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South Carolina Books: The Best Books Set in the Palmetto State
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.Whether you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge or simply found your way to our website researching books set in South Carolina, we’ve curated a diverse list of highly-rated titles about the Cotton State! We also have a separate list of books set in Charleston that you might want to check out. If you’re looking for another state, check our comprehensive list of books set in every state.
A Few Things South Carolina is Known For
South Carolina was one of the original 13 colonies, and during the Revolutionary War, it was grounds for more battles than any other colony (over 200 in total). Following the war, South Carolina became the 8th state to ratify the US Constitution in 1788. It was later the first to vote for secession from the Union in December of 1860, and in April of 1861, it was the site of the first shots of the Civil War, when Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in Charleson Harbor.
When we think of South Carolina today, we are immediately transported to Charleston, with its cobblestone streets and gas lamps adorning beautiful historic homes. So many novels are set in this charming and historic city that we’ve curated a complete list of Charleston books.
South Carolina’s “Lowcountry” – located in the southeasternmost corner – is home to some of the most picturesque views in the state, as well as a rich and diverse cultural history. Stretching along the coast from south of Charleston to the Georgia border, the Lowcountry region includes salt mashes and coastal waterways that connect the many barrier islands, including Hilton Head. To the north of Charleston, the coastline near Myrtle Beach is one of the premier resort destinations on the East Coast, with over 100 golf courses.
The Best Books Set in South Carolina
Call Your Daughter Home
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Book Summary
Set in Branchville, South Carolina, in 1924 – shortly after the Boll Weevil Infestation that devastated southern cotton fields – this historical fiction novel tells the story of motherhood and womanhood. The story centers around three women at a crossroad – Gertrude, Retta, and Annie.
Gertrude, a mother of four, must make a difficult decision to save her daughters. Retta is a first-generation freed slave who comes to Gertrude’s aid. And Annie, the matriarch of the influential Coles family, offers Gertrude a job.
Despite having seemingly nothing in common, these three women unite to stand up to injustices long plaguing the small town. This book is a timeless story about the power of family, community, and the ferocity of motherhood.
The Book Girls Say…
Be aware that this book includes some potentially triggering topics, including domestic abuse and child sexual abuse. Additionally, this book includes some racially insensitive language reflective of the era in which it’s set.
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Book Summary
Florence Day is a romance ghostwriter who no longer believes in romance. She has spent her career as the ghostwriter for one of the most well-known romance writers in the industry. But after a recent breakup with a man who took advantage of her trust and destroyed her self-esteem, she no longer believes in love and can’t seem to write about it either.
With a major deadline looming, her career is in serious danger. Then she gets a call from home that shifts her priorities.
She had an unusual but very happy childhood growing up in a funeral home in a small town in South Carolina before a controversy when she was a teen caused her to flee for college and never turn back. However, after the phone call, she has no choice but to return home for the first time in a decade.
On her first night back, she finds a ghost standing on the front porch of her family’s funeral home. Florence was already convinced that romance is dead… but this complicates things further.
The Book Girls Say…
Angela downloaded this audiobook on a whim right before boarding a cross-country flight. She knew nothing about the plot, and thank goodness, because terms like ‘paranormal romance’ and ‘ghost love story’ would have scared her away. And then she would have missed out on one of her favorite books of the year! She binged the entire book in two days, and couldn’t stop smiling the whole time.
This story is unique and will keep you on your toes. Despite the romance genre getting a bad rap for being predictable, this book is anything but that.
The Indigo Girl
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Book Summary
In 1739 when she was 16, Eliza’s father left his three plantations in her hands as he pursued military ambitions. However, he also spent all the money from the estates, leaving her in a terrible position. Failure would have been fine with her mother, who would prefer they leave South Carolina behind and return to England.
Eliza finds hope for the plantations in an unlikely place. She has heard that the French will pay exorbitant amounts for indigo dye, one of the state’s largest exports. However, the process of making the dye is a closely guarded secret. Eliza will do just about anything to gain the knowledge she needs to save her family’s finances.
