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Wisconsin Books: Novels Set in the Badger 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 Wisconsin, we’ve curated a diverse list of highly-rated titles about the Badger State! If you’re looking for another state, check our comprehensive list of books set in every state.
A Few Things Wisconsin is Known For…
Before Wisconsin became the 30th state in 1848, fur traders and lead miners inhabited the ancestral lands of Native American tribes, including the Menominee, Ojibwe, and Ho-Chunk. The lead miners often lived in homes dug into the hillsides, which resembled the burrows of badgers. The miners themselves were also likened to badgers, digging through the earth for lead ore, which explains Wisconsin’s state nickname, the “Badger State.”
In the late 19th century, dairy farming emerged as a significant industry that remains an integral part of the culture and economy. Today, Wisconsin leads the nation in cheese production.
With Lake Superior to the north, Lake Michigan to the east, and the Mississippi River forming part of the western border, water is an important part of Wisconsin’s geography. Northern Wisconsin is part of the Northwoods, renowned for its thick forests and numerous lakes.
Situated on Lake Michigan’s western shore, Wisconsin’s largest city, Milwaukee, is known for its brewing history and vibrant arts scene, including the Milwaukee Art Museum’s striking architecture. Nestled between Lakes Mendota and Monona, the state capital of Madison is home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is known for its political activism and progressive culture.
Other notable cities in the state include Green Bay, the home of the Packers, and Racine, home to several Frank Lloyd Wright landmarks, also has deep Danish roots. Its kringle is Wisconsin’s official state pastry.
Best Books Set in Wisconsin
Life, & Death, & Giants
Book Summary
Gabriel was born an orphan in rural Wisconsin, and no one knew what to think about him. He was eighteen pounds and twenty-seven inches long. By eight months old, he could walk, was athletically talented, and could communicate with animals. He was cared for by his older brother, but when his brother passed away, he went to live with his Amish grandparents.
At seventeen, Gabriel is nearly eight feet tall, so it’s impossible to keep out of sight. Despite his grandparents’ efforts to shield him from the English world, a high school football coach spots him, setting in motion a new chapter that reshapes not only Gabriel’s future but the lives of everyone around him.
Thoughts About This Book
Early readers describe this novel as both tragic and uplifting, and say it will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading. It’s very character-driven, giving a glimpse into both the English and Amish worlds of Wisconsin, with the ensemble cast of characters being more important than the plot.
Still True
Book Summary
At forty, Matt, who was adopted as an infant, shows up on his birth mother’s doorstep. Lib has never told her husband Jack about her son’s existence, or even about her first marriage. While their marriage isn’t always conventional, they have an ease and comfort together after three decades of marriage. However, Jack is a stickler for honesty, and Lib’s secrets put everything at risk.
Like Matt, ten-year-old Charlie and his parents, Dan and Claire, are also new to town and struggling to fit in. Jack quickly fills a grandfather role for Charlie after helping fix his bike, but he has no idea that this family will be involved in upending everything he thought was true.
Overall Themes in This Book
This novel is layered with small-town secrets, an adoption storyline told with empathy, and big questions about marriage, honesty, and chosen family. You’ll have plenty to think about or discuss in a book club!
Catch and Keep
Book Summary
Thirty-nine-year-old Maren just inherited a decrepit waterfront bait shop in the Northwoods Region of Wisconsin. After spending much of her life letting things happen to her, she’s finally taking the reins. She just turned down a marriage proposal and walked away from her decade-long park ranger job.
Most people think she’s making a mistake. Josiah, a local resort owner and single dad, doesn’t. Even though Josiah’s best friend, who happens to be Maren’s brother, would prefer he keep his distance, Josiah can’t help rooting for her. As Maren digs into repairs and reimagines the shop, sparks fly, second chances beckon, and she has to decide whether this small-town Wisconsin fresh start is something she can catch…and keep.
Why You May Love This Book
If you’re looking for a cozy romance set in scenic Northern Wisconsin, pick up this cute novel that readers describe as “heartwarmingly sexy.”
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Book Summary
This Pulitzer winner is a highly rated, real-life look at poverty in America. While it’s easy to make assumptions about why people are being evicted, this book digs into the lives of eight families in Milwaukee as they struggle to keep a roof over their heads.
