Books set in Connecticut

Written by:
September 27, 2022
diignat // Shutterstock

Books set in Connecticut

Every state has its hallmark writers. Mississippi has William Faulkner and his incomparable (fictional) Yoknapatawpha County and Missouri can lay claim to Mark Twain. The state of Maine is gifted with Pulitzer winner Richard Russo and horror icon Stephen King. Rural Pennsylvania is the playground of the much-heralded (and occasionally maligned) John Updike, and when many bibliophiles think of New Jersey, they also think of Richard Ford's series of novels featuring recurring Everyman character Frank Bascombe. Illinois can lay claim to William Maxwell, Sandra Cisneros, and Adam Langer, among numerous others. And what reader can think of Washington State without contending with the sparkle-vampire yarns of Stephanie Meyer?

What makes authors like these inextricably associated with a particular state is not simply the matter of their having been born there or choosing to live there. The connection, from a writerly standpoint, is deeper than that—their work, nearly all of it, is set in "their" state.

Of course, there are certainly exceptions. Whether a writer sets a tale in the town where they went to college or spent part of their childhood—like Donna Tartt's "The Secret History" and its New England arts school setting and the almost-factual small town of Jo Ann Beard's "In Zanesville," respectively—or crafts a story that follows a social or political theme to a location they know little about but lay narrative claim to anyway, the world is rife with books known, loved, and respected that also capture the essence of place—books where setting itself is one of the strongest characters.

Stacker compiled a list of books set in Connecticut from Goodreads. Whether you're looking for a good read set in the state you call home, or you're looking to expand your curiosity with a writer you're already familiar with, we've got you covered.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

- Rating: 4.00 (146,194 ratings)
- Author: Elizabeth George Speare
- Published: January 1, 1958
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Classics
- Read more on Goodreads

The Ice Storm

- Rating: 3.65 (5,658 ratings)
- Author: Rick Moody
- Published: January 1, 1994
- Genres: Fiction, Novels, Literary Fiction, Contemporary
- Read more on Goodreads

Share the Moon (Blue Moon Lake #1)

- Rating: 4.20 (117 ratings)
- Author: Sharon Struth
- Published: August 1, 2014
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit
- Read more on Goodreads

True Blend

- Rating: 4.05 (395 ratings)
- Author: Joanne DeMaio
- Published: March 4, 2014
- Genres: Fiction, Womens Fiction, Contemporary, Chick Lit
- Read more on Goodreads

Snowflakes and Coffee Cakes

- Rating: 3.90 (1,271 ratings)
- Author: Joanne DeMaio
- Published: October 15, 2013
- Genres: Christmas, Romance, Contemporary, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Before I Fall

- Rating: 3.89 (325,434 ratings)
- Author: Lauren Oliver
- Published: February 14, 2010
- Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Romance
- Read more on Goodreads

I Know This Much Is True

- Rating: 4.20 (302,498 ratings)
- Author: Wally Lamb
- Published: June 14, 1998
- Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Novels, Literary Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Revolutionary Road

- Rating: 3.91 (84,528 ratings)
- Author: Richard Yates
- Published: December 31, 1961
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction, Novels
- Read more on Goodreads

The Hundred Dresses

- Rating: 4.09 (37,781 ratings)
- Author: Eleanor Estes
- Published: January 1, 1944
- Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Classics, Middle Grade
- Read more on Goodreads

The Stepford Wives

- Rating: 3.81 (34,884 ratings)
- Author: Ira Levin
- Published: September 1, 1972
- Genres: Horror, Fiction, Classics, Science Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Books Can Be Deceiving (Library Lover's Mystery, #1)

- Rating: 3.84 (9,483 ratings)
- Author: Jenn McKinlay
- Published: July 5, 2011
- Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Books About Books
- Read more on Goodreads

Blue Jeans and Coffee Beans

- Rating: 3.75 (2,496 ratings)
- Author: Joanne DeMaio
- Published: March 11, 2013
- Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Romance, Contemporary
- Read more on Goodreads