The Book Girls Say…
This historical fiction novel is based on the real story of Eliza Lucus, a very prominent figure in Charleston. She played a pivotal role in South Carolina’s agricultural history. When she passed away in 1793, President Washington was one of her pallbearers. The export of indigo dye was the foundation of extreme wealth for several South Carolina families, who continue to live in prosperity today.
For more books set in Charleston, check out this list.
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Carolina Moonset
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Book Summary
Set on the coast in Beaufort, South Carolina, Carolina Moonset is as moving as it is mysterious. Joey takes a trip to his hometown to help his father so his mom can take a break. His dad’s dementia is advancing, and his short-term memory is almost nonexistent. However, his longest-term memories are flooding back, and he’s often reliving his time as a young boy in Beaufort.
While this is nice at first, his dad soon begins having hallucinatory arguments with people from his past. Long-buried secrets and scandals begin to re-emerge, causing Joey to question everything. The past was problematic enough, but now the police have arrived to discuss a new murder.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Other Birds
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Book Summary
On Mallow Island, off the coast of South Carolina, sits an old cobblestone building in the shape of a horseshoe. It’s called the Dellawisp, named after the tiny turquoise birds who reside there alongside its human tenants. The building has an air of magical secrecy.
When 19-year-old Zoe inherits her late mother’s apartment at the Dellawisp, she meets the quirky and secretive neighbors, including a henna artist, a lonely chef, middle-aged sisters (one of whom is a hoarder), and three ghosts. The property is overseen by Frasier, who has a special affinity for the birds.
When one of the residents turns up dead, the other neighbors search for answers, but each is also hiding secrets of their own. The investigation leads to the island’s famous but reclusive author and to a long-lost relative of the sisters.
The Book Girls Say…
Reviewers recommend giving this unique book a chance, even if magical realism isn’t your usual genre of choice. They say you’ll fall in love with this cast of eccentric and flawed characters, and be sad to say goodbye to them when you turn the final page.
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The Secret Life of Bees
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Book Summary
After her mother passes away, 14-year-old Lily Owens runs away with her friend and nanny, Rosaleen. The two escape to Tiburon, South Carolina, where an eccentric trio of Black beekeeping sisters takes them in.
Lily is introduced to the world of bees and honey, the Black Madonna, and the town that holds the secret to her mother’s past.
The Book Girls Say…
Sue Monk Kidd is also the author of the best-selling novel The Invention of Wings, which is featured on our list of books set in Charleston.
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Southern by Design
Book Summary
After her husband sent an unsolicited personal photo to another woman that quickly went viral among every mom group in Charleston, thirtysomething Magnolia “Mack” Bishop is facing divorce and single motherhood. But she’s determined not to let her personal life get in the way of her professional interior design ambitions.
Mack is close to securing the prestigious Historic Preservation Design Fellowship, but after a series of calamaties at a house tour her shot at the fellowship goes up in flames. Her mom – the original Magnolia Bishop, who enjoys her perch at the top of the Southern social ladder, swoops in with a lead on a big project to save Mack. But it comes with strings attached, which is of no surprise to Mack, given how much her mom likes to control her life.
Mack dreads working for her mom until a television network puts out a call for local designers and she sees the opportunity to pitch the project and potentially win the renovation and historic preservation TV pilot of her dreams. But she’ll have to keep it secret in order to avoid interference from her mother.
Just when she’s starting to get her professional life back on track, the man who got away starts unloading a moving truck next door. Fifteen years earlier, she had a summer romance with Lincoln Kelly, but then he followed his dreams to New York and left Mack broken-hearted.
The Book Girls Say…
This debut novel is described as Sweet Magnolias meets Fixer Upper with a good mix of mother-daughter drama and second-chance romance.
Early readers say this book will completely transport you to Charleston, where the streets and homes come alive like characters. Be sure to check out our full list of Books Set in Charleston.
