books written 1950

25 Famous Books From The 1950s

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Travel back in time with the best books from the 1950s, including bestselling and iconic titles.

With the post-WW2 boom, emergence of the “baby boomer” generation, “Space Race,” Civil Rights Movement, “The Golden Age of Television,” and many new inventions, the 1950s brought political, scientific, economic, and technological changes.

The 1950s were also responsible for the creation of CERN, black box, oral contraceptive pill, NASA, poliovirus vaccine, passenger jet, and super glue.

Books from the ’50s were some of the most controversial of their time, yet are widely read classics for both adults and children today. Many of these 1950s books are utterly iconic.

Not to mention that some of the best books about the 1950s teach us more about the era, whether through their narrative, censorship upon publication, or public reception.

Like the ’60s, books in the 1950s are products of their time – and some are problematic. Read them with awareness and caution.

So, what are the best books from the 1950s to read right now? Below, find ’50s books in all genres, including a few plays. Let’s get started!

*Please note that while all of these books were published in the 1950s, many of the book covers and links are for newer editions.

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Table of Contents

25 Best Books From The 1950s

1. The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951)

One of the most iconic books from the 1950s is undoubtedly J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher In The Rye .

This coming-of-age novel about teenage angst and alienation continues to sell a million copies every year –literally!

Holden Caulfield, the narrator, has become a transgenerational symbol of disillusionment.

In the story, he narrates his lost weekend in New York, proffering his opinion on everything from his peers, to dating, to films, to ducks.

You know it’s good because it’s been subjected to bans and censorship since its release, on the grounds of its “vulgar language,” “undermining of family values,” and “encouragement of rebellion” (among other things).

Discover even more famous books on our 50 States book list . Read The Catcher In The Rye : Amazon | Goodreads

2. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)

“It was a pleasure to burn,” begins Fahrenheit 451 , one of the most enduring 1950s books that has scary resonance today.

In Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novella, firemen no longer put out fires; rather, they set fire to buildings where books have been discovered.

The world has lost faith in the written word, preferring ubiquitous screens and ear plugs (“sea shells”) – sound familiar at all?

At the heart of the story is Guy Montag, a fireman whose curiosity overcomes him. He does the unthinkable: he saves a book.

And so begins a journey that will unravel Montag’s life, and the world around him.

Uncover even more great books about books and reading . Read Fahrenheit 451 : Amazon | Goodreads

3. The Fellowship of The Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (1954)

J.R.R. Tolkien changed the game with The Fellowship Of The Ring , the first in his epic Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

This was long before doorstop fantasy books were a dime a dozen. In the context of books from the ‘50s, this was an ambitious undertaking (to say the least!).

The story begins on Bilbo Baggins’ eleventy-first birthday when Gandalf has to coerce him into bequeathing the mysterious and powerful ring he treasures to his cousin, Frodo.

If you think you “know” the rest of the story because you’ve seen the Peter Jackson films, think again! Tolkien has some surprises in store for you.

Uncover more books adapted into terrific movies . Read The Fellowship of The Ring : Amazon | Goodreads

4. Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin (1953)

Go Tell It On The Mountain isn’t just one of the best 1950s books; it’s widely considered one of the best books of the 20th century.

This semi-autobiographical novel explores the role of the Pentecostal Church in the Black community during the mid-century decades with many anecdotes drawn directly from Baldwin’s own upbringing.

He began work on the manuscript as early as 1938, but it wasn’t until 1953 – when Baldwin was living in Paris, far from the Harlem home he describes in its pages – that it was finally published, to popular and critical acclaim.

Go Tell It On The Mountain continues to resonate with readers, interrogating the role of race and religion in society. Read Go Tell It On The Mountain : Amazon | Goodreads

5. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1955)

One of the most controversial books from the 1950s – and dark romance movies to watch – is also one of the most masterful and acclaimed.

Lolita set the standard for unreliable narrators with the loathsome Humbert Humbert telling his own story of how he kidnapped and abused a 12-year-old girl whom he gave the titular nickname.

It’s stomach-churning stuff, but it’s also beautifully written – all the more amazing for the fact that Russian-American Nabokov wasn’t writing in his native language.

The cultural legacy of this novel cannot be compared, as artists like Lana Del Rey continue to draw on its iconography and academics continue to debate its themes and significance. Read Lolita : Amazon | Goodreads

6. The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway (1952)

Ernest Hemingway’s final major work before his death, The Old Man And The Sea , ended up being one of the most significant in his ouveur.

For this novella, he won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and it was specifically cited when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.

Written with Hemingway’s characteristic brevity, The Old Man And The Sea is short enough to be read in a single afternoon, but it’s rich enough in metaphor and meaning that you’ll be thinking about it for years.

This is one of the books from the ’50s that continues to be analyzed and adored around the world and will likely be for many decades more. Plus, it’s a quick read if you are looking for books set in and about Cuba . Read The Old Man And The Sea : Amazon | Goodreads

7. The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank (1952)

First translated into English in 1952 by B. M. Mooyaart-Doubleday

Even though The Diary Of A Young Girl was first written during the Second World War, the first English translation didn’t appear until 1952.

The ten-year interlude between Anne Frank receiving a blank diary for her 13th birthday in 1942 and the English-speaking world becoming acquainted with her story was a time of major social and political upheaval.

Perhaps that’s why the earnest etchings of a Jewish girl in hiding touched such a cord with readers.

Anne’s diary went on to become one of the bestselling books in the 1950s, posthumously making her dream of being a literary sensation come true.

Throughout the decades, The Diary Of A Young Girl is one of the most widely read WWII books in American classrooms . Read The Diary Of A Young Girl : Amazon | Goodreads

8. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (1952)

Illustrated by Garth Williams

Revisit your childhood and get a heady dose of nostalgia with Charlotte’s Web , one of the most charming children’s books from the 1950s.

It all begins when Fern begs her father not to kill the runt of a litter of piglets. The little piggy becomes her pet, her beloved Wilbur – and his journey is only just beginning.

He later befriends a sentient spider who takes to crafting messages in her web to keep Wilbur from the butcher’s block.

Upon release, reviews called White’s story “magical” and “just about perfect,” a sentiment echoed by generations of young readers in the decades since. Read Charlotte’s Web : Amazon | Goodreads

9. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1952)

In 1953, Ralph Ellison became the first Black man ever to win the U.S. National Book Award For Fiction, for his novel Invisible Man published the previous year.

TIME magazine called it “the quintessential American picaresque of the 20th century,” when they named it one of the Top 100 Best English-language Novels (1923-2005).

Ellison used what he called “an experimental attitude” to craft a genre-bending story that addresses race and racial politics in a way few other 1950s books do.

Hulu has been working on adapting Invisible Man since 2017, so you’ll want to read it before the series comes out! Read Invisible Man : Amazon | Goodreads

10. On The Road by Jack Kerouac (1957)

You can’t call yourself a beatnik if you haven’t read On The Road , one of the best books about the 1950s counterculture.

Kerouac famously wrote the entire manuscript in just three weeks, typing on a single giant scroll of tracing paper about 120ft in length.

He called his method “spontaneous prose,” an account written “with the fluidity of jazz.”

The story is a (very) thinly veiled fictional account of his adventures across the United States with his friend and fellow Beat Generation figure Neal Cassady, assigned the names Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty respectively.

For iconic road trip books , On The Road is a confronting, challenging, and powerful read. Read On The Road : Amazon | Goodreads

11. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958)

Chinua Achebe’s debut novel, Things Fall Apart , was also his magnum opus–a milestone in African literature, and one of the best books from the 1950s.

Through the story of a local wrestling champion, Achebe presents a heart-wrenching account of the impact of European colonialism on the people of southeastern Nigeria.

Things Fall Apart was one of the first African novels, written in English, to receive global acclaim. It has gone on to sell over 20 million copies and has been translated into more than 50 languages.

Achebe is now widely considered one of the most important African novelists, a defining voice in our understanding of African identity and society.

Explore even more books about, from, and set in Nigeria . Read Things Fall Apart : Amazon | Goodreads

12. The Crucible by Arthur Miller (1953)

If you ever needed proof that human history is all swings and roundabouts, you can find it in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible .

(Okay, technically it’s a play, but it’s so frequently read and reviewed as a book in and of itself, it should really count as one of the must-read books from the ‘50s.)

Miller used a partly-fictionalized story about the Salem witch trials in the 1690s to craft a careful allegory about the dangers of McCarthyism.

He was so successful in making his point that he was actually questioned by the House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956 and convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to snitch on his friends. Read The Crucible: Amazon | Goodreads | Book Information

13. My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier (1951)

For too long, Daphne du Maurier’s novels were written off as “popular trash.”

It’s only in recent years that her Gothic mysteries and compelling psychological thrillers have been recognized for the brilliant works of English literature that they are.

My Cousin Rachel is carefully crafted and perfectly paced. It revolves around an orphan, Philip, who is raised to be the heir to his cousin Ambrose’s Cornwall estate.

When Ambrose falls in love, marries, and dies (in rapid succession), Philip is devastated and highly suspicious of the widow.

Did she have a hand in Ambrose’s death? You can see why this was one of the bestselling books in the 1950s! Read My Cousin Rachel : Amazon | Goodreads

14. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming (1953)

The man, the myth, the legend – James Bond all began with Casino Royale , Ian Fleming’s first book about the British secret agent.

It was an instant bestseller in the U.K, selling out of three print runs in its first month on the market, but it bombed in the U.S. (possibly because it was given the aggressive title ‘ You Asked For It ’ in the American market, and editors changed the spy’s name to Jimmy Bond).

Eventually, Fleming found his audience on both sides of the pond, and now his early Bond stories are remembered as game-changers, the best spy thriller books from the ‘50s.

Read Casino Royale : Amazon | Goodreads

15. My Family And Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (1956)

Before there was David Sedaris or Augusten Burroughs, there was Gerald Durrell.

My Family And Other Animals is the – admittedly over-exaggerated for comedic effect – story of life for the young Durrells on the Greek island of Corfu.

With a cast of eccentric side characters and an impressive collection of pets, there are guaranteed laughs to be had.

