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Quick answer: If you read In the Dream House, try Her Body and Other Parties, The Argonauts, Know My Name, The Empathy Exams, The Chronology of Water and Hunger. These are memoirs and essays that bend form to tell hard truths.
Carmen Maria Machado's 2019 memoir about an abusive relationship between women is told in short chapters, each framed by a different genre or trope. It breaks the silence around abuse in queer relationships. Readers who finish it want more daring memoir, more writing about trauma and more books that use form to say what plain prose cannot. These 15 books include difficult subjects, including abuse and assault.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Ages | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Her Body and Other Parties | Carmen Maria Machado | Adult | more by the same author |
| The Argonauts | Maggie Nelson | Adult | readers who like experimental memoir |
| Bluets | Maggie Nelson | Adult | readers who like lyrical essays |
| Know My Name | Chanel Miller | Adult | readers who want a survivor's voice |
| The Empathy Exams | Leslie Jamison | Adult | essay readers |
| Hunger | Roxane Gay | Adult | readers who want a direct memoir |
| The Chronology of Water | Lidia Yuknavitch | Adult | readers who like wild prose |
| Fun Home | Alison Bechdel | Adult | graphic memoir fans |
| Dept. of Speculation | Jenny Offill | Adult | readers who like fragmented novels |
| The Collected Schizophrenias | Esmé Weijun Wang | Adult | readers who want insight |
| Heart Berries | Terese Marie Mailhot | Adult | readers who want a distinct voice |
| Crying in H Mart | Michelle Zauner | Adult | readers who love food and family |
| Wild | Cheryl Strayed | Adult | readers who like journey memoirs |
| Girl, Interrupted | Susanna Kaysen | Adult | readers who like short memoirs |
| Heartburn | Nora Ephron | Adult | readers who want a wry take on betrayal |
1. Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
Machado's short story collection mixes horror, fantasy and feminism. Her first book, strange and brilliant.
Best for: more by the same author.
2. The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
Nelson writes about love, pregnancy and gender in fragments. Intellectual and tender.
Best for: readers who like experimental memoir.
3. Bluets by Maggie Nelson
A meditation on the color blue, love and loss in numbered paragraphs. Short, poetic and unforgettable.
Best for: readers who like lyrical essays.
4. Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Miller reveals her identity as the survivor in the Stanford sexual assault case and tells her story. Powerful and clear.
Best for: readers who want a survivor's voice.
5. The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison
Essays about pain, empathy and what we owe each other. Thoughtful and personal.
Best for: essay readers.
6. Hunger by Roxane Gay
Gay writes about her body, trauma and the world's judgment of her size. Honest and painful.
Best for: readers who want a direct memoir.
7. The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch
Yuknavitch tells her life through swimming, loss, addiction and writing. Raw, poetic and unruly.
Best for: readers who like wild prose.
8. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
A graphic memoir about the author's father and her own coming out. Witty and sad.
Best for: graphic memoir fans.
9. Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
A woman writes in fragments about marriage, motherhood and betrayal. Short and brilliant.
Best for: readers who like fragmented novels.
10. The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang
Essays by a writer with schizoaffective disorder about illness and identity. Clear and generous.
Best for: readers who want insight.
11. Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot
A memoir in essays about trauma and healing. Raw and lyrical.
Best for: readers who want a distinct voice.
12. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Zauner writes about her Korean American identity and the loss of her mother. Moving and food-filled.
Best for: readers who love food and family.
13. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
After her mother's death, Strayed hikes the Pacific Crest Trail alone. Honest and inspiring.
Best for: readers who like journey memoirs.
14. Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
Kaysen's brief memoir of her stay in a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s. Short and sharp.
Best for: readers who like short memoirs.
15. Heartburn by Nora Ephron
A thinly veiled novel about the end of Ephron's marriage. Funny, sharp and quick.
Best for: readers who want a wry take on betrayal.
How We Chose These Books
Every pick is a real, widely available book that shares something specific with In the Dream House: its tone, its themes, its pace or the kind of characters it puts at the center. We mixed well-known favorites with a few less obvious titles, and we noted who each book suits best so you can match it to the reader. Where a book belongs to a series, we list the first volume so you can start at the beginning.
How to Choose
For more by Machado, read Her Body and Other Parties. For experimental memoir, begin with The Argonauts, Bluets or The Chronology of Water. For stories about assault and recovery, read Know My Name. For lighter reads, try Heartburn or Crying in H Mart. Many of these books deal with abuse, assault, grief and mental illness. If you need help in the US, call or text 988, or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
Related: 15 Books Like The House in the Cerulean Sea You’ll Love: Cozy Fantasy and Found Family · 15 Books Like The Haunting of Hill House You’ll Love: Subtle Horror and Ghost Stories
Frequently Asked Questions
What is In the Dream House about?
It is a memoir of an abusive relationship, told in short chapters framed by different genres, from haunted house to romance novel.
Does the memoir contain graphic content?
It describes emotional and physical abuse, though it focuses on the effects rather than graphic scenes.
Why is it called In the Dream House?
The Dream House is the name Machado gives to the house where the abuse occurred and to the memory of it.
Is it a good book for queer readers?
Many readers say it gives rare space to abuse in queer relationships, which is seldom discussed.