottessa Moshfegh’s “Eileen” introduces a lonely young woman who works at a boys’ prison in 1960s Massachusetts. Eileen Dunlop lives with her alcoholic father in a dreary, cold town; she feels utterly trapped.
Her life changes abruptly when a glamorous and enigmatic new counselor named Rebecca arrives at the prison. Rebecca draws Eileen into a dangerous situation. The book captures Eileen’s dark thoughts and quiet acts of rebellion and shows the depths of her inner world.
“The Fifth Petal: A Novel” by Brunonia Barry is set in Salem, Massachusetts. It weaves together past and present as it follows a modern-day murder investigation with ties to the historic Witch Trials. A young man dies suspiciously on Halloween.
A detective and a local historian then uncover strange links to unsolved murders from decades earlier. These events stir the shadows of Salem’s notorious past. The story blends folklore with mysteries hidden deep in the town’s history.
Alice Hoffman’s novel “Here on Earth” is about March Murray. She returns to her small Massachusetts hometown after being away for many years. Back home, she reconnects with her first love, Hollis, a man who is both magnetic and deeply troubled.
Their reunion ignites old feelings and unresolved pain. March gets pulled into a complex relationship that affects everyone around her. The book explores love, obsession, and the consequences of past decisions against a New England town backdrop.
“The Lace Reader” by Brunonia Barry centers on Towner Whitney. She comes from a Salem family whose women are known for their ability to read the future in intricate lace patterns. Towner returns to Salem after her great-aunt dies mysteriously.
She becomes involved in events that force her to face unsettling family secrets and memories she has long tried to suppress. The book combines Salem’s unique history with a mystery that slowly reveals the truth about Towner’s own past.
Upton Sinclair’s novel “Boston” focuses on the Sacco and Vanzetti case, a very famous and controversial trial in the 1920s. It follows the lives of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian immigrants accused of murder in Massachusetts.
The book touches on themes of social injustice, prejudice against immigrants, and labor conflicts. Sinclair also includes the personal story of Cornelia Thornwell, an older woman from a wealthy background who gets involved in the case.
Her perspective adds a human element to the historical events.
“Caucasia” by Danzy Senna tells the story of Birdie Lee, a biracial girl who grows up in Boston during the turbulent 1970s. Her activist parents’ relationship falls apart.
Birdie is then forced to go underground with her white mother, leaving her darker-skinned sister and father behind. The book examines identity, family separation, and the struggle to belong in a society focused on race.
Birdie’s journey involves moving through small towns and adopting secret identities while she tries to understand who she is.
George V. Higgins’ book “The Friends of Eddie Coyle” is a raw crime story set in the Boston underworld. It follows Eddie Coyle, a low-level gunrunner who is trying desperately to avoid a prison sentence by informing for the authorities.
The novel shows the lives of small-time criminals through their gritty dialogue, deals, and betrayals, often taking place in bars and parking lots. It captures the constant tension of Eddie’s world as he tries to balance survival and loyalty in a very tough environment.
William Dean Howells wrote “The Rise of Silas Lapham.” This novel is about a self-made businessman who becomes wealthy through his paint manufacturing business in Gilded Age Boston.
The story follows Silas Lapham as he attempts to enter Boston’s high society and deals with the pressures that come with new money and status. His ambitions create conflict with established old-money families.
He also faces personal moral struggles that test his values and family relationships. The book gives a clear picture of class differences and questions of integrity in 19th-century Massachusetts.
“The Mystery of the Cape Cod Tavern” by Phoebe Atwood Taylor is another fast-moving Asey Mayo mystery. Set on Cape Cod, it follows the witty amateur detective as he investigates the murder of a tavern owner.
The case becomes complicated when it turns out the victim’s beauty and charm had involved her in several tricky relationships. The coastal setting and the town’s quirky characters give the story plenty of local flavor.
“Bread and Roses, Too” by Katherine Paterson is set during the significant 1912 textile mill strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, known as the “Bread and Roses” strike.
The story follows two children: Rosa, a young Italian immigrant girl caught up in her family’s struggles, and Jake, a poor boy who lives on the streets. Their lives connect against the backdrop of the strike.
They navigate fear, find friendship, and hold onto hope during a time of great industrial hardship and change.