In between family foibles, Durrell writes beautifully about the fauna and flora of the island.

So beautifully, in fact, that much of the tourism to the island today can be traced back to this and other 1950s books by Durrell.

Books about Greece and Greek life don’t get any more fun and enjoyable than this.

Explore more great books set on islands .

Read My Family And Other Animals : Amazon | Goodreads

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16. Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (1956)

Yes, James Baldwin wrote so many books in the 1950s that he appears on this list twice!

Giovanni’s Room is very different in tone and style from Go Tell It On The Mountain (1953) , but it’s equally as brilliant.

The story revolves around David, an American man living in Paris, and his relationships with other men –especially the Italian bartender, Giovanni, who caught his eye in a Parisian gay bar.

This examination of masculinity, sexuality, social isolation, and identity crises was so far ahead of its time that it’s possible we’re only truly starting to appreciate it fully in the present day.

Learn more about Paris with this reading list . Read Giovanni’s Room : Amazon | Goodreads

17. Strangers On A Train by Patricia Highsmith (1950)

You might have seen the Hitchcock film (1951), but have you read one of the smartest psychological thriller books from the 1950s?

Strangers On A Train has an intriguing premise: two strangers (who meet, you guessed it, on a train) agree to ‘trade’ murders, each removing a human obstacle from the other’s life.

As the two men are not connected in any other way, and neither of them otherwise has any motive to kill their targets, they predict that they will easily escape police detection.

Of course, nothing in a Patricia Highsmith novel is ever that simple. This taut, introspective train thriller will have you on the edge of your seat! Read Strangers On A Train : Amazon | Goodreads | Book Information

18. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950)

Technically, all seven novels in the Narnia chronicles series were books from the ‘50s – published between 1950 and 1956.

However, the best-known was the first, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe .

The story revolves around four siblings who are sent to live in the country during the Second World War, where they discover a portal in the back of a cupboard to the land of Narnia.

There are talking lions, mythical creatures, witches , and – most important of all – Turkish Delight.

Revisiting this story as an adult will remind you how brilliant C.S. Lewis was at crafting allegories, and you’ll see the deeper meaning(s) you missed as a kid.

1950s books really don’t get any more iconic than this! Read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe : Amazon | Goodreads

19. Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose (1954)

Twelve Angry Men is another play most certainly counts as one of the best books about the 1950s.

The story seems simple enough: a jury retires from a homicide trial to deliberate. Eleven of the twelve ‘men in ties’ push for an immediate verdict of guilty, but one refuses.

One by one, the dissenter persuades other members of the jury (and the reader) to change their vote, ultimately ensuring that an innocent man goes free.

Twelve Angry Men remains popular to this day, with scary new resonance in light of the public failings of the justice system. Read Twelve Angry Men : Amazon | Goodreads

20. East Of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952)

Sitting down to read East Of Eden is quite an undertaking, but if you’ve got the time and patience, you’ll find it’s one of the most rewarding books from the 1950s.

It’s certainly Steinbeck’s most ambitious novel, and he himself called it his ‘magnum opus’.

He drew his inspiration from the biblical story of Cain and Abel, crafting a story of depravity, guilt, and struggle around two families (the Trasks and the Hamiltons) set primarily in California over the first half of the 20th century.

It’s a pensive and philosophical novel – and depressing, to boot! – but beautifully written.

Read more contemporary books set in CA too!

Read East Of Eden : Amazon | Goodreads

21. Peyton Place by Grace Metalious (1956)

Perhaps you’re wondering how a 1960s soap opera ended up on a list of the bestselling books in the 1950s…?

Well, Peyton’s Place was actually based on a novel by Grace Metalious, a salacious and scintillating book that topped the New York Times Bestseller List for over a year.

The content of the book was surprisingly ahead of its time.

The story revolves around three women who live in a small, gossipy New England village.

They battle inequity and class privilege in their quest to live their truth, while also navigating adultery, lust, and murder.

This is one you’ll want to read when you’re in the mood for something sinfully delicious. Read Peyton Place : Amazon | Goodreads

22. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (1957)

Translated into English by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky

The 1950s were a wild time for protest books.

Doctor Zhivago had to be smuggled out of the USSR in order to reach publishers in Italy, as Boris Pasternak was none too popular with the Russian government of the day.

Censors rejected his work on the grounds that he (subtly) criticized Stalinism and the Great Purge.

Thankfully, the manuscript landed in the right hands in Milan, so we all get to enjoy it today.

It’s surely one of the most complex books from the ‘50s with dozens of characters with multiple names playing out an intricate plot.

But it’s also an immensely rewarding read, if only for the struggle it had to go through to get to us.

Read Doctor Zhivago : Amazon | Goodreads

23. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence (1959)

If it weren’t for pearl-clutching censors and puritan scolds, Lady Chatterley’s Lover wouldn’t be one of these 1950s books at all.

The first editions were published in liberal European nations, Italy and France, two full decades before they could be sold elsewhere.

D.H. Lawrence’s story of adultery and desire was subject to one of the most extensive and controversial censorship campaigns of the 20th century.

The matter made it all the way to the courts where the book’s publishers were put on trial for obscenity.

The publisher’s victory paved the way for publication in the U.S. (1959) and the U.K. (1960) and changed the game for all controversial titles that came after.

Essentially, the story follows the relationship between a working-class man and an upper-class woman.

Lady Chatterley (formerly Constance) has been trapped in an emotionless marriage and has an affair with the gamekeeper. Read Lady Chatterley’s Lover : Amazon | Goodreads

24. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute (1950)

If you’re in the mood for nostalgic, romantic books from the 1950s, pick up A Town Like Alice (also called The Legacy in the U.S.).

It’s one of the first examples of WWII historical fiction , written not long after the war ended and based loosely on the real experiences of women and communities during the conflict.

Jean Paget, a British secretary, comes into an unexpected inheritance.

She wants to use her new wealth to build a well for a Malayan village community where she herself was held prisoner during the war.

Jean wants to make it “a town like Alice [Springs],” an Australian region she visited while searching for the man she fell in love with while imprisoned.

Explore even more WW2 books for world travelers . Read A Town Like Alice : Amazon | Goodreads

25. The Flower Drum Song by C.Y. Lee (1957)

Although it’s not as widely read as other 1950s books today, The Flower Drum Song was one of the bestselling books in the 1950s.

It’s a story about the Chinatown district of San Francisco, the refugees who have made it their home, and the pressures of assimilation.

Chinese-American writer C.Y. Lee initially had a lot of trouble finding a publisher willing to take it on.

However, an elderly manuscript assessor for Farrar, Straus, and Cudahy (who died shortly after reading the draft) convinced them with a final message he scrawled on the front page: Read This.

The book went on to be adapted for both stage and screen, to great success. Read The Flower Drum Song : Amazon | Goodreads

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What are the best books about the 1950s?

What would you consider to be the top bestselling books in the 1950s? Are there any that we should add to our list?

Plus, what moments were iconic in the ’50s? Are there certain trends you’d love to see make a comeback? Let us know in the comments!

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Sheree Strange

Sheree (pronouns: she/her) is a writer and book reviewer living on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation (known as Sydney, Australia). She has been reviewing books on her blog, Keeping Up With The Penguins , since 2017. She reads books of all kinds and shares her thoughts on them all across the internet.

Sheree, I’m a big fan of the 1950s and I was very glad to see the decade in literature covered in your list. You covered some excellent books; I wouldn’t quibble with a single one. There are a few I would add to your list, however, if I may: 1) Goodbye Columbus by Philip Roth (1959) 2) The Adventures of Angie March by Saul Bellow (1953) 3) Rabbit, Run by John Updike (1959) 4) From Here to Eternity by James Jones (1951) 5) The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit by Sloan Wilson (1955) 6) Warlock by Oakley Hall (1959) 7) The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (1954?) 8) The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut (1958?) 9) Exodus by Leon Uris (1958) 10) The Town and the City by Jack Kerouac (1950) 11) The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk (1951) 12) Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs (1959) There are many more. It was a great decade for literature. And film. And music. And cars, and everything else.

Thanks so much for sharing this great list, Bruce. We and our readers appreciate it.

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A Century of Reading: The 10 Books That Defined the 1950s

We have reached the halfway mark of this series.

Some books are flashes in the pan, read for entertainment and then left on a bus seat for the next lucky person to pick up and enjoy, forgotten by most after their season has passed. Others stick around, are read and re-read, are taught and discussed. sometimes due to great artistry, sometimes due to luck, and sometimes because they manage to recognize and capture some element of the culture of the time.

In the moment, you often can’t tell which books are which.  The Great Gatsby  wasn’t a bestseller upon its release, but we now see it as emblematic of a certain American sensibility in the 1920s. Of course, hindsight can also distort the senses; the canon looms and obscures. Still, over the next weeks, we’ll be publishing a list a day, each one attempting to define a discrete decade, starting with the 1900s (as you’ve no doubt guessed by now) and counting down until we get to the (nearly complete) 2010s.

Though the books on these lists need not be American in origin, I am looking for books that evoke some aspect of American life, actual or intellectual, in each decade—a global lens would require a much longer list. And of course, varied and complex as it is, there’s no list that could truly define American life over ten or any number of years, so I do not make any claim on exhaustiveness. I’ve simply selected books that, if read together, would give a fair picture of the landscape of literary culture for that decade—both as it was and as it is remembered. Finally, two process notes: I’ve limited myself to one book for author over the entire 12-part list, so you may see certain works skipped over in favor of others, even if both are important (for instance, I ignored  Dubliners  in the 1910s so I could include Ulysses  in the 1920s), and in the case of translated work, I’ll be using the date of the English translation, for obvious reasons.

For our sixth installment, below you’ll find 10 books that defined the 1950s. (Head here for the  1910s ,  20s ,  30s , and 40s ).

Whether you consider Holden an egotistical whiner or a melancholy boy genius , and even if you really,  really  hate it , there’s no denying that this novel, which has sold more than 65 million copies since its publication (though this number is a few years old and certainly soft), and continues to sell at a healthy clip, was a crucial cultural touchstone in America in the 1950s.  David Shields and Shane Salerno go further in the introduction to their biography  Salinger , writing that the book “redefined postwar America and can best be understood as a disguised war novel.”