The author says: “I wanted to try to write a book about poverty that didn’t focus exclusively on poor people or poor places. Poverty was a relationship, I thought, involving poor and rich people alike.”
Murder on the Rocks
Book Summary
After her father’s murder, Mackenzie “Mack” Dalton runs Mack’s Bar in downtown Milwaukee. One morning, she discovers the body of her father’s former girlfriend in the same alley where her dad was killed, and the investigation points uncomfortably close to home! The police are interested in her employees, regulars, even Mack herself.
Mack has synesthesia, a neurological condition in which the stimulation of one sense can cause a reaction in other senses. This makes her a uniquely perceptive (and sometimes overwhelmed) amateur sleuth. As she works with Detective Duncan on the case, they wonder if her father’s interest in Al Capone could be related to the murders.
What Readers Say About This Series
One of our readers recommended this Wisconsin cozy mystery and especially enjoyed that the book was interesting throughout because nearly every character was a potential suspect. She also noted that she enjoyed the depth added by the inclusion of the character’s synesthesia.
To complement the bar setting, the author includes cocktail recipes throughout!
There are six books in the Mack’s Bar Mysteries, concluding with Last Call (2018).
Dovetail
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
When Joe begins having troubling dreams of himself as a different man in another place and time, everything in his life is turned upside down. But it’s not until he visits his grandmother, Pearl, in her small Wisconsin hometown that he discovers a startling connection.
Joe is drawn into his family’s past when he learns about the secret weighing on the old woman’s soul – the 1916 tragic death of her sister Alice a half-century ago. This death had ripple effects on all who loved her.
What Our Readers Say About This Book
One of our readers said, “Beautiful, heartbreaking, and heartwarming story. The way the two strands are woven together is intriguing. The details and flow of the story pulled me in. Dovetail is beautifully written.”
Another Wisconsin Book By This Author
You may also enjoy The Moonlight Child by Karen McQuestion, which is set in suburban Wisconsin, where a woman begins seeing unusual things at her neighbor’s home.
The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Nothing in Lily’s life is going as she had planned. Her career hasn’t taken off yet, her boyfriend lets her down, she’s not sure she can trust her best friend, and she can no longer afford her apartment in the city. To make matters worse, she’s just been reminded that she failed to annul her quickie Vegas wedding… ten years ago!
It’s time for her to get herself together, and at the top of her to-do list is dealing with the fact that she’s still married. She knows this must be dealt with in person, so she sets off to track down Ben Hutchinson—the charming, sexy, and funny man she connected with a decade earlier.
Ben’s life is much different than it was back then. He’s left his wealthy dot-com lifestyle behind and now lives off the grid in his small hometown of Minnow Bay, Wisconsin. The last thing he expects to upend his quiet life is a wife he didn’t even know existed.
For Lily, Minnow Bay could be everything she has been missing, including a thriving arts community, new friends, and maybe even love.
Why You’ll Love This Book
This small-town Wisconsin rom-com includes a marriage-mix-up, lovable side characters, and a cozy arts community vibe. Melissa rated it 4 stars!
Whistling in the Dark
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
99% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Before her dad died, Sally promised him that she’d look after her sister, Troo. In the summer of 1959, with their mother in the hospital and their stepfather more interested in beer, Sally and Troo are on their own to wander the town. But a murderer and molester is doing the same.
Sally is pretty sure of who the killer is, and she’s convinced that she’s next on his list. The way she sees it, she has no choice but to protect herself and Troo as best she can. She’ll rely on her own courage and the kindness of her neighbors.
Accolades and a Sequel
Whistling in the Dark won a Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Award and was a New York Times Bestseller when it was originally released in 2007. It is now in its 18th printing run!
While this reads as a stand-alone novel, you can also opt to continue the story with the 2011 sequel, Good Graces, which is set one year after Whistling in the Dark.
A Season of Perfect Happiness
Book Summary
Ten years ago, Claire fled from her hometown in Delaware after a tragedy. She chose Wisconsin to build a new life, and after a decade, she finally feels content, though she largely keeps to herself.