If you enjoy audiobooks, the narrator’s accent is said to add to the story.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
The Story She Left Behind
Book Summary
Growing up in the 1920s, Clara Harrington has a magical childhood as the dauther of renowned author Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham. Bronwyn became a national sensation when, at the age of just twelve, she wrote a book in an invented language.
But in 1927, when Clara is just 8 years old, her mother goes missing off the coast of South Carolina. Not only does this leave her daughter and husband brokenhearted, it also dashes the hopes of ever translating the sequel to her book.
Years later, in 1952, Clara is an illustrator raising a daughter of her own. Out of the blue, she is contacted by a strnager in London named Charlie Jameson who claims to have discovered a handwritten dictionary of her mother’s lost language. Clara is skeptical but can’t help but be intrigued.
Together with her daughter, Wynnie, Clara crosses the Atlantic. When they arrive, London is experiencing a deadly natural disasters – the Great Smog. It’s too much for young Wynnie’s asthma, so Charlie invites them to seek refuge at his families retreat in the Lake District. There Clara must find the courage to uncover the truth about her mother and the story she left behind.
The Book Girls Say…
Patti Callahan Henry’s The Secret Book of Flora Lea was one of Angela’s favorite books of 2023, and many of our readers selected Henry’s Surviving Savannah for our Read Around the USA Challenge, rating it an average of 4.5 stars, with 100% saying they would recommend the book to a friend.
Needless to say, we’re excited to read her new 2025 novel!
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Lowcountry Boil
Book Summary
Private Investigator Liz Talbot is a modern kind of Southern belle who blesses hearts and takes names. When her grandmother is murdered, Liz returns to her South Carolina island home to help find the killer. Her brother, the local chief of police, tries to shut her out of the case, so she opens an investigation of her own. Along the way, Liz gets help from the ghost of her long-dead best friend, who gives her cryptic advice.
The Book Girls Say…
Unlike a typical cozy mystery heronine, Liz is not an amateur slueth. She’s a professional PI and readers enjoy her as a smart and strong character.
There are currently 11 books in the charming Lowcountry Boil series, including one about a book club and one set in a bookshop for our readers who love books about books.
Beach House
Book Summary
Caretta had no intention of returning home to the South Carolina Lowcountry, but when her mother makes an unusual request, she can’t say no. Soon, Caretta adjusts to the rhythms of the island, begins repairing the family beach house, and even earns the title “turtle lady.” Through reconnecting with her mother, Caretta learns precious lessons about true love, sacrifice, and forgiveness.
The Book Girls Say…
Our readers voted this one of the Best Beach Reads of All Time! It’s the first of seven books in The Beach House series, published between 2002 and 2021. The Beach House has also been adapted into a Hallmark Original Movie.
Author Mary Alice Monroe was inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors’ Hall of Fame. We are looking forward to her summer 2025 historical fiction release, Where the Rivers Merge.
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The Time Between
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Book Summary
Eleanor Murray caused an accident that left her sister paralyzed, and she’s still consumed with guilt. It’s even worse since she fell in love with her sister’s husband. Hoping that a good deed can help atone for her mistakes, Eleanor accepts a job caring for her boss’s elderly aunt, Helena.
After the two women discover a shared love of music, Helena begins to open up to Eleanor about her life in Hungary during WWII. Learning about the relationship between Helena and her sister during the war may finally allow Eleanor to move past her own grief and guilt.
The Book Girls Say…
Karen White has written many excellent novels set in South Carolina. Her popular Tradd Street series is included on our list of books set in Charleston, and we are looking forward to her summer 2025 release, That Last Carolina Summer.
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The Love List
Book Summary
Like us, the main character in The Love List, Beatrice, loves a checklist and the satisfaction of marking items complete. When a new phase of her life begins after a divorce, she decides that a list is the best way forward. But it’s not a list of chores and tasks; it’s a love list…a list of things she wants to do based on the things she loves.