Salinger emerged from the war incapable of believing in the heroic, noble ideals we like to think our cultural institutions uphold. Instead of producing a combat novel, as Norman Mailer, James Jones, and Joseph Heller did, Salinger took the trauma of war and embedded it within what looked to the naked eye like a coming-of-age novel.

It may have even influenced the way we think about teenagers to this day. “It absolutely speaks to that moment the teenager emerges as a recognizable social group,” Salinger scholar Sarah Graham told the BBC . “Before that people went through their teenage years with no sense it was a particular kind of identity. It is the first novel of the modern teenage years.” Indeed, it was only after WWII that a distinctive youth culture began to emerge: in part because more teenagers were in high school and fewer were working to support their families. They had time on their hands and angst in their hearts. “Leisure gave teenagers time to reflect on where they were going,” Dr. Graham said. “The idea of existential angst in some way draws from Catcher in the Rye as much as the novel reflects it. There is a strong dialogue between the book and the teenage experience—they are mutually shaping.” As Adam Golub has pointed out , Holden was the first teenager Americans really knew who refused to grow up, and was celebrated for it. This of course despite the fact that Salinger did not at all write the book for teenagers, and that it was well received—called “brilliant” by reviewer after reviewer —as a novel for adults.

Famously, the contemporary hype around  Catcher  was so great that it forced Salinger into the reclusiveness he’s now known for—he was looking, primarily, for privacy, and didn’t mind perpetuating a myth around himself in the process.

“I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me,” Ellison writes in the opening lines of this much-read, much-assigned, and highly influential novel. (So influential that President Obama modeled  Dreams of My Father  on it.) The novel was awarded the National Book Award in 1953. In his acceptance speech, Ellison said: “If I were asked in all seriousness just what I considered to be the chief significance of Invisible Man as a fiction, I would reply: Its experimental attitude and its attempt to return to the mood of personal moral responsibility for democracy which typified the best of our nineteenth-century fiction.”

When I examined the rather rigid concepts of reality which informed a number of the works which impressed me and to which I owed a great deal, I was forced to conclude that for me and for so many hundreds of thousands of Americans, reality was simply far more mysterious and uncertain, and at the same time more exciting, and still, despite its raw violence and capriciousness, more promising.

To see America with an awareness of its rich diversity and its almost magical fluidity and freedom I was forced to conceive of a novel unburdened by the narrow naturalism which has led after so many triumphs to the final and unrelieved despair which marks so much of our current fiction. I was to dream of a prose which was flexible, and swift as American change is swift, confronting the inequalities and brutalities of our society forthrightly, but yet thrusting forth its images of hope, human fraternity, and individual self-realization. A prose which would make use of the richness of our speech, the idiomatic expression, and the rhetorical flourishes from past periods which are still alive among us. Despite my personal failures there must be possible a fiction which, leaving sociology and case histories to the scientists, can arrive at the truth about the human condition, here and now, with all the bright magic of the fairy tale.

The novel manages to be many things at once; this is one of its many strengths. “Evenhandedly exposing the hypocrisies and stereotypes of all comers,” Lev Grossman wrote in TIME , “ Invisible Man  is far more than a race novel, or even a bildungsroman. It’s the quintessential American picaresque of the 20th century.”

Fahrenheit 451  is one of those books we all think we understand—probably because we’ve all had to “analyze” it in high school—but even its author wavered on the point. In a 1956 radio interview, Bradbury explained it in the context of government censorship:

I wrote this book at a time when I was worried about the way things were going in this country four years ago. Too many people were afraid of their shadows; there was a threat of book burning. Many of the books were being taken off the shelves at that time. And of course, things have changed a lot in four years. Things are going back in a very healthy direction. But at the time I wanted to do some sort of story where I could comment on what would happen to a country if we let ourselves go too far in this direction, where then all thinking stops, and the dragon swallows his tail, and we sort of vanish into a limbo and we destroy ourselves by this sort of action.

When asked in 2005 what inspired the book burning in the novel, Bradbury had a pithier response : “Well, Hitler of course.”

When I was fifteen, he burnt the books in the streets of Berlin. Then along the way I learned about the libraries in Alexandria burning five thousand years ago. That grieved my soul. Since I’m self-educated, that means my educators—the libraries—are in danger. And if it could happen in Alexandria, if it could happen in Berlin, maybe it could happen somewhere up ahead, and my heroes would be killed.

He also spoke against McCarthyism in his lifetime, and the novel has frequently been interpreted of a criticism of the same, but in later life Bradbury denied this and claimed that it was “a story about how television destroys interest in reading literature,” despite the fact that television was relatively new at the time, just becoming popular. Whatever it means, it remains an enduring classic.

Initial reviews were mixed when the first volume of Tolkien’s fantasy epic was first published, but the ones that knew, really knew. None other than W. H. Auden reviewed the book in the  Times , praising Tolkien’s  The Hobbit  as “one of the best children’s stories of this century” and writing of his new volume for adults:

On the primitive level of wanting to know what happens next, The Fellowship of the Ring is at least as good as The Thirty-Nine Steps . . . . [But] if one is to take a tale of this kind seriously, one must feel that, however superficially unlike the world we live in its characters and events may be, it nevertheless holds up the mirror to the only nature we know, our own; in this, too, Mr. Tolkien has succeeded superbly, and what happened in the year of the Shire 1418 in the Third Age of Middle Earth is not only fascinating in A. D. 1954 but also a warning and an inspiration. No fiction I have read in the last five years has given me more joy than The Fellowship of the Ring .

With the second two books (Tolkien originally meant the three books of  The Lord of the Rings  to be published as a single volume) it steadily gained readership, exploding in popularity particularly in the 1960s with the publication of the paperbacks, and has become one of the best-selling literary works of all time. It is also generally agreed to be the best literary epic ever written, and has had untold influence on the genre ever since its publication. Tolkien’s worlds have been re-immortalized in the songs of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Rush, etc. , and more recently drawn out into increasingly unnecessary films (The Hobbit , I’m looking at you) .  Less widely known were  J. R. R. Tolkien’s rap battle skills .

Nabokov’s most famous novel was originally published in Paris (in English) in 1955 by a publisher whose other titles included   Until She Screams ,  Tender Thighs , and  There’s a Whip in My Valise , and generally ignored until Graham Greene called it one of the best books of the year. Then it was roundly disparaged and dismissed as trash, and banned by the French government—no wonder that smuggled-in copies were already being sold for $20 a pop when it was finally published in the US by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, kicking off what Nabokov called in his journal “Hurricane  Lolita .” As Steve King writes :

Within four days of publication in the U.S. the book was into a third printing; by September 13th it had become the first book since  Gone with the Wind  to sell 100,000 copies in its first three weeks; by the end of September, it was #1 on the bestseller lists. By the time Nabokov appeared on the cover of  Newsweek  in 1962, it seemed that the only one who hadn’t read the book was Groucho Marx, who quipped, “I plan to put off reading Lolita for six years, until she’s eighteen.”

Since then, of course, the novel—along with its eponymous character—has become iconic, though more contemporary readers understand the way the image of Humbert’s nymphet has been twisted as the years have worn on. “With the possible exception of Gatsby, no twentieth-century American literary character penetrated the public consciousness quite like Lolita,” Ira Wells noted in The New Republic .

Her very name entered the language as a common noun: “a precociously seductive girl,”  according to  the  Merriam-Webster  dictionary. (Gatsby, by contrast, had to settle for a mere adjective: “Gatsbyesque.”) . . . [But] we have forgotten Lolita. At least, we’ve forgotten about the young girl, “standing four feet ten in one sock,” whose childhood deprivation and brutalization and torture subliminally animate the myth that launched a thousand music videos. The publication, reception, and cultural re-fashioning of  Lolita  over the past 60 years is the story of how a twelve-year-old rape victim named Dolores became a dominant archetype for seductive female sexuality in contemporary America: It is the story of how a girl became a noun.

But the fact that we’re still talking about, going over the contents and the form and the way its been misunderstood and the way we failed Nabokov and the way Nabokov failed us is only proof of the novel’s significance. It is certainly a book about rape, though it does not invite us to accept rape. It is certainly a book about erotic obsession, though we are meant to pity the obsessed. It is certainly an enduring literary masterpiece.

All three of Baldwin’s most famous works— Go Tell It On the Mountain ,  Notes of a Native Son , and  Giovanni’s Room —were published in the 50s, the decade that he established himself as an essential intellectual, social, literary, and moral voice in this country. All of these were defining books of the decade, but I’ve chosen to highlight the essay collection above either of the two novels because of Baldwin’s importance as an activist and social critic. That is, with these ten essays, as well as much of his other writing and speaking, he helped haul America into the second half of the twentieth century. We’re not quite there yet, but much of the ground we’ve gained is due to Baldwin. He also influenced a whole generation of American writers. “Speeches will be given, essays written and hefty books will be published on the various lives of James Baldwin,” Maya Angelou wrote after his death.

Some fantasies will be broadcast and even some truths will be told. Someone will speak of the essayist James Baldwin in his role as the biblical prophet Isaiah admonishing his country to repent from wickedness and create within itself a clean spirit and a clean heart. Others will examine Baldwin the playwright and novelist who burned with a righteous indignation over the paucity of kindness, the absence of love and the crippling hypocrisy he saw in the streets of the United States and sensed in the hearts of his fellow citizens. I will speak of James Baldwin, my friend and brother. . . . [who] set the stage for me to write I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings , encouraged me to take a course in cinematography in Sweden and told me that I was intelligent and very brave.