Paul G. Tremblay wrote “Disappearance at Devil’s Rock.” It begins with the mysterious vanishing of a teenage boy, Tommy, during a late-night visit to a local state park in Massachusetts. As his distraught family searches desperately for answers, strange things begin to happen.
Unsettling pages apparently from Tommy’s journal start appearing, which hint at dark secrets connected to the woods where he disappeared.
E. Lockhart wrote “The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.” The book follows Frankie, a smart and resourceful girl at a prestigious Massachusetts boarding school. She discovers that her boyfriend is part of an old, all-male secret society famous for elaborate pranks.
Frankie decides to challenge their traditions. She secretly orchestrates her own clever pranks and manipulates the society from behind the scenes. The story explores her wit and determination against the school’s traditions and exclusive clubs.
“Friday the Rabbi Slept Late” by Harry Kemelman is the first book in a mystery series set in the fictional small Massachusetts town of Barnard’s Crossing. Rabbi David Small is thoughtful and somewhat unconventional.
He becomes involved in solving a murder when a young woman’s body is found in a car parked on the synagogue grounds. As the police investigate, the rabbi uses his sharp logic and knowledge of Jewish law and tradition to help uncover the truth.
He also has to deal with challenges and politics within his own congregation.
Paul G. Tremblay’s “A Head Full of Ghosts” centers on a family in suburban Massachusetts. They are dealing with the increasingly strange and disturbing behavior of their fourteen-year-old daughter, Marjorie. Her parents are torn.
They don’t know if her actions stem from mental illness or something supernatural, possibly demonic possession. The story is told years later by Marjorie’s younger sister, Merry.
She recounts how their family life fell apart, which included their controversial decision to allow a reality TV crew to film their ordeal for a show called “The Possession.”
Maryse Condé's novel “I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem” gives a voice and imagined life story to Tituba, the enslaved woman from Barbados who was one of the first accused during the Salem witch trials.
The narrative starts with her childhood in Barbados and follows her journey to Puritan Massachusetts. There, fear, prejudice, and hysteria dramatically change her life.
The book provides a powerful account of racism and injustice while centering on a historical figure often left in the margins of the Salem story.
Patty Dann’s novel “Mermaids” tells the story of an unconventional mother, Mrs. Flax, and her two daughters who move to a small Massachusetts town in the early 1960s. The older daughter, Charlotte, is narrator.
She struggles with her intense, somewhat conflicted devotion to Catholicism while she navigates her teenage years and develops a crush on a handsome caretaker at the local convent.
Her eccentric mother frequently moves the family, which leaves the girls trying to find stability amidst their unusual family life.
“The Mother-Daughter Book Club” by Heather Vogel Frederick follows four girls and their mothers in Concord, Massachusetts. They form a book club and find connection through reading and discussing classic novels together, starting with “Little Women.”
The story highlights the girls’ friendships, their challenges at school, family dynamics, and the ups and downs of growing up. The Concord setting and references to Louisa May Alcott’s work are woven throughout this heartwarming story about how books bring people together.
Robert B. Parker’s “Night Passage” introduces Jesse Stone. He’s a former LAPD detective whose drinking problem got him fired. He takes a job as the police chief in the small, seemingly peaceful town of Paradise, Massachusetts.
While Jesse battles his personal demons, he starts to uncover corruption and secrets hidden beneath the town’s quiet surface. The story follows his efforts to handle shady town officials, hidden crimes, and his own troubled past in his new role.
“Pale Kings and Princes” by Robert B. Parker features his famous Boston private eye, Spenser. In this book, Spenser travels to Wheaton, a small Massachusetts town near Route 128, to investigate the murder of a journalist.
The reporter was looking into cocaine trafficking in the area. Spenser’s investigation leads him into the dangerous world of drug distribution and reveals corruption among the town’s powerful figures.
The town has a tense atmosphere full of secrets, and Spenser must navigate danger to find the truth.
John Cheever’s novel “The Wapshot Chronicle” follows the lives of the Wapshot family in the fictional, old New England port town of St. Botolphs, Massachusetts.
The story focuses on Leander Wapshot, the eccentric aging patriarch of a faded Yankee family who captains a dilapidated ferry boat. He tries to guide his two sons, Moses and Coverly, as they leave home and navigate love, work, and the expectations tied to their family name.
The book captures the feel of life in a declining New England community with moments of humor, absurdity, and poignant family struggles.