New Hampshire’s landscape, from its quiet towns and boarding schools to its rugged coastline and deep woods, has inspired some incredible stories. If you love reading books set in a place you can almost feel, these novels capture something special about the state.
They explore family, secrets, history, and survival against very different New Hampshire backdrops.
This book introduces the Berry family, a truly unique bunch. They run some very strange hotels, first in New Hampshire and later one in Vienna that’s even wilder. Life for the Berrys is a mix of hilarious moments and sudden heartbreaks.
You won’t forget the family’s experiences with a specific bear or their relationship with Sorrow, a taxidermied dog that becomes a key part of their unusual history. The story follows them through generations as they face extraordinary events.
This story takes place at the Devon School, a boarding school in New Hampshire, during World War II. It focuses on Gene and Phineas, two friends whose relationship is complex. Loyalty mixes with envy between them.
There’s a critical scene involving a tall tree by the river; an impulsive act there sends ripples through their lives. The book really looks at how innocence gets lost and how the pressures of war reach even those seemingly far from the fight.
Grace Metalious looked beneath the surface of a small New Hampshire town that seems perfectly peaceful. The book reveals the hidden lives, intense secrets, and personal scandals of its residents. We meet Allison MacKenzie, a young woman who dreams of escaping through writing.
The story examines class differences, ambition, and the contrast between the town’s respectable image and the private struggles within it.
Anita Shreve transports readers to the New Hampshire coast near the turn of the 20th century. Olympia Biddeford is spending the summer at her family’s seaside home, Fortune’s Rocks.
Her life changes completely when she enters a forbidden romance with an older, married doctor she meets there. The novel paints a picture of intense passion, the pain of betrayal, and Olympia’s path afterward, all set near the ocean.
John Wheelwright narrates the life of his childhood friend, Owen Meany, a truly one-of-a-kind character from a small New Hampshire town. Owen has a distinctive, capital-letter voice in the book and a powerful belief that he is destined by God for a specific purpose.
His conviction never wavers. The story blends humor and sadness and makes you think about faith and destiny. Owen’s small size and big personality make a huge impact on everyone around him.
This novel connects two timelines on Smuttynose Island, part of New Hampshire’s Isles of Shoals. Jean, a photographer in the present day, travels to the island. She researches a real, brutal double murder that occurred there in 1873.
While she digs into the historical crime based on old documents, her own life starts to fray. Parallels emerge between the past tragedy and her present relationships.
Jack St. Bride seeks refuge in the quiet town of Salem Falls, New Hampshire. He’s trying to rebuild his life after being wrongly accused and convicted of a crime involving a student, which cost him his teaching career. He finds work washing dishes.
Just when he starts to feel settled, new accusations fly, and the town turns suspicious. The story shows how quickly judgment can spread in a small community and how past secrets refuse to stay buried.
This biographical novel tells the remarkable true story of Amos Fortune. Born an African prince, he was captured, enslaved, and brought to America. After many years, he purchased his freedom and eventually settled in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, in the 18th century.
There, he became a respected tanner and community member. Amos worked hard, showed great kindness, and maintained his dignity through immense difficulties.
Stephen King sets this tense story in the Maine-New Hampshire woods. Nine-year-old Trisha McFarland gets lost after wandering off the path during a family hike on the Appalachian Trail.
Alone and trying to survive, she finds comfort listening to Boston Red Sox games on her Walkman. Her hero is pitcher Tom Gordon. As days pass, Trisha battles hunger and fear, and she starts to suspect something else is out there in the woods with her.