I can’t tell you how much it pains me that Ayn Rand is the only woman on this list. I would love to have replaced her (and/or some of the others here, cough, Kerouac, cough) with Hannah Arendt, or Flannery O’Connor, or Patricia Highsmith, or Barbara Pym. But there’s no denying the influence of  Atlas Shrugged  on America—horrible and damaging and Paul Ryan-producing as it may be. Atlas Shrugged  is Rand’s treatise on Objectivism (read: “the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute”), her love letter to capitalism, her libertarian rant, and her magnum opus. It was a bestseller in the week of its release and for 22 weeks in total, and sales rose again after the 2007 financial crisis. It has remained popular among high school students and conservatives (an apparently odd paring, though I can think of a few other qualities that unite them), the former likely in part because the Ayn Rand institute donates 400,000 copies of her novels to high schools every year.

“I know from talking to a lot of Fortune 500 C.E.O.’s that Atlas Shrugged has had a significant effect on their business decisions, even if they don’t agree with all of Ayn Rand’s ideas,” bank executive John A. Allison told  The New York Times . “It offers something other books don’t: the principles that apply to business and to life in general. I would call it complete.”

Since its publication it has spurred many, many slobbering tributes that include lines like  “ Atlas Shrugged  has shaped the worldview of many devotees of liberty,” and again, given us Paul Ryan—not to mention Alan Greenspan, who didn’t exactly prevent the recession that readers ran to his idol Ayn Rand to assuage.

“That’s not writing; that’s typing,” said Truman Capote. “It changed my life like it changed everyone else’s,”   said Bob Dylan . Whatever you may think of it (and I think it has . . . not held up well), On the Road  is without a doubt the most important book, indeed the defining text, of the much-mythologized American “Beat Generation.” It’s not only in retrospect, either—we knew this as soon as the novel was published. “ On the Road    is the most beautifully executed, the clearest and the most important utterance yet made by the generation Kerouac himself named years ago as “beat,” and whose principal avatar he is,” wrote Gilbert Millstein in his 1957  New York Times  review, flying in the face of much critical response at the time. “Just as, more than any other novel of the Twenties ,  The Sun Also Rises  came to be regarded as the testament of the “Lost Generation,” so it seems certain that  On the Road  will come to be known as that of the “Beat Generation.” He was correct. “After 1957 On The Road sold a trillion Levis and a million espresso coffee machines, and also sent countless kids on the road,” William S. Burroughs once remarked.

This was of course due in part to the media, the arch-opportunists. They know a story when they see one, and the Beat movement was a story, and a big one . . . The Beat literary movement came at exactly the right time and said something that millions of people of all nationalities all over the world were waiting to hear. You can’t tell anybody anything he doesn’t know already. The alienation, the restlessness, the dissatisfaction were already there waiting when Kerouac pointed out the road.

Upon its publication, this novel, a massive chronicle of the founding of the State of Israel, instantly became a huge international phenomenon. The hardcover was on the New York Times bestseller list for over a year , with a cool 19 weeks in the top spot. The paperback was “the fastest-selling work every published by Bantam,” according to Ira B. Nadel’s Leon Uris: Life of a Best Seller , and by 1965 was among the top 10 bestsellers of all time. The popularity of the novel, and of the 1960 film adaptation, shaped American perception of Israel, immediately after its publication and beyond. As Uris himself said : “My greatest accomplishment is Exodus . It changed peoples lives, it changed the conception of the Jewish people in the international scene.” For his part, David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, said : “As a literary work, it isn’t much. But as a piece of propaganda, it’s the greatest thing ever written about Israel.”

The novel, Bradley Burston wrote in Haaretz , “transformed American Jews as no other work has done, before or since . . . it was savaged by critics and academics, and resoundingly ignored by literary prize committees. When the book appeared in 1958, however, it sold in the millions. It was said that it was nearly as common to find a copy of Exodus in American-Jewish households as to find the Bible—and, of the two, not a few Jewish households apparently had only Exodus .”

Needless to say, this American sympathy for Israel and the American Jewish community changed the face of the country and has had lasting effects—both positive and negative, particularly, in the latter case, due to its gross demonization of Arabs. Also, not for nothing, but many Americans could use the reminder that this novel is a work of fiction.

“The genius of Chinua Achebe, like all genius, escapes precise analysis,” Kwame Anthony Appiah wrote in the introduction to a Penguin Classics edition of the text.

If we could explain it fully, we could reproduce it, and it is of the nature of genius to be irreproducible. Still, there has been no shortage of attempts to explain his literary achievement, an achievement that starts with the fact that  Things Fall Apart  (1958), the first of the novels in his “African trilogy” defined a starting point for the modern African novel. There are, as critics are quick to point out, earlier examples of extended narrative written in and about Africa by African writers. Some of them—Amos Tutuola’s  Palm-Wine Drinkard  (1952), Cyprian Ekwensi’s  People of the City  (1954), to name but two also written by Nigerians—remain eminently worth reading. But place them beside the work of Achebe and you will see that in his writing something magnificent and new was going on.

One reason for this, which often passes without notice, is that Achebe solved a problem that these earlier novels did not. He found a way to represent for a global Anglophone audience the diction of his Igbo homeland, allowing readers of English elsewhere to experience a particular relationship to language and the world in a way that made it seem quite natural—transparent, one might almost say. Achebe enables us to hear the voices of Igboland in a new use of our own language. A measure of his achievement is that Achebe found an African voice in English that is so natural its artifice eludes us.

Achebe introduced African literature to the rest of the world—and opened the door for a whole host of African writers in the UK and America, both by his success and as an editor of the African Writers Series, published by Heinemann. His first novel has sold over 20 million copies and been translated into 57 languages, and has been taught ever since its publication as a text essential for understanding decolonization and mid-century Africa.

Isaac Asimov, I, Robot (1950), Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles (1950), Patricia Highsmith, Strangers on a Train (1950), C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950), Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha (first English translation, 1951), Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), Vladimir Nabokov, Speak, Memory (1951), Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time (1951), Isaac Asimov, the  Foundation  Trilogy (1951-1953), Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea (1952), Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl (first English translation, 1952), Patricia Highsmith, The Price of Salt (1952), Bernard Malamud, The Natural (1952), Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood (1952), Barbara Pym, Excellent Women (1952), John Steinbeck, East of Eden (1952), Kurt Vonnegut, Piano Player (1952), E. B. White, Charlotte’s Web (1952), Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye (1953), James Baldwin, Go Tell it on the Mountain (1953), Alfred Kinsey, Sexual Behavior in the Human Female  (1953), Ian Fleming, Casino Royale (1953), Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot (1953), Gwendolyn Brooks, Maud Martha (1953), William S. Burroughs, Junky (1953), Arthur Miller, The Crucible (1953), J. D. Salinger, Nine Stories (1953), Kingsley Amis, Lucky Jim (1954), William Golding, Lord of the Flies (1954), Wallace Stevens, Collected Poems  (1954), Richard Matheson, I Am Legend (1954), Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955), J. P. Donleavy, The Ginger Man (1955), Graham Greene, The Quiet American (1955),  The Guinness Book of Records (1955), Françoise Sagan, Bonjour Tristesse (first English translation 1955), Flannery O’Connor, A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories (1955), John Ashbery, Some Trees (1956), Gerald Durrell, My Family and Other Animals (1956), Dodie Smith, The Hundred and One Dalmatians (1956), James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room (1956), Allen Ginsberg, Howl and Other Poems (1956), John Cheever, The Wapshot Chronicle (1957), Roland Barthes, Mythologies  (1957), Dr. Seuss,  The Cat in the Hat  (1957), Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Towards Freedom (1957), Bernard Malamud, The Assistant (1957), Nevil Shute, On the Beach (1957), Vladimir Nabokov, Pnin (1957), Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago  (first English translation 1958), Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958), Graham Greene, Our Man in Havana (1958), Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums (1958), Yukio Mishima, Confessions of a Mask (first English translation, 1958), Americo Paredes, With His Pistol in His Hand (1958), T. H. White, The Once and Future King (1958), Robert Bloch, Psycho (1959), Günter Grass, The Tin Drum (1959), Philip Roth, Goodbye, Columbus (1959), Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (1959), William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch (1959), Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House (1959), John Knowles, A Separate Peace (1959), Strunk & White, The Elements of Style (1959), D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover (unexpurgated U.S. version released 1959)

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Books that shaped the 1950s

Leaving behind the war-torn 1940s , here's to the 1950s – a decade defined by Cold War panic, the breakdown of colonialism, civil rights, hope, economic boom, TV... and an awful lot of great literature.

By the 1950s, the world was trilby-deep in what W. H. Auden famously called The Age of Anxiety . The Cold War was nearing its icy pinnacle, and the McCarthy witch hunts were in full force. Less than a decade earlier, Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been destroyed by two atomic bombs, an international arms race was off the mark, and the shadow of Hitler still loomed over Europe.

But then, imperial colonialism was dissolving, too – and with it the pain felt by its victims began to emerge into the mainstream. There was an economic boom, a baby boom, and the voice the Civil Rights movement also began to boom. Plus, people were finally starting to talk about sex.

Of course, like all major cultural shifts, all this was reflected in literature. So, from Doris Lessing to J. D. Salinger, Ralph Ellison to Dodie Smith, here are 20 great books that helped define the 1950s.

"It caused tremors when it came out – a novel of self-exposure and lesbian love in an era that had little patience for either."

The Price of Salt , later published as Carol , by Patricia Highsmith (1952)

“Prior to this book,” wrote Patricia Highsmith in 2015, “homosexuals male and female in American novels had had to pay for their deviation by cutting their wrists, drowning themselves in a swimming pool, or by switching to heterosexuality … or by collapsing – alone and miserable and shunned – into a depression equal to hell.”

All that changed with The Price of Salt – the first mainstream novel about a lesbian affair... with a happy ending. It is, in short, a love story between a ennui-crippled 19-year-old girl, Therese, and an older woman, wife and mother called Carol. After meeting in the department store where Therese works, sparks fly and soon they're on the run together. In each others arms, their loneliness drains away.

It caused tremors when it came out – a novel of self-exposure (it was heavily semi-autobiographical) and lesbian love in an era that had little patience for either.

And while Highsmith is perhaps better known for two of the six other novels she wrote during the 1950s – Strangers on a Train (1950) and The Talented Mr. Ripley   (1955) – “Salt” was part of a vanguard of 50s literature leading homosexuality into the sunlight.

Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin (1953)

The 1950s was the decade James Baldwin launched himself as the civil rights movement's loudest literary voice. He published all three of his most famous works during that time – Got Tell it on the Mountain , Notes of a Native Son and Giovanni's Room . All three were defining books of the decade, but we've chosen Go Tell It on the Mountain because it was his first novel, and signalled the moment Baldwin set out his stall as America's defender-in-chief of black identity in the 1950s.

Based in part on Baldwin's own childhood in Harlem, it tracks a day in the life of 14-year-old John Grimes, the son of a fire-and-brimstone preacher, as he tussles with his developing sexual awareness under the crushing weight of Christian guilt. “Judicious men in their chairs may explain the sociology of guilt, and so explain Negro religion away,” wrote the New York Times in 1953. “Mr. Baldwin will not have it away. In this beautiful, furious first novel, there are no such reductions.”

Beginning with this, the seismic impact Baldwin had on the race debate in the 50s was best summarised by author Maya Angelou when she  wrote  in 1987: “[Baldwin] burned with a righteous indignation over the paucity of kindness, the absence of love and the crippling hypocrisy he saw in the streets of the United States and sensed in the hearts of his fellow citizens.”

“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)

By 1953, the future, for many, looked bleak. It wasn't just the Cold War, memories of Hitler and McCarthyite oppression that sowed fear.

For Ray Bradbury , there was something else: the invasion of black-and-white television in people's homes. So he wrote Fahrenheit 451 , about a dystopian future America where books are banned, and firemen burn them, and people are entertained by staring at giant wall screens in their homes, day and night. To him, TV was the new opiate of the masses. Reading was dying, and with it critical thinking. “There are worse crimes than burning books,” Bradbury once said. “One of them is not reading them.”

Fahrenheit 451 was a smash hit. The influential science fiction writer August Derleth called it, "a savage and shockingly prophetic view of one possible future way of life." While another, Groff Conklin, said it was "among the great works of the imagination written in English in the last decade or more."

“Children are going to have the exciting experience of learning that they can read after all"

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss (1957)

By the 1950s, America had tumbled into a literacy crisis. "Why can't Johnny read?” worried the headline of a Life magazine article by the writer John Hersey. Children, it was thought, were reading too many comic books and not enough book-books. The problem? Books in schools (known as “Dick and Jane Primers”) were too boring. 

Enter Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss , and his story of a home invasion. With the decision to put one picture per page, he conjured The Cat in the Hat from a vocabulary list of 240 words.

It's about an anthropomorphic cat who appears at the home of two children while their mother is out. With his two pals, Thing One and Thing Two, he wows them with games and tricks, trashing the house to the chagrin of a sentient goldfish.

The reviews frothed with praise. “Parents and teachers will bless Mr. Geisel for this amusing reader with its ridiculous and lively drawings,” cooed a typical review in the Saturday Review , “for their children are going to have the exciting experience of learning that they can read after all."

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40 Marvelous Books About the 1950s

Explore the best books about the 1950s, a decade marked by a booming post-war economy but also growing fear as the Cold War began.

When you think about the 1950s, you think of the booming post-war economy and the rise of the middle class, but along with the effect of a more affluent society came the terrifying fear as a Cold War brewed between the United States and the Soviet Union in the fifties.

You see this divisiveness in books set in the 1950s with characters trying to find their place in this new post-world war era.

Today, I’ve put together a list of books about the 1950s. You’ll find something for everyone: fun 1950s historical fiction, nonfiction books about the 1950s, and even a few classic 1950s books worth a read.

Don’t Miss a Thing

Best Books About the 1950s

Tom Rob Smith

In 1950s Communist Russia, MGB officer Leo Demidov never wavers from the Party Line. Until his confidence is shaken when he investigates the brutal murder of a young boy. After watching an innocent neighbor tortured, Demidov is then asked the impossible: to arrest his own wife. Now he must choose where his loyalties lie as the child killings continue. A fun historical mystery that you won’t regret adding to your reading list.

Publication Date: 3 March 2008 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Fountains of Silence

Ruta sepetys.

Known for taking on almost forgotten historical settings, Sepetys tackles another dark period of history. Despite its fascist dictatorship of Francisco Franco, Spain continues to allure tourists in the late 1950s. Ready to embrace his mother’s Heritage through photography, Texan Daniel Matheson arrives in Madrid full of hope. When he meets Ana, one of the hotel maids, his life irrevocably changes. Within the truth about Franco’s reign and the lasting repercussions of the Spanish Civil War, Ruta Sepetys mixes family drama, love, and heartbreak into a fascinating historical setting.

Publication Date: 1 October 2019 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Where the Crawdads Sing

Delia owens.

For years, Kya Clark has survived alone in the marshes of the North Carolina coast. Dubbed “The Marsh Girl” by the locals, she raised herself in nature after her family abandoned her. Now, as she comes of age, she begins to yearn for something more than her loneliness – maybe even a connection with the locals. A top-notch book club recommendation, Where the Crawdads Sin g is one of those books about the 1950s that extends into the 1960s.

Publication Date: 14 August 2018 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Poisonwood Bible

Barbara kingsolver.

In 1959, Baptist preacher Nathan Price moves his wife and four daughters to the Belgian Congo as missionaries. Expecting to civilize the locals, they instead realize they are calamitously unprepared for post-colonial Africa. Over the next decades, the Price family finds themselves completely changed by their experiences.

Publication Date: 1998 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The River We Remember

William kent krueger.

In 1958, Sheriff Brody Dern investigates the murder of a wealthy landowner in a small Minnesota town. The rumor mill is quickly ablaze, accusing Noah Bluestone of the murder, a Native American WWII vet who just returned to town with his new Japanese bride. As Brody tries to find the truth, the physical and emotional wounds from World War II bring up old grievances in the community.

Publication Date: 5 September 2023 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Save for Later

Book Club Books About the 1950s

Marilynne Robinson

Marilynne Robinson’s novel takes the reader into the mind of Reverend John Ames, a pastor of a small congregation in Gilead, Iowa. Written in the form of his journal, Ames wants to create a record for his 7-year-old son about his family history – his own experiences and those of his father and grandfather. If you want great books about the 1950s that sweep you in, try the entire Gilead series.

Publication Date: 10 January 2006 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Snow Falling on Cedars

David guterson.

On the remote San Piedro Island in the Puget Sound, Japanese American Kabuo Miyamoto is charged with the murder of a local fisherman found mysteriously drowned. During the trial, San Piedro is forced to reconcile with its dark past, an entire community of Japanese Americans forced into exile during World War II.

Publication Date: 12 September 1994 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

A Suitable Boy

Vikram seth.

In the early 1950s, four large extended families are trying to find their footing in a newly independent India. Mrs. Rupa Mehra has decided that her daughter Lata, a university student, needs to be married. Though finding a suitable boy for Lata becomes a whole family affair in this epic tale.

Publication Date: 1 May 1993 Amazon | Goodreads

On the Rooftop

Margaret wilkerson sexton.

In 1950s San Francisco, Vivian is ecstatic when her three daughters begin to make a name for themselves as the singing girl group, The Salvations. Although Vivian has arranged a once-in-a-lifetime chance for The Salvations, her daughters have begun to grow up and have desires of their own. As the neighborhood begins gentrifying, Vivian struggles to maintain control even when her past comes back to threaten her.

Publication Date: 6 September 2022 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Fifty Words for Rain

Asha lemmie.

In post-World War II Japan, Nori, the illegitimate daughter of a Japanese aristocrat and a Black American GI, is hidden away on her grandmother’s estate to conceal the family shame. All Nori knows is the attic she is confined to until she meets her legitimate half-brother, Akira, a boy who shows her the world contains so much more. One of my favorite books about the 1950s, this complicated story about shame and the need for acceptance would be a perfect choice for any book club.

Publication Date: 1 September 2020 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Cynthia Bond

After suffering a dark and disturbing childhood, Ruby escapes her hometown to New York City. Years later, she returns home to her small East Texas town and is not sure if she can escape again, even with the help of an old friend. Ruby offers a contrast between the darkest parts of human nature and the redeeming acts of love. Warning: Ruby contains many graphic depictions of violence.

Publication Date: 10 February 2015 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Bestselling Books on the 1950s

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Taylor jenkins reid.

At 87 years old, Hollywood bombshell Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to reveal her story – all the salacious details of her unapologetic life. Everyone is clamoring to know about her rise to stardom and, more importantly, about her seven husbands. Probably one of the most clever book titles I’ve ever seen, you’ll enjoy this story of a modern-day Scarlett O’Hara.

Publication Date: 13 June 2017 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Lincoln Highway

Amor towles.

After spending a year at a prison work farm for involuntary manslaughter, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson returns to his Nebraska hometown. With his mother gone and his father recently deceased, Emmett plans to pick up his eight-year-old brother and head West. But his plans are derailed when two friends from the work farm suddenly appear with a scheme of their own.

Publication Date: 5 October 2021 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Henna Artist

Fleeing an abusive marriage, Lakshmi rebuilds a life for herself as the most coveted henna artist in all of Jaipur in the 1950s. A confidante to the wealthy women of the town, Lakshmi is known as a vault of secrets. When she is unexpectedly made her sister’s guardian, Lakshmi’s carefully constructed world is suddenly thrown off-balance. 

Publication Date: 3 March 2020 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

David Baldacci

In the third Archer Book, private investigator Aloysius Archer has his celebrations with actress Liberty Callahan interrupted on New Year’s Eve in 1953. Screenwriter Eleanor Lamb wants to hire Archer to investigate the suspicious happenings in her life; a series of phone calls, a suspicious car, and then a bloody knife left in her house. When Eleanor disappears and a body is found in her house, Archer must unravel the dark secrets in Hollywood.

Publication Date: 19 April 2022 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Kate Morton

When the grandmother who raised her ends up in the hospital after a fall, Jess rushes back from London to Sydney to take care of her. While going through her grandmother’s house, Jess discovers a true crime book detailing the suspicious deaths of a mother and her children on Christmas Eve in 1959. As any journalist would, Jess begins to look into the mystery and the surprising connections to her family’s history.