When she meets Erik, a lighthearted theater nerd, she becomes entwined not only with Erik but also with his ex-wife, Annabelle, their three young children, and a small set of friends. Just as she learns that she can let people in and that her life can be full of joy again, someone from her past reappears. The secret she’s carried from Delaware now threatens the fragile community she’s found.
What to Know Before Reading
This is a heavy read, and we recommend checking trigger warnings before selecting it. While the title and cover reflect happiness, the tone of the book is more serious and even melancholy at times. It’s very highly rated and recommended, with readers praising the compassionate character work and vivid sense of place.
Theater lovers will enjoy the parts of the novel that take place at the Ten Chimneys Theater Museum, a National Historic Landmark, located in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin, approximately 45 minutes west of Milwaukee.
Survival of the Fritters
Book Summary
After the murder of her detective husband, Emily Westhill quit her job as a 911 dispatcher and opened a donut shop with her father-in-law, Tom. They named the shop after her cat, Deputy Donut (aka Dep). While still grieving for her husband, Emily has built a successful business with many regular customers.
One morning, Georgia, one of those regulars, doesn’t show up. Emily joins Georgia’s friends to check on her at home, where they find Georgia dead. Even more shocking, it was clearly a homicide. Emily and Lois (Georgia’s lifelong friend) start piecing together clues. Who would want to murder an elderly woman? Is her death somehow connected to that of her son five years ago? And how much should Emily trust Lois?
Thoughts on This Series
If you’re looking to escape to a friendly small town where people care about each other, while also trying to solve a murder, this is a great pick. There is minimal on-page violence, foodies will also enjoy that recipes are included, and the series has ten books published as of September 2025.
The Net Beneath Us
Book Summary
After her husband, Silas, is injured in a devastating logging accident, Elsa is left to care for their young children in an unfinished, off-the-grid home in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.
Set over the course of one year, Elsa must navigate the harsh realities of impending winter without modern conveniences. As she grapples with grief and isolation, she strives to forge a connection with the land that Silas cherished, discovering her own strength and self-reliance. Throughout this journey, she learns to accept support from unexpected sources, leading to personal growth and resilience.
About the Author & Novel
Drawing from her own experiences living off the grid, Dunbar’s debut novel offers a vivid sense of place and a lyrical exploration of loss, marriage, parenthood, and the healing power of nature.
Little Faith
Book Summary
Lyle and his wife Peg are approaching their golden years in rural Wisconsin. After a troubled adolescence, they are relieved that their daughter Shiloh has returned home with her six-year-old son, Isaac. However, they are also concerned. Shiloh has become deeply involved with an extremist church.
As Lyle tries to reconcile his own faith, he also wants to balance voicing his concerns about Shiloh’s church, and her relationship with its leader, without risking her leaving again. However, when the radical belief system threatens Isaac’s safety, Lyle is forced to make a decision that could change the family forever.
Thoughts About This Book
Told over the course of a single year, the novel uses Wisconsin’s changing of the seasons beautifully to mirror a family’s shifting faith, love, and fear.
It’s perfect for those who love intergenerational family stories.
Another Wisconsin Book By This Author
Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler is also set in the state. It’s told from the perspective of four men who are entering a new phase of life as husbands and fathers. They all grew up in the same Wisconsin town, but their lives took them in different directions. One of them never left, while the three that did pursued widely varied passions – rock star, commodities trader, and rodeo stud. Now all four men are back home in Wisconsin, and there is conflict both between the longtime buddies and between the husbands and wives.
Quilters of the Door
Book Summary
At fifty-five, Claire is making a big move from Missouri to Door County, Wisconsin, to escape a bad relationship. After arriving, she quickly joins the local quilting club and finds inspiration in the beauty of her new home. As she becomes more comfortable in the region, she finds herself open to new friendships, and she may even be open to more with the man in the red scarf.
Unfortunately, the town is experiencing a series of break-ins targeting local shops and galleries. Claire and her quilting group team up to help solve the mystery and protect their neighbors’ shops.
What to Expect in This Novel
Although there’s a mystery, this book is more accurately described as character-driven women’s fiction with cozy Great Lakes vibes. It has quilting details, found-family friendships, and a romantic undercurrent.