Visiting 10 national parks, getting a puppy, and taking a dream vacation all make the list. Since she needs time to relax and reset, renting a Hilton Head home for a beach vacation is the perfect place to start. When she arrives, Bea meets the home’s owner, Grant. Soon, he becomes her tour guide, friend, and then more than a friend. Can she fall in love again at 45?
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Under the Magnolias
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Book Summary
When Austin is barely a teenager, her mother dies during childbirth and she’s left caring for six siblings. Life on the family’s tobacco farm is tough, and Austin does everything she can to save face as she tries to hide how bad it really is at Noila Farms. However, the colorful citizens of Magnolia help ease the hardship with random acts of kindness.
When Austin begins building a relationship with Vance, the son of a wealthy farmer, her father reveals family secrets that lead to a public reckoning.
The Book Girls Say…
Under the Magnolias was nominated for the Christy Award Nominee for General Fiction in 2022. Readers say the religious themes play an important role in this story.
T.I. Lowe has authored numerous other books set in South Carolina, including the 2024 novel, Lowcountry Lost. Readers say that this novel portrays Christian values, but that religion plays a less prevalent role than in Under the Magnolias.
Queen Bee
Book Summary
While Holly’s difficult mom is referred to as the “QB” (queen bee) around Sullivan’s Island, Holly is an actual beekeeper. While she originally stayed in town to take care of her mom, thirty-year-old Holly is ready to find her own husband, family, and maybe even a career as a teacher.
When Holly’s sister Leslie returns to town due to a complicated time in her marriage, the sisters have a chance to reconnect as adults.
The Book Girls Say…
Reviews say this book is full of quirky and flawed characters and that this family drama has some surprising plot points. The overall theme is about love and acceptance.
While this book is the thirteenth and final book in the popular, long-running Lowcountry Tales series, the books follow different main characters and do not need to be read in order.
If you’d prefer a stand-alone book by Dorothea Benton Frank, the queen of Southern fiction who passed away in 2019, we recommend By Invitation Only.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Contemporary Fiction
The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt
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Book Summary
Judith Kratt is an affluent 75-year-old woman living in her family’s grand, but aging, mansion in South Carolina. It’s the home she’s known all of her life, and one she hasn’t left since 1929. It’s now the 1980s, and Judith and Olva, the old family maid, spend long, slow afternoons rocking on the front porch.
When Judith learns that her sister, Rosemarie, is coming for a visit for the first time in 60 years, she decides it’s time to take inventory of the home. This includes everything she inherited from the Kratt family – the cut-glass letter opener, the pie safe, the copper clock, and the murder that no one talks about.
As Judith catalogs her possessions, the story is interwoven with chilling flashbacks from the fateful night in 1929 that changed everything. Through her list-making, she begins to piece together her family’s influence on their small cotton town and to acknowledge the devastating effects of their dark family secrets.
The Book Girls Say…
Judith is an unreliable and, at times, unlikeable narrator – just the way the author wants it.
Some readers find that the story starts a bit slow since you may not connect with the characters immediately. But once it draws you in, you’ll be hooked. This is not a mystery novel in the sense that, thanks to clever writing and foreshadowing, you’ll likely unravel some of the family secrets before the characters unveil them – but this feels intentional and adds to the reading experience rather than detracting from it.
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My Magnolia Summer
Book Summary
In this summer read, you’ll meet three generations of women from Sullivan’s Island in the South Carolina Lowcountry. The matriarch gran, mother Lily, and grown daughters Magnolia (Maggie) and Violet. The Magic Lantern Restaurant has always been run by the women in the family, but Maggie is struggling to forge her own culinary path in NYC.
When Maggie gets a call that she’s needed back home, she returns to find the restaurant in disarray. She’s also about to uncover some shocking secrets about her family’s past. And then there’s the handsome farmer who catches her eye…
The Book Girls Say…
Dorothea Benton Frank, the queen of Southern fiction, passed away in 2019, but her daughter Victoria stepped in to fill her shoes. This is her debut novel, and we are looking forward to her summer 2025 release, The Violet Hour.
The Prince of Tides
Book Summary
Tom Wingo, a former teacher and football coach from South Carolina, travels to New York to help his suicidal twin sister, Savannah, a gifted poet tormented by their dark past. Through sessions with Savannah’s psychiatrist, Dr. Susan Lowenstein, Tom unearths the haunting memories of their childhood—an upbringing marked by abuse, secrets, and the fierce love that binds the Wingo siblings.
As Tom recounts their family’s history, he is forced to confront his own pain, rekindle his sense of self, and navigate an unexpected romance with Susan.
The Book Girls Say…
While the “present day” portions of this 1986 novel take place in New York, where to helps his sister and meets with Dr. Lowenstein, the emotional core is in the flashbacks through which Tom recounts his childhood and family history is South Carolina.
Before picking up this famous novel, keep in mind when it was written and the historical time frame covered in the narrative. This book contains racist terminology that reflects the time period, but most readers believe it is not intended to endorse those views. Additionally, keep in mind that this book deals with complex themes of family dysfunction and trauma.
The late Pat Conroy lived in South Carolina for most of his life and wrote numerous books set in the state, including South of Broad, which is featured on our list of books set in Charleston. Published more than 20 years after The Prince of Tides, South of Broad is said to reflect an author who has a much deeper understanding of and appreciation for those who are different than himself.
Sing Me Home to Carolina
Book Summary
Hattie Norwood grew up in Mountain View, South Carolina, but moved to the big city to pursue her career as an event planner. When she learns that the family peanut farm is in trouble, she returns to lend support.
It was meant to be a short trip home, until the town councilwoman asks her to to use her event planning expertise to help plan a musical benefit concert. Hattie agrees to stay in Mountain View to help with the Founder’s Day celebration. The hadsome new owner of Fox’s Hardware even suggests that the celebrations be moved to the the Norwoods’ barn as the first step toward reinventing the failing farm as a music and event venue.
There’s just one catch – the benefit is aimed at stopping the construction of a new NFL stadium – a project Hattie is actually in favor of, much to the dismay of the locals. And to complicate matters further, Hattie’s ex, MLB player Lee Lockhardt, shows up in town after suffering a career-ending injury.
The Book Girls Say…
Author Joy Callaway is known for her historical fiction, but early readers of this new novel praise her first foray into contemporary romance. It’s described as a perfect small-town romance with a love triangle that will force you to decide if you are Team Lee or Team Fox.
Non-Fiction Books About South Carolina
Brown Girl Dreaming
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
This highly-rated memoir is written through vivid poems as the author shares what it was like to grow up African American in the 1960s & 1970s as awareness of the civil rights movement grew.
The poems give you a glimpse into Jacqueline Woodson’s soul as a child and the experiences she had that made her into a successful writer today.
The Book Girls Say…
One of our reader’s described this memoir-in-verse as “Absolutely beautiful writing and an important story”.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
The Demon of Unrest
Book Summary
Travel back to 1860 as Abraham Lincoln wins the presidency of a very divided America. Southern extremists states were trying to destroy the Union by seceding one after another. Slavery was a big topic of debate, and eventually, the beliefs of both sides were focused on one piece of land – Fort Sumter in Charleston.
The Demons of Unrest covers the five-month period between Lincoln’s election in November 1860 and the start of the Civil War in April 1861. In addition to Lincoln, the book teaches us about Major Robert Anderson, Fort Sumter’s commander and a former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor at every opportunity; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over both marriage and slavery and seeing parallels between both.
The Book Girls Say…
As with most Larson books, The Demon of Unrest is long at 608 pages. However, despite being non-fiction, he writes about history in a page-turning way. The book is based on real diaries, secret communiques, slave ledges, and plantation records.
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Read Around the USA – Books Set in Other States
We hope you enjoyed this book list of books about South Carolina and found some great titles to add to your TBR. If you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge, be sure to check out our alphabetical index of books set in each state.
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