Publication Date: 4 April 2023 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Cold War Books

The Secrets We Kept

Lara prescott.

With the Cold War raging, two secretaries are tasked by the CIA to smuggle Doctor Zhivago out of the USSR. Sally Forrester is a seasoned spy who knows exactly how to charm secrets out of powerful men. A complete novice, Irina desperately wants to learn the craft from Sally in this fun book about the 1950s inspired by a true story.

Publication Date: 3 September 2019 Amazon | Goodreads

Our Woman in Moscow

Beatriz williams.

In 1948, the US is shocked when an American diplomat, his wife Iris, and their two children vanish from London. Four years later, Ruth Macallister receives a note that her estranged twin sister Iris is in Moscow. Now Ruth must pose as the wife of a counterintelligence agent to retrieve Iris’s family from behind the Iron Curtain, while also evading a dogged Soviet KGB officer.

Publication Date: 1 June 2021 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Huntress

Former war correspondent Ian Graham has become disillusioned from journalism and instead has decided to take up hunting for a notorious Nazi war criminal – The Huntress. Along the way, he teams up with the sole witness – Nina Markova, a former Russian pilot – to find the Huntress hiding in America. A fun 1950s book with a cat-and-mouse hunt, The Huntress is sure to thrill.

Publication Date: 26 February 2019 Amazon | Goodreads

Atomic Love

Jennie fields.

At the height of World War II, Rosalind Porter was an eminent physicist working on the Manhattan Project caught in a passionate affair with a colleague. Five years later, she’s living an obscure and heartbroken life in Chicago. When the FBI asks her to help investigate the sale of nuclear secrets and her old flame suddenly wants to reconnect, Rosalind gets caught in a sexy Cold War spy game.

Publication Date: 18 August 2020 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Thrilling Books Set in the Fifties

Mexican Gothic

Silvia moreno-garcia.

If a gothic thriller that blends historical fantasy and horror and is set in 1950s Mexico sounds intriguing, you need to read Mexican Gothic . Noemí Taboada receives a frantic letter from her cousin accusing her new husband of trying to poison her. To help, Noemí travels to their estate in the Mexican countryside. She doesn’t fear her cousin’s husband or father-in-law, or the creepy house that is giving her nightmares, but should she?

Publication Date: 30 June 2020 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Broken Girls

Simone st. james.

In 1950, four roommates become friends as whispers of a ghost haunt the halls of their rural Vermont boarding school. When a body is found in 2014, a young journalist haunted by the murder of her sister dives into history and begins to question her sister’s death. If you want thriller books set in the 1950s, be sure to check out this spooky read.

Publication Date: 20 March 2018 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Next Year in Havana

Chanel cleeton.

Growing up, Marisol Ferrera was always enthralled by tales of her grandmother, who fled Cuba during the Revolution. Her grandmother, the daughter of a sugar baron, lived a sheltered life until she began an affair with a passionate revolutionary. After her grandmother dies, Marisol Ferrera travels to Havana to spread her ashes where she meets a handsome stranger and learns lessons from her grandmother’s past.

Publication Date: 6 February 2018 Amazon | Goodreads

The Lost Village

Camilla sten.

In 1959, everyone in a Swedish mining town mysteriously vanished. Police only found the body of a woman stoned to death in the town square and a crying baby. Now, filmmaker Alice Lindstedt sets out to make a documentary and hopefully solve the mystery of what happened to the village, and her grandmother’s family. An atmospheric read, The Lost Village  envelopes you in a sense of dread as the small group explores the abandoned village and feels like they are being watched.

Publication Date: 23 March 2021 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Spectacular

Fiona davis.

In 1956, Marion learns that being a Rockette at Radio City Music Hall is much more demanding than she imagined. When a bomb explodes in the theater, Marion urges the police to try a new technique: psychological profiling. As she gets caught up in the investigation, Marion realizes that she might be putting herself and those she loves at terrifying risk.

Publication Date: 13 June 2023 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

When Women Were Dragons

Kelly barnhill.

In her imaginative historical fantasy story, Kelly Barnhill details the Mass Dragoning of 1955. In a shocking event, hundreds of thousands of ordinary mothers and wives transform into dragons and fly away. Was it by choice and where did they go? Alex can’t stop wondering about it after her beloved aunt is involved, but the subject is taboo though the consequences to her family are far-reaching.

Publication Date: 3 May 2022 Amazon  |  Goodreads | More Info

More Books Set in the 1950s

The Night Watchman

Louise erdrich.

Bestselling author Louise Erdrich writes about her grandfather’s life and his fight against Native dispossession in North Dakota. A night watchman at the local jewel bearing factory, Thomas Wazhashk is also a Chippewa council member, realizes the “emancipation” bill Congress is discussing in 1955 will negatively impact the Native American community. Meanwhile, Patrice Paranteau leaves the reservation to search for her sister in Minneapolis only to find a whole new level of exploitation and violence towards Native Americans.

Publication Date: 3 March 2020 Amazon | Goodreads

Coronation Year

Jennifer robson.

Edie Howard, the owner of the struggling Blue Lion hotel, sees salvation to his problems on Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation day since the new queen’s parade will pass right in front of the hotel. A young photographer and an Indian artist, both residents of the hotel, also hope to use the coronation to buoy their careers. When threats are made against the hotel and the queen, the three must solve the mystery before Coronation Day.

Gwyn Hyman Rubio

Raised by her grandparents in rural Kentucky, Icy Sparks is a bright and vivacious child. But when she turns ten, Icy finds herself unable to control her groans, physical spasms, and verbal croaks. Icy struggles to find herself in this coming-of-age tale of a girl with undiagnosed Tourette’s Syndrome in the 1950s.

Publication Date: 1 January 1998 Amazon | Goodreads

French Braid

In 1959, the Garrett family takes their first (and last) vacation as their tenuous bonds seem to be falling apart. Mercy is struggling with her desire to break out of motherhood and become a painter. Meanwhile sisters Alice and Lily seem to have nothing in common anymore and their younger brother David seeks to escape for reasons unknown to the family. Told over the ensuing decades, French Braid is an exploration of how interweaving bonds between family members affect people throughout their lives.

Publication Date: 22 March 2022 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Classic 1950s Books

The Catcher in the Rye

J. d. salinger.

A classic tale of teenage angst, The Catcher in the Rye follows Holden Caulfield after he’s been expelled from school, again. Bouncing around New York City, Holden gives his opinion on anything and everything as he narrates his life. A classic coming-of-age book set in the 1950s, The Catcher in the Rye is written in a disjointed fashion, following along with Holden’s thoughts.

Publication Date: 16 July 1951 Amazon | Goodreads

East of Eden

John steinbeck.

With its focus on the message of the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, East of Eden is often considered one of Steinbeck’s greatest novels. Set in the Salinas Valley of California, the story follows Adam Trask, a wealthy man whose troubles with his brother are paralleled in his own twin sons. Covering the power of love and the pain of its absences, East of Eden is enduring classic literature for your to-read list.

Publication Date: 19 September 1952 Amazon | Goodreads

Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov’s provocative classic tells of Humbert Humbert, a man who falls hopelessly in love with his landlady’s twelve-year-old daughter, Dolores Haze. Marrying Mrs. Haze just to be close to Dolores, Humbert eventually sexually abuses his stepdaughter, whom he nicknames “Lolita.” A beautifully written story about a deplorable subject, Lolita is one of the most controversial books published in the 1950s.

Publication Date: 1 September 1955 Amazon | Goodreads

Atlas Shrugged

Who is John Galt? Ayn Rand’s modern classic tells the (extremely long) tale of Dagny Taggart, an heir to the Taggart Transcontinental Railroad who will do anything she can to keep her family’s railroad running. As Dagny and fellow industrialist Henry Reardon struggle to stay afloat amid public outcry against greed, industry, and productivity, Rand uses her story to explain her philosophy of Objectivism.

Publication Date: 10 October 1957 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Strangers on a Train

Patricia highsmith.

When two strangers meet on a train, everyday life becomes anything but ordinary. A successful architect in the middle of a divorce, Guy Haines happens to sit next to Charles Anthony Bruno on the train. Bruno, a total psychopath, manages to convince Haines to “swap murders” so they can each get away scot-free in this psychological thriller that was the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock’s film of the same name.

Publication Date: 1950 Amazon | Goodreads

Isaac Asimov

In a far distant future, psycho-historian Hari Seldon has analyzed the cycle of history and realizes that after twelve thousand years in power, the Galactic Empire is headed toward collapse. A collapse that will spawn 30,000 years of Dark Ages. To prevent complete disaster and shorten this dark period, Seldon sets up Foundation – a planet on the edge of the galaxy to contain the best minds with all the knowledge of humanity. At crucial junctures in history, Seldon has set up steps to sway the course of events to protect the fledgling Foundation. Considered one of the best science-fiction books of all time, Isaac Asimov shines in this classic tale.

Publication Date: 1951 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Flowers for Algernon

Daniel keyes.

How much does higher intelligence contribute to living a better life? The tale of a mentally disabled man who undergoes an experiment that increases his IQ to an insanely high level will make you ponder the benefits and drawbacks of both high and low intelligence. Keep tissues handy, it’s a book that will make you cry.

Publication Date: 1959 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Nonfiction Books About the 1950s

Warriors Don’t Cry

Melba patillo beals.

We’ve all seen the pictures of Elizabeth Eckford being screamed at as she tries to attend her first day of school at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, but did you realize how long it took to integrate the school? Melba Pattillo Beals tells her memories of being part of the Little Rock Nine: of her oppressing junior year protected at times by the 101st Airborne Division and at times left alone to face the horrors laid upon them by the other students.

Publication Date: 1994 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

In Cold Blood

Truman capote.

Truman Capote was the founder of narrative nonfiction with his page-turning look at an unspeakable crime. On November 15, 1959, in the small farming town of Holcomb, Kansas, two men brutally murder the Clutter family in their home for no apparent reason. Through extensive interviews from the first days on the scene and following the events all the way to the execution of the murderers, Capote suspensefully unfolds the whole story of exactly what happened and more intriguing of all, why it happened.