If you enjoy the quilting themes, you can continue reading this five book series, or check out our other book recommendations for quilters.
All This Could Be Different
Book Summary
Sneha was lucky to find a job after graduating in the midst of a recession. Her entry-level corporate job in Milwaukee is tough, but she desperately needs it for herself and for her family back home in India. She’s thrilled to finally pick up the tab with friends and to help a college friend get hired.
When a magnetic romance with a dancer named Marina collides with mounting job troubles and an eviction, Sneha’s carefully kept life begins to unravel. With the help of her friend Tig and a radical plan, she has to decide what community, love, and security should look like in her future.
Thoughts on This Novel
This sharp coming-of-age novel is full of big feelings, biting commentary, and humor about work, immigrant life, and chosen family. It’s perfect for book club discussion and for readers who like contemporary fiction that’s tender, political, and full of friendship.
The Kindred Spirits Supper Club
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In this lightly paranormal rom-com, Sabrina is not happy to be returning home to the Wisconsin Dells, otherwise known as the Waterpark Capital of the World. But it’s not the town she’s been avoiding. It’s the Monroe family “gift”. The women see spirits with unfinished business. The only ghost Sabrina doesn’t mind is Molly, who is bubbly, loves rom-coms, and was a great friend to Sabrina throughout her childhood.
Enter Ray, a charming restaurateur with a rescue-dog habit and a brand-new supper club. While it’s not terrible that he’s flirting with her over brandy Old Fashioneds, she is much more concerned with getting a job than a boyfriend. Although, Ray’s kindness toward dogs and talent in the kitchen are nice bonuses on top of his handsomeness.
Sabrina has to decide if she can make peace with the ghosts of the Dells and let something real (and very alive) into her heart.
Why You’ll Love This Book
Foodie fiction lovers will enjoy the delicious descriptions of food throughout this romance. One of our readers also noted that she enjoyed the characters so much that she wished the author would continue writing about them in a series.
Another Wisconsin Book By the Author
If you prefer a seasonal read, the author has other Wisconsin books available for you. Pick up The Simplicity of Cider for a Thanksgiving setting or Once Upon a December for a Christmas theme.
North of the Tension Line
Book Summary
The small town of Ephraim, Wisconsin, is filled with artists and summer tourists. It has just enough going on to satisfy newcomer Fiona Campbell’s city tastes. Her feelings about Washington Island in northern Door County are quite different, though. Visiting this remote spot leaves Fiona feeling refreshed, but nonetheless, she is convinced that only lunatics and hermits could survive the frigid isolation of winter there.
Despite her strong feelings, Fiona finds herself accepting a dare to survive winter on the island in a decrepit old house. With nothing more than a book and a bottle of scotch, she’s determined to win the dare. She quickly learns, however, that small-town life north of the tension line is not as dull as she imagined. There are vicious politics, ruthless neighbors, and persistent animals.
About the Tension Line
Stretching in a loose S-curve from northwest to southeast, Wisconsin’s ecological tension zone marks the shift between northern boreal/forested communities and the southern prairie–oak savanna region. Door County sits near this divide, and island winters north of the zone can feel harsher, wilder, and more isolated. This line divides the state into two major ecological regions.
Death Checked Out
Book Summary
In the lakeside town of Larkspur, Wisconsin, library director Greta sees life through extra-rosy glasses as her way of dealing with past tragedies. At least she did, until she stumbled upon a body on her way home from work and unexpectedly became a suspect in a murder investigation.
To clear her name in the eyes of the town’s new detective, she’ll need the help of her fellow librarians. Digging deep into Larkspur’s real estate market and the victim’s rare book collection may help her understand why anyone would have authored his death.
Home Is Where the Bodies Are
Book Summary
After the death of their mother, estranged adult siblings Beth, Nicole, and Michael are reunited in their small Wisconsin town to settle the estate. While Beth was with her mom until the end, Nicole was kept at a distance due to her recurring problems with drugs. The youngest, Michael, hasn’t been back to Allens Grove since their dad left them all seven years earlier.
As they sort through their mother’s house, a collection of home movies on VHS tapes is found, and they hope watching will remind them of happier days. In between the good memories, they find a horrifying video from 1999. First, they see their dad covered in blood. Then, a dead body and a pact between their parents to cover it up. Do they leave the past buried, or dig into a family secret that could destroy what’s left of them?