Whole Latte Life

- Rating: 3.62 (1,070 ratings)
- Author: Joanne DeMaio
- Published: March 7, 2012
- Genres: Womens Fiction, Romance, Chick Lit, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

The Other

- Rating: 3.99 (21,088 ratings)
- Author: Thomas Tryon
- Published: January 1, 1971
- Genres: Horror, Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
- Read more on Goodreads

Until the Robin Walks on Snow

- Rating: 3.58 (131 ratings)
- Author: Bernice L. Rocque
- Published: September 8, 2012
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Holiday, Fiction, Christmas
- Read more on Goodreads

Due or Die (Library Lover's Mystery, #2)

- Rating: 3.96 (6,305 ratings)
- Author: Jenn McKinlay
- Published: March 6, 2012
- Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook
- Read more on Goodreads

Couldn't Keep it to Myself: Wally Lamb and the Women of York Correctional Institution

- Rating: 4.09 (7,270 ratings)
- Author: Wally Lamb
- Published: February 1, 2003
- Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Short Stories, Essays
- Read more on Goodreads

A Wrinkle in Time (A Wrinkle in Time Quintet, #1)

- Rating: 3.99 (1.1 million ratings)
- Author: Madeleine L'Engle
- Published: January 1, 1962
- Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Classics, Young Adult
- Read more on Goodreads

Book, Line and Sinker (Library Lover's Mystery, #3)

- Rating: 3.95 (5,196 ratings)
- Author: Jenn McKinlay
- Published: December 4, 2012
- Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook
- Read more on Goodreads

Dearest of Geniuses: A Life of Theodate Pope Riddle

- Rating: 3.68 (37 ratings)
- Author: Sandra L. Katz
- Published: May 30, 2003
- Genres: Nonfiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Harriet Beecher Stowe

- Rating: 4.05 (141 ratings)
- Author: Joan D. Hedrick
- Published: January 13, 1994
- Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, American History
- Read more on Goodreads

Katharine Hepburn: A Remarkable Woman

- Rating: 3.76 (358 ratings)
- Author: Anne Edwards
- Published: January 1, 1985
- Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Film, Biography Memoir
- Read more on Goodreads

Read It and Weep (Library Lover's Mystery, #4)

- Rating: 3.95 (4,531 ratings)
- Author: Jenn McKinlay
- Published: November 5, 2013
- Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook
- Read more on Goodreads

On Borrowed Time (Library Lover's Mystery, #5)

- Rating: 3.89 (3,951 ratings)
- Author: Jenn McKinlay
- Published: January 1, 2014
- Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Romance
- Read more on Goodreads

Love Gone Mad

- Rating: 3.54 (632 ratings)
- Author: Mark Rubinstein
- Published: January 1, 2013
- Genres: Thriller, Romance, Mystery, Drama
- Read more on Goodreads

Silver Lake

- Rating: 3.97 (376 ratings)
- Author: Kathryn Knight
- Published: August 18, 2012
- Genres: Paranormal, Mystery, Ghosts, Romance
- Read more on Goodreads

Brass

- Rating: 3.67 (2,170 ratings)
- Author: Xhenet Aliu
- Published: January 23, 2018
- Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Family
- Read more on Goodreads

Brotherhood in Death (In Death, #42)

- Rating: 4.40 (25,001 ratings)
- Author: J.D. Robb
- Published: February 2, 2016
- Genres: Mystery, Romance, Fiction, Crime
- Read more on Goodreads

Since You've Been Gone

- Rating: 4.09 (109,746 ratings)
- Author: Morgan Matson
- Published: May 6, 2014
- Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

- Rating: 3.77 (100,516 ratings)
- Author: Mark Twain
- Published: January 1, 1889
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Most Wanted

- Rating: 3.63 (22,408 ratings)
- Author: Lisa Scottoline
- Published: April 12, 2016
- Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Audiobook, Thriller
- Read more on Goodreads

A Likely Story (Library Lover's Mystery, #6)

- Rating: 3.96 (3,817 ratings)
- Author: Jenn McKinlay
- