Recommendations
Books Like Sula by Toni Morrison
Nel and Sula in the Bottom of Medallion, Ohio
If Morrison's compressed Greek-tragedy form, the communal chorus of the Bottom, and the radical centering of Black women's friendship drew you in, here are eight books that extend these concerns.
- 1
Buy on AmazonBeloved
by Toni Morrison
Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winner — the slavery trauma that Sula's Ohio community is only one generation away from; the essential companion in Morrison's project, longer and more formally complex than Sula.
- 2
Buy on AmazonSong of Solomon
by Toni Morrison
Morrison's National Book Critics Circle-winner — the male counterpart in anatomy of African-American community and ancestry; the companion that extends Sula's Ohio world into a multigenerational quest.
- 3
Buy on AmazonTheir Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston
Hurston's Harlem Renaissance novel — the predecessor in centering a Black woman's desire and self-knowledge; Janie's community is the formal counterpart to the Bottom; the tradition Morrison is writing from.
- 4
Buy on AmazonThe Color Purple
by Alice Walker
Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winner — the companion in African-American women's fiction; where Sula is compressed and communal, The Color Purple is expansive and epistolary, but both center Black women's inner lives.
- 5
Buy on AmazonPassing
by Nella Larsen
Larsen's 1929 Harlem Renaissance novel — female friendship and the racial boundary; Irene and Clare's relationship is the formal predecessor in African-American women's fiction of intense, ambivalent female relationships.
- 6
Buy on AmazonHousekeeping
by Marilynne Robinson
Robinson's debut — two sisters and the question of domestic stability vs. transience; the white American literary parallel to Sula's account of two women and what each chooses for her life.
- 7
Buy on AmazonThe Bluest Eye
by Toni Morrison
Morrison's debut — the predecessor to Sula in centering Black girls' inner lives in an Ohio town; the beginning of the project that Sula achieves in its most compressed and perfect form.
- 8Buy on Amazon
Quicksand
by Nella Larsen
Larsen's 1928 novel — the predecessor in African-American women's fiction of a Black woman who refuses the roles available to her; Helga Crane's restlessness is the formal ancestor of Sula's refusal.
More Sula by Toni Morrison Resources
More Reading Recommendations
View all →Monthly Newsletter
Never miss a big release
Get the most anticipated upcoming books delivered to your inbox once a month — no spam, no filler.
Monthly only. Unsubscribe anytime.
Book links are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, BookReleaseRadar earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.