Why You Should Pick This Book
This is a fast-paced domestic suspense with a strong sibling-drama thread and minimal graphic detail. It’s a great pick if you like twisty Wisconsin thrillers about family secrets and full of small-town tensions.
The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County
Book Summary
For seventy years, Esther and her circle of “funeral ladies” have been providing casseroles for the mourners of Ellerie County, Wisconsin. But after falling for a scam that now threatens her home, the Larson family matriarch is the one who needs help. Luckily, her Gen Z granddaughter, Iris, shares her passion for their family and community and would do anything to help.
Iris has watched those around her move out of their small lakeside community, and can’t help but wonder why she feels left behind despite not wanting to leave. But when Cooper arrives in town to become a legal guardian to his younger half-sister, Iris wonders if he has been the missing puzzle piece in her life.
Important Considerations Before Reading
This book covers some heavier topics, including alcohol abuse and PTSD, than you may expect based on the cover. It also features more of Iris and Cooper’s relationship than many readers expect based on the title.
Readers who rate it highly enjoy emotional, character-driven stories with vivid Northwoods atmosphere and don’t mind romance woven into a family drama.
Familiaris
Book Summary
Set in Wisconsin’s Northwoods in the years after World War I, Familiaris follows newlyweds John and Mary Sawtelle as they try to make a new life on a remote farm. When a remarkable stray wanders into their lives, the dog’s uncanny intelligence inspires a bold idea: to raise a line of companion animals bred as much for empathy as for skill.
As the Sawtelles’ kennel takes shape, drought, hard winters, small-town rivalries, and the Great Depression test their resolve. When a powerful neighbor fixates on their dogs, John and Mary must decide how far they’ll go to protect both their animals and the family they’re building.
Important Considerations
This immersive and lyrical novel is heartfelt and slow-moving throughout nearly 1000 pages.
While it’s not listed as part of a series, it is the origin story of the family and dogs from the #1 New York Times bestselling modern classic The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, published in 2008.
Familiaris was Oprah’s Book Club pick in June 2024.
Little House in the Big Woods
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
This is the first book in the Little House series, based on the real-life adventures of author Laura Ingalls Wilder. Little Laura is just four in this first book, and she grows up throughout the nine books of the series (not reaching age 13 until the 6th book).
Little House in the Big Woods takes place in Wisconsin in 1871, where Laura lives in a log cabin with her Pa, her Ma, and her sisters. This first book introduces readers to the challenges of pioneer life, and in later books, the family travels by covered wagon from Wisconsin to Kansas, where they establish a homestead.
A Caveat About This Series
Because the books were written in the early 20th century about 19th-century settler life, they include racist depictions of Indigenous people and other dated language. We don’t condone these elements, and we encourage critical reading and discussion, especially if you’re enjoying the books with younger readers. We hope you’ll appreciate the domestic detail and historical context that have made the series enduring, while considering what we can continue to learn from the problematic elements.
The Art of Fielding
Book Summary
Henry is a gifted shortstop at Westish College, a small Wisconsin school on the shore of Lake Michigan. By his junior year, he’s attracting attention from MLB scouts. He’s also on the verge of breaking an NCAA record when a throw goes wrong and changes everything for him and his teammates. Self-doubt creeps in and threatens to ruin his future in baseball.
This literary novel also follows Owen (Henry’s roommate and teammate), Mike (the catcher, team captain, and Henry’s fiercest advocate), Guert Affenlight (Westish’s president), and Pella (Guert’s daughter, newly back on campus). Their lives tangle as ambition, loyalty, love, and second chances collide.
As the season winds down, all five must confront the hopes and secrets that brought them to Westish—and decide what they’re willing to risk for the lives they want.
More About This Novel
Keep in mind that this is a longer book, at more than 500 pages, so plan accordingly if this is your pick.
Numerous reviews have drawn comparisons between this book and Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot, which, though set in a different decade (the 1980s), also takes place on a college campus and centers around students about to graduate.
Read Around the USA – Books Set in Other States
We hope you enjoyed this list of books about Wisconsin 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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