Publication Date: 1965 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

A. J. Baime

Born with mixed-race heritage to parents who were born as slaves, Walter F. White’s skin was light enough that he could easily “pass” as white. A leader of the Harlem Renaissance and an important member of the NAACP, White used his ability to lead a dual life, going undercover to investigate some of the worst racist murders in America. White’s leadership shaped public opinion, pushed forward the Civil Rights Movement, and altered the mission of the NAACP toward legal and political activism.

Publication Date: 8 February 2022 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca skloot.

Raising questions about privacy, medical research, and ethics, Rebecca Skloot spent more than a decade researching the history of Henrietta Lacks and her immortal cells. Just before her death from cervical cancer, Henrietta Lack’s cells were taken without her permission and scientists figured out how to keep them alive indefinitely. The created cell line was then used for countless medical research projects. Interspersing the history of Henrietta’s family with the medical use of her cells, Skloot has penned a memorable work.

Publication Date: 2 February 2010 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Which Books About the 1950s Are You Most Interested in Reading?

What do you think? Do you enjoy reading books about the 1950s? What 1950s books would you recommend? As always, let me know in the comments!

More Historical Fiction Reading Lists:

• Read Through the Decades Collection
• 28 Groovy Books About the 1970s
• 33 Fascinating Books About the 1920s
• 34 Brilliant Books About the 1930s
• Top 10 World War 2 Books of All Time
• 31 Creative Historical Fantasy Books

Recommended

Wealth of Geeks

25 Books That Shaped the 1950s

Posted: May 20, 2024 | Last updated: May 20, 2024

The 1950s was a prolific era that saw the start of the Civil Rights movement. Literature began to touch on these important topics, from writings that brought back memories of World War II to racial discrimination. 

Some of these pieces went on to shape the literary sphere as a whole and are recognized as some of the best books of all time.

The 1950s birthed fantastic reads that are lovable even by today’s standards. If you want to find some classics, the ’50s are a great place to start.

The Grass is Singing

The Grass is Singing was revolutionary for the fifties and led to Doris Lessing being awarded a Nobel Prize in 2007. She is known for exploring themes of racism, love, female independence, and more.

Taking place in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), it follows the story of a woman who is seen as a “prohibited alien” in the country. She meets her Black servant farmhand and experiences a slew of emotions, from attraction to repulsion and being torn between how to feel.

The Old Man and the Sea

Written by Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea is considered one of his absolute best. The same year the book was released, he won the Nobel Prize and the Pulitzer Prize for his writing.

His work was magical and full of hope, reigniting people’s love for Hemingway’s writing, and it had a prolific effect on literature in the 1950s.

The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye went on to be iconic. It became part of regular curriculums across the globe. For those who were suffering from teenage angst, this was the perfect read to get sucked into.

A rebellious teenager called Holden Caulfield went on to be the voice of many teenagers who hated authority, liked breaking the rules, and helped teenagers reflect on their moods and personalities.

Invisible Man

For the 1950s, Invisible Man was revolutionary. It spoke about the issues that Black people were facing during the time. It was an incredibly powerful book that discussed the issue of rage felt by a Black man who goes unaccepted in a harsh world.

When it comes to racial politics, Ralph Ellison created one of the most impactful literary works in America. Invisible Man is one of the best books you can read about the racial inequality of the ’50s

The Price of Salt (Carol)

Originally released as The Price of Salt, the book was later published and renamed Carol , which has become a well-loved book over the years.

Written by Patricia Highsmith, Carol did wonders in decriminalizing homosexual men and women. This was the first work of its kind that featured a lesbian couple that had a happy ending, giving a spotlight to a class of couple never talked about. 

Go Tell It on the Mountain

James Baldwin was a revolutionary writer and Go Tell It On The Mountain  put a spotlight on his literary genius. His works covered intense topics, from racial inequality to homosexuality.

Go Tell It On The Mountain was inspired by his own childhood and speaks of religious trauma as he begins to mature during adolescence and become more sexually aware. His book was a big deal in the ’50s and helped shape the decade.

The Borrowers

Written by Mary Norton, The Borrowers is full of whimsy and imagination. No matter how old you are, there is a joy to be had by all. It has gone on to be adapted into TV shows and movies, with one of the most popular being Arrietty by Studio Ghibli.

Surrounding a family of tiny people who have to go around the house and take items to help them survive, the story allowed the imaginations of children to run wild. Any time an item would be missing in your house, you could put it down to the Borrowers.

Bonjour Tristesse

Written when Francoise Sagan was just 18, Bonjour Tristesse made a huge splash. It was considered vulgar, raunchy, and scandalous. This is true, which is why it sold so well.

This book came out just before the sexual liberation of women in the ’60s. It follows the story of a young lady who has a rather scandalous lifestyle and breaks down the walls of the patriarchy. 

Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 is one of the best dystopian stories to be released, and we have Ray Bradbury to thank. It came on the back of the Cold War and technological evolution.

Even today, the plot hits home. Set in a future America where books are banned and have to be burned, televisions are all people have for entertainment.

The Hundred and One Dalmatians

Made popular by the Disney movie, this was originally a book that helped shape the 1950s. Written by Dodie Smith, it goes into far more detail than the movie ever did.

With moments that were incredibly heartfelt, there were also moments throughout the novel that were downright terrifying. Some of the most harrowing moments were, of course, removed from the Disney movie to make it more palatable for children.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

The Lord of the Rings has become such an influential fantasy series, even today. It’s one of the most well-loved franchises, and it’s not hard to see why. J.R.R. Tolkien built such a rich and expansive world with some of the most loved and hated characters.

As the series goes on, it gets more and more intense, with heartbreak just around the corner. This series takes you on a wild ride of emotions and is still an incredibly popular trilogy today.

The Cat in the Hat

The Cat in the Hat was a vital for children in the 1950s. During this decade, there was a massive literacy crisis, with children reading too many comics and not enough proper pieces of literature.

This is where The Cat in the Hat comes in, created by Dr. Seuss. It’s a comedic journey paired with beautiful and funny drawings, allowing children’s imaginations to run wild.

Atlas Shrugged

Atlas Shrugged is a bit of a unique book and created a hardcore community for Ayn Rand fans. So much so, that it inspired a dating site.

It is incredibly dystopian and talks about the suffocating governments that are affecting economic growth and business ventures for new and ongoing companies. With the topics covered, Atlas Shrugged went on to become one of the most influential books in the U.S.

Things Fall Apart

In the 1950s, Things Fall Apart was considered to be the beginning of modern African literature. It came out after the historical landmark of Ghana becoming independent from colonial rule.

Taking place at the start of the colonial rule, it has a beautiful tale of heroism as a man tries to protect his community from European colonialism.

While Lolita is seen as a highly controversial book in today’s society, it was important in the 1950s as it covered troubling topics.

While age gaps weren’t so much of an issue in the past, Lolita showed the seediness of a man and how disgusting he is in order to get to his target. If you are sensitive to subjects like that, it may be best to avoid reading.

Exodus , written by Leon Uris, explained the journey of Jewish people to Israel and how the Israeli state was founded. It remained on the bestseller list for well over a year.

The book helped the world sympathize with Jewish people and changed the viewpoint of Americans and American Jewish people when it came to Israel. It was seen as a great piece.

Doctor Zhivago

Doctor Zhivago caused quite the uproar in the 1950s. The manuscript was smuggled out of Soviet Russia by Boris Pasternak.

While it looked like an epic love story on the surface, the iceberg underneath revealed the brutality of the Bolshevik regime, causing a huge rage in Russia for putting them in such a bad light and for siding with socialism.

The Haunting of Hill House

This book has gone on to become an incredibly popular miniseries on Netflix, but first, it was a magnificent horror written by Shirley Jackson.

With how popular the book became, it is now considered one of the best horror novels ever written, especially within the haunted-house category. The story is a slow burn, but once it gets started, it’ll have the hairs on the back of your neck standing up.

East of Eden

Written by the infamous author John Steinbeck, East of Eden is one of his most important works, as well as one crucial to the literary experience in the 1950s.

The message is similar to that of Cain and Abel in the Bible, with a heavy focus on a fractured family and the struggles that they all face together. The struggles that the father in this book faces alongside his brother are tragically replicated in his twin sons, and he has to work to mediate it all.

Flowers for Algernon

If you’re looking for a book that will have you sobbing by the end, Flowers For Algernon is one of the most heart-wrenching that you can read.

It involves a harrowing story of a mentally disabled man who goes on a journey to make his IQ higher and the pros and cons that come along with the journey. This is certainly a story that will have you rethinking everything by the end.

The Crucible

A book written by Arthur Miller, it went on to be one of the darkest works released in the 1950s. It shaped the horror scene significantly. It has gone on to be adapted into TV shows and movies. 

Based on the Salem Witch Trials, the book gives interesting parallels to the McCarthy era of Communism in the U.S., and it makes the book that much more haunting. It remains a part of the curriculum across the globe.

On the Road

On The Road is a semi-autobiographical book written by Jack Kerouac and has helped many people over the years, especially at its release during the 1950s.

It helped people understand their place in the world, as the evolution of everything around them was accelerating at a rapid rate. The story talks about diving into the world of the rich, as well as the poor, and conversing with everyone in between to try and find where they belong.

Casino Royale

Casino Royale introduced people to the British secret agent James Bond, and from there became an international entertainment success in both books and movies.

James Bond is sent on a high-stakes mission along with his sidekick, Lynd, who introduces the trope of a beautiful woman as a sidekick. 

A Town Like Alice

Coming off of the back of World War II, A Town Like Alice is a harrowing story about a woman who is sent on a seven-month death march in Malaya.

Despite the odds, the book has its ups and downs and is filled with love, hope, and sheer determination. It tells the story of the young woman who eventually immigrated to Australia.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Holly Golightly is one of the most iconic heroines of all time, and we have Truman Capote to thank for that.

Throughout the story, we see a young girl go through a transformation from a sad and bleak childhood to a frivolous lifestyle by chatting with older men. This book became so iconic that we got to see Audrey Hepburn take on the role of Holly Golightly in an equally iconic movie.

