Books Set in the 1950s

By JD Salinger
Setting: 1950, Pennsylvania and New York City
First published 1951

Sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield leaves his prep school to go underground in New York City for a few days. This is a classic novel of teenage angst and rebellion that has been challenged in court many times over the years for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality, but it has endured as one of the best novels of the 20th century. Today, it's interesting to see what rebellion looked like in the 1950s.

The Book Girls' Say... If you love coming of age stories, this is a must-read. Melissa finds it hard to re-read books when there are so many unread books waiting for her, but this one has been really interesting to read during different decades of life. Her thoughts reading it in her late 30s was much different than when she was closer to Holden's age, but she still enjoyed it.

By Delia Owens
Setting: North Caroline, 1952 and 1969
First published 2018

Young Kya, being left to fend for herself in the North Carolina marsh in the 1950s, will steal your heart from the beginning. For the next two decades, rumors about Kya - known to most just as the "Marsh Girl" - has lived alone finding her only companions in the nature around her. But in 1969 when a handsome boy from town is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya.

The Book Girls Say... If you've already read this one and love it as much as we did, be sure to check out our list of books for fans of Where the Crawdads Sing.

By Khaled Hosseini
Setting: 1952, Kabul, Afghanistan
First published 2013

The story begins in Kabul in the 1950s where a poor family sells their youngest daughter to a wealthy family in Kabul - a decision that devastates her brother Abdullah. From there, the novel spans 50 years and four generations, following its characters and the ramifications of their lives, their choices, and their loves around the globe - from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco and the Greek Island of Tinos.

The Book Girls Say... This is a beautifully written and emotionally complex novel that is hard to summarize in a short synopsis because it takes every one of its 400 pages for the story to unfold.

By Fiona Davis
Setting: 1952s, New York City
First published 2016

It's 1952 in New York City and the glamorous Barbizon Hotel for Women is home to a generation of aspiring models, secretaries, and editors lived side-by-side while trying the claw their way to the top. But when Darby, one of the residents, befriends a Barbizon maid, she comes to know a different, much seedier side of the city. More than 50 years later, the Barbizon has turned into condos, but the elderly Darby still lives in her rent-controlled apartment. Darby's upstairs neighbor - a journalist - can't help but seek answers about the rumors that Darby was invovled in a deadly altercation with the maid all those years ago.

By Marjan Kamali
Setting: 1953, Tehran, Iran
First published 2019

Set against the backdrop of the Iranian Coup, Roya, an idealistic teenage girl finds literary oasis in the neighborhood book and stationery shop. The owner introduces her to his favorite customer, the handsome Rumi who has a passion for justice and poetry. The two fall in love, but are separated on the eve of their marriage. Reunited sixty years later when both are living in America. Together they discover the truth of what really happened all those years ago in the town square.

By Toni Morrison
Setting: 1950s, Georgia
First published 2011

Frank Money is an angry and self-loathing veteran of the Korean War who returns to a racist America with more than just the physical scars of the front lines. He barely recognizes his home or himself, but when he hears that his younger sister is in danger, his life has a new purpose. Together, they return to their rural Georgia hometown. After spending years trying to escape, he learns what it means to come home.

By Sylvia Plath
Setting: 1953, Boston and New York City
First published 1963

In this semi-autobiographical novel, Esther is a beautiful and brilliant college student selected for a month-long summer internship as a guest editor of Ladies' Day magazine in New York City, but she's also slowly descending into depression and insanity. The Bell Jar has become an enduring American classic described as "shocking, realistic, and intensely emotional."

By David Guterson
Setting: 1954, Puget Sound, Washington
First published 1994

When a local fisherman is found suspiciously drowned, a Japanese American is charged with his murder. Haunted by the memories of the Japanese internment camps during WWII just a decade before, during the course of the trial it becomes clear that much more is at stake in this community than just one man's guilt or innocence.

By Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
Setting: 1955-56, Monaco
First published 2019

At the Cannes Film Festival in 1955, Grace Kelly seeks refuge in a small boutique to escape the flash-bulbs of the press. She becomes fast friends with the shop owner, Sophie Duval, and even creates a plan to help Sophie's struggling perfume business. James Henderson, a British press photographer following Grace Kelly also takes a liking to Sophie. The following year, James is assigned cover the wedding of Grace Kelly to Prince Rainier of Monaco, and hopes he'll also have the opportunity to be reunited with Sophie. This sun-drenched journey along the Cote d'Azur is filled with romance, friendship, and tragedy.

