The Spoon River Anthology (1915), by Edgar Lee Masters, is a collection of verses in which the men and women of Spoon River tell their stories from the grave.

The Women of Brewster Place (1980), by Gloria Naylor, is a collection of stories that won the American Book Award. It gives voice to seven African-American women in seven interconnected short stories.

Ethan Frome (1911), by Edith Wharton, depicts a farmer with a poetic soul who struggles with poverty, loneliness, and a bad-tempered wife in rural New England.

Everything that Rises Must Converge (1965), by Flannery O'Connor, is a collection of stories of grotesque characters confronting religious questions in...