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Home » Blog » Spotlight on the Mid-Century Era » 20 Classic American Books Published in the 1950s

20 Classic American Books Published in the 1950s

The 1950s were a strange time in the U.S., when a prevailing post-WWII normalcy, calmness, and prosperity fostered new countercultures. Their rebellious attitudes started showing up prominently in the music, movies, art, politics, and yes—the literature—of the decade. This can be seen easily with a quick look at some of the most iconic, enduring American books published in the 1950s.

In them, there are recurring themes of alienation, inequality, and rebellion. So many of the greatest books of the ’50s highlight societal problems like injustice, censorship, and commercialization. Just take a look at the following 20 classic American books published in the 1950s.

Great American Literature from the ’50s

• A Raisin in the Sun – Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play is an important depiction of life for African-Americans at the time and it reached white audiences in a groundbreaking way.
• A Separate Peace – Published in 1959, John Knowles’ first and best-known novel tells a moving coming-of-age/loss of innocence story set during the World War II years.
• Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand’s pivotal 1957 work about government corruption and total free-market capitalism has been highly influential on libertarian and conservative political thought.
• Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Introducing Holly Golightly, arguably Truman Capote’s most famous character, this 1958 novella is one of this major American author’s most important books.
• The Cat in the Hat – This book, released in 1957, is considered the most iconic work in Dr. Seuss’ canon of widely celebrated, innovative, instantly recognizable children’s literature.
• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – Probably the most famous play by Tennesse Williams, this probing look at deception and death was published in 1955 and quickly won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
• Catcher in the Rye – This 1951 J.D. Salinger classic about Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old frustrated by the world’s phoniness, is a staple for angsty teens and high school English classes.
• Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White’s tale about a spider working to save a pig’s life was a unique look at death for kids. Published in 1952, it’s the all-time bestselling children’s paperback.
• The Crucible – First released in 1953, Arthur Miller’s most famous play is superficially about the Salem witch trials, but actually comments on McCarthy-era persecution of communists.
• East of Eden – This classic 1952 John Steinbeck novel is his most ambitious, drawing deeply from the Bible’s Book of Genesis in its depiction of life in early 1900s Central California.
• Fahrenheit 451 – Portraying a dystopian futurre of banned and burning books, Ray Bradbury’s influential novel about censorship and the dumbing down of information was released in 1953.
• Giovanni’s Room – James Baldwin’s 1956 novel about social alienation was shocking at the time for its portrayal of homosexuality. It’s considered one of the great works of gay literature.
• The Haunting of Hill House – A seminal work of the literary ghost story genre, Shirley Jackson’s 1959 book delivers a depth, complexity, and true creepiness that’s rare and haunting.
• Howl and Other Poems – Allen Ginsberg’s landmark titular poem from this collection, published in 1956, is a major achievement of Beat literature and modern American poetry.
• I, Robot – This collection of short stories from science fiction master Isaac Asimov came out in 1950. It remains one of the most-read and most influential American sci-fi thrillers to this day.
• Invisible Man – Published in 1952, Ralph Ellison’s masterpiece portrays life as an African American in the mid-century years, on the cusp of the beginning of the civil rights movement.
• The Lord of the Rings – Easily the most influential fantasy literature work, this J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy was written between 1937 and 1949 and published in three stages from 1954 to 1955.
• Naked Lunch – William S. Burroughs’ best-known book, put out in 1959, is a Beat Generation classic that originally got itself in lots of trouble due to its subject matter and obscene language.
• The Old Man and the Sea – The last major Ernest Hemingway book published in his lifetime, this short 1951 novel re-established the author as a master of simple prose probing deep themes.
• On the Road – Jack Kerouac’s 1957 tale recounting his cross-country adventures introduced the world to Kerouac’s “bop prosody” style, and is the defining work of the Beat Generation.

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15 Great Books Set in the 1950s

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Best Books Set in the 1950s

Are you looking for the best books set in the 1950s?

After writing a blog post about the best books set in the 1920s , I decided to follow it up with books set in another intriguing decade: the 1950s. This was a time of great turbulence and change in history.

World War II had ended, but the Korean War and the Vietnam War had just begun, and the Red Scare swept across the United States. This was also the decade the civil rights movement came to prominence in the United States, with landmark events like Brown vs. Board of Education, the arrest of Rosa Parks, and the Little Rock Nine.

In the 1950s, Queen Elizabeth II became Queen of England, and American film star Grace Kelly married the Prince of Monaco. Disneyland opened in California. The age of space exploration began with the creation of NASA. As you can see, there were so many different things happening during the 1950s.

These books, set in the 1950s, explore many events and themes of the decade. Some of these are historical fiction novels, while others are contemporary books published in the 1950s.

1. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

The Lincoln Highway is one of the best historical fiction novels set in the 1950s. This story takes place over ten days in 1954 and follows Emmett, an eighteen-year-old from Nebraska who has just been released from a juvenile work farm where he has been serving time for involuntary manslaughter. His plan is to pick up his younger brother and head to California for a fresh start, but things do not go as planned.

Buy on Amazon

2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye is a classic coming-of-age novel set in New York City. It follows Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old native New Yorker who runs away from his Pennsylvania boarding school to spend three days going “underground” in the city. Although originally published in the 1950s, this is an enduring story with themes about adolescence, angst, and alienation that still resonate with readers today.

3. Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys

The Fountains of Silence is a historical fiction novel set in Madrid in 1957. Under the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, Spain hides a dark secret. Meanwhile, tourists are flocking to Spain for the promise of sunshine and wine. Among them is a wealthy couple from Texas with a teenage son named Daniel. Daniel meets a Spanish girl named Ana, whose family’s challenges reveal the lingering grasp of the Spanish Civil War.

4. The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

The Stationery Shop is a novel that takes place in Tehran in the 1950s. Roya is a dreamy, idealistic teenage girl who finds solace in kindly Mr Fakhri’s local stationery shop. He introduces her to his other favourite customer, handsome Bahman, who has a passion for justice. On the eve of their marriage, a violent coup d’état erupts that will change the future of their country forever – and keep them apart for over sixty years.

5. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is best known for its movie adaptation starring Audrey Hepburn, but the book is well worth reading too. The story follows the eccentric and witty Holly Golightly, a young woman living in New York in the 1950s. Holly is a socialite who becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her building, but her past threatens to get in her way.

6. Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor

Meet Me in Monaco   is a historical fiction novel set on the beautiful and glamorous French Riviera in Monaco in the 1950s. It’s set around the events of American film star Grace Kelly’s whirlwind romance and marriage to the Prince of Monaco, and includes other fascinating characters like Sophie, a struggling perfumer.

7. The Woman in the White Kimono by Ana Johns

The Woman in the White Kimono is a heartbreaking historical fiction novel set in in Japan in 1957. Naoko’s prearranged marriage secures her family’s status in their traditional community. However, Naoko has fallen for an American sailor, and to marry him would bring great shame upon her entire family. When it’s learned that Naoko is carrying the sailor’s child, she’s cast out in disgrace and forced to make unimaginable choices.

8. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

Brooklyn is a novel set between New York City and Ireland in the 1950s. It’s about Ellis, a young immigrant who moves to New York, begins working in a department store, and finds love with Tony, who comes from an Italian immigrant family. But devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future.

9. Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams

Another great historical fiction book set in the 1950s is Our Woman in Moscow. This gripping story is about two American sisters who find themselves at the heart of a Russian espionage plot during the Cold War. If you are interested in this time period in history, you will enjoy this intriguing story.

10. Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton

Next Year in Havana is a novel that is packed with forbidden passions, family secrets and lots of courage and sacrifice. It is set between Havana, Cuba in 1957 and Miami in the present day. In 1957, Elisa is the privileged daughter of a sugar baron, largely sheltered from her country’s growing political unrest, until she embarks on a clandestine affair with a passionate revolutionary, with consequences that will have repercussions decades later.

11. Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Out of the Easy is a historical fiction novel set in the French Quarter of New Orleans in 1950. It follows seventeen-year-old Josie, the daughter of a local brothel worker. She dreams of escaping the Big Easy and going to college, but a mysterious death in the French Quarter leaves her entangled in a murder investigation. This is a story about secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.

12. The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis

The Dollhouse takes place in New York City in the 1950s. This historical fiction novel is set at the glamorous Barbizon Hotel for Women, where a generation of ambitious aspiring models, secretaries, and editors live side by side, attempting to claw their way to success and recognition and make it in the big city.

Related:  Complete List of Fiona Davis Books in Order

13. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

Snow Falling on Cedars is a gripping novel that takes place in the Puget Sound in the 1950s. When a local fisherman is drowned in suspicious circumstances, a Japanese American man named Kabuo Miyamoto is charged with his murder. In the course of the ensuing trial, it becomes clear that what is at stake is more than a man’s guilt. This is a suspenseful, tragic, and engrossing novel that leaves a deep impact on readers.

14. The Invitation by Lucy Foley

The Invitation   is an evocative love story set in Italy during the 1950s. It follows an American journalist Hal who flees to Rome after World War II in order to try to forget the past. In the Eternal City, he has a chance meeting one night at a party with an enigmatic woman named Stella. More than a year later, their paths cross again on a yacht along the Italian Riviera, and Hal attempts to unravel the secrets Stella is hiding.

Related:  Complete List of Lucy Foley Books in Order

15. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Finally on this list of books set in the 1950s is  Mexican Gothic. This is a horror novel set at an isolated mansion in the Mexican countryside. When glamorous socialite Noemí receives a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, she packs her bags. But when she arrives at the mansion, strange things begin to happen in this chilling twist on a classic Gothic horror novel.

These are some of the best books set in the 1950s to add to your reading list. If you are interested in this tumultuous decade, these books set in the 1950s will make you feel as if you’ve traveled back in time.

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Have you read or do you plan to read any of these books set in the 1950s? Do you have any favourite books set in the 1950s that you think should be added to this list? Let me know in the comments below!

Related:  17 Best Historical Fiction Not Set in WWII

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