By Jenny Wingfield
Setting: 1956, Arkansas
First published 2011

Each June, the members of the Moses family gather for a family reunion at a hundred-acre farm in Arkansas, and every year young preacher Samuel Lake brings his wife, Willadee Moses, and their children back for the celebration. Just as the reunion is getting under way, tragedy strikes, setting the stage for a summer of crisis and change. Much of the story is told through the eyes of an 11 year old girl named Swan.

The Book Girls Say... What stands out in the reviews of this book are the comments about how REAL it is - the realism of the characters and the conversations.

By Rebecca Skloot
Setting: 1950s, Maryland and Virginia
First published 2010

For more than half a century, scientists knew her as HeLa, but the story of Henrietta Lacks deserves to be heard. A poor Southern tobacco farmer, when Henrietta fell ill, she was treated in the "colored" ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital. It was here that she had a tissue sample taken while undergoing treatment for cancer, and -without her consent - those cells became the first "immortal" human cells grown in culture. Still alive today, the HeLa cells have been used to develop the polio vaccine, to discover cancer treatments, to advance gene mapping, and much more.

It wasn't until more than 20 years after Henrietta's death that her family learned of her "immortality." Having never seen any profit from their mother's immeasurable contribution to science, and with the looming shadow of dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the news was devastating to the Lacks family.

The Book Girls' Say... For some reason, Angela resisted reading this book when it was recommended by a close friend years ago, but when she finally read it she was blown away by both the science and the story of Henrietta's life and family. It raises so many important lessons about history, as well as ethical scientific questions that persist today.

By Melba Beals
Setting: 1957, Little Rock, Arkansas
First published 1994

Three years after the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, nine black teenagers were chosen to integrate Central High School in Little Rock Arkansas in 1957. For Melba Beals and her eight classmates - the Little Rock Nine, as they came to be known - walking up the steps to the school flanked by heavily armed Arkansas National Guard and surrounded by a rampaging mob, made them reluctant warriors on the battlefield of the civil rights movement.

The Book Girls' Say... If you enjoy this book, you may also want to pick up March Forward, Girl - another Beals memoir of her earlier years, which is written in language that's appropriate for younger readers, but with an important story that is just as captivating to adults.

By Maeve Binchy
Setting: 1957, Ireland
First published 1990

Life-long friends Benny and Eve grew up in the village of Knockglen, Ireland. Together they head to university in Dublin where their circle of friends expands to include beautiful Nan and handsome Jack. But heartbreak and betrayal result when their worlds of Knockglen and Dublin collide, and long-hidden lies emerge that will test the bonds of their friendship.

The Book Girls' Say... Angela read this book in high school and it still stands out in her mind as one of her all-time favorites! It's a simple story of friendship that is heart-warming and beautifully told from the first page to the last. Her most vivid memory of this book is the warm, satisfied feeling it left her with.

By Chanel Cleeton
Setting: 1958, Havana; 2017, Miami
First published 2018

Growing up in Miami, Marisol heard romantic stories of Cuba from her late grandmother, Elisa. The story alternates perspectives between Elisa and Marisol. In 1958, nineteen-year-old Elisa is the daughter of a sugar baron and a member of Cuba's high society where her families position largely shields her from the growing political unrest, at least until she embarks on a forbidden affair. In 2017, Marisol arrives in Havana for the first time to fulfill her grandmothers dying wish of having her ashes spread in her her birth country. Marisol tries to reconcile the contrast of Cuba's timeless beauty with its political climate, all while uncovering the story of her grandmother's past.

By Bill Bryson
Setting: 1950s, Iowa
First published 2006

Bill Bryson is famous for his humorous travel writing, but in this nostalgic and hilarious memoir he reflects on growing up in middle-America in the 1950s in the middle of the baby boomer generation. Using his childhood imaginary super-hero persona to tell his story, he tells his story of growing up in Des Moines, bringing to life his loving but eccentric family.

The Book Girls' Say... If you've never read a Bill Bryson book before, then we'll just warn you that you'll get both a great book and an ab workout from laughing so hard!

By Lorraine Hansberry
Setting: 1950s, Chicago
First published 1959

Following the life of one black family on Chicago's south side, this play examines their hopes and aspirations as well as the struggles of the working class. "Never before, in the entire history of the American theater, has so much of the truth of black people's lives been seen on the stage," observed James Baldwin shortly before A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway in 1959.

The Book Girls' Say... This is one of the most powerful plays you'll ever experience on stage, but this uncut version of Hansberry's landmark work offers even more than you've seen before.

By Amy Sue Nathan
Setting: 1951, Michigan + Present
First published 2020

Betty Stern turned 18 in 1951 and was looking forward to her last summer at her grandparent's Jewish summer resort before heading off to college. She had big dreams of becoming a fashion editor in NYC.

During that life-changing summer, Betty collapses at the end of the beauty pageant, which ends up being the last time the pageant is held until 2020 when a financially-struggling manicurist decides to bring it back. By this time, Betty is in her late 80s and no one knows she was the last winner or why the pageant ended.

The book alternates between Betty's life that summer and a present-day gathering of her best friends from that summer. It's a great look at societal expectations between the two time periods.

By Karma Brown
Setting: 1950s and current day, New York suburbs
First Published 2020

Alice leaves her publicity career to become a writer, and follows her husband to the suburbs of New York. Learning to fill her days in a big, empty house, she comes across a vintage cookbook in the basement and discovers hidden notes left by the home's previous owner, Nellie - a quintessential 1950s housewife. As Alice cooks her way through Nellie's recipes, she stars to uncover clues about her life.

Juxtaposing Alice's life against Nellie, this is a story of how everything has changed, but in some ways nothing has changed.

By Melanie Benjamin
Setting: 1950s, New York City
First published 2016

Centered around two dynamic historical figures - Truman Capote, the playwright, actor, and author of Breakfast and Tiffany's, and Babe Paley, a New York City socialite and style icon named to the International Best-Dressed Hall of Fame - this is the story of a scandalous and heart-wrenching friendship. This book is filled with gossip, scandal, and betrayal set in the glamorous, perfumed, and smoky atmosphere of New York's high society.

By Lynda Cohen Loigman
Setting: 1950s and 60s, Brooklyn, NYC
First published 2016

In a two-family brownstone in Brooklyn, two babies are born just two minutes apart to two women - sisters by marriage. Over the years, cracks begin to form in their relationship and their friendship begins to unravel. This is a moving family drama that opens on that fateful night in the late 1940s and spans the two decades that follow. Described as an "emotional but dreamy novel" that will have you both sobbing and smiling.

By Ann Petry
Setting: 1950s, Connecticut
First published 1953

When a twenty-six year old, Dartmouth-educated African-American man falls for a married white woman, the quiet town of Monmouth, Connecticut will never be the same. Written and set in the early 1950s, this book offers a window into class, race, and love in middle of the Twentieth Century.

By Fiona Davis
Setting: 1950s, New York City
First published 2019

Playwright Hazel Riley and actress Maxine Mead aim to put up a Broadway show, and they plan to use the Chelsea Hotel - a hot spot for creatives and artists - to get the ball rolling. But they soon discover that greatest obstacle to producing a Broadway show isn't the art, but the politics. This story spans the 1940s-60s, but it's centered around the era of McCarthyism. As the Red Scare is sweeping the country, those in the entertainment industry are in the cross-hairs and there is pressure to point fingers.

The Book Girls' Say... Fiona Davis is a master of New York City historical fiction. She writes in a way that paints a picture in your mind of both the visual scenery and the emotion of her characters. You'll step back in time and experience a disturbing era in our country that is rarely talked about today. Thankfully, that history lesson is told through a page-turning novel. This is a great pick for any lover of the arts.

By Dorothy West
Setting: 1950s, Martha's Vineyard
First published 1995

The Cole family is gathered on Martha's vineard for the wedding of their daughter, Shelby. She could have had her pick of black men from the Oval - a proud community made up of the best and brightest of the East Coast's black bourgeoisie - but she fell in love with a white Jazz musician from New York.

Set on Martha's Vineyard, this novel offers an intimate look into the lives of the African American middle class in the 1950s.

By Donna Van Liere
Setting: 1950s, Tennessee
First published 2012

Ivorie Walker is only in her early 30s, but single and unmarried, she is considered an old maid by those in her Tennessee town. But when a ferel, dirty faced boy begins sneaking onto her land to steal food from her garden, she begins on an unlikely path to motherhood. Every time he flees her garden and heads back into the hills, she has more questions about where he came from and how she can help him. As she begins to uncover the answers, she angers many in town who would rather she let secrets stay secret.

The Book Girls Say... Angela's IRL book club read this book last year and while it didn't make it onto her all time favorites list, many others in the book club considered it a five star read!

by Harper Lee
Setting: 1950s, Alabama
First published 2015

Written first, rather than a sequel to as a To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee penned this novel in the late 50s, but it was not published until nearly 60 years later. Her early publisher had reservations, and recommended she take a different approach - resulting in To Kill A Mockingbird.

The Book Girls Say... People love it or hate it! If you adore Atticus Finch, you might be happier not reading this book, but it does tackle the important reality of the racial tensions brewing in the South in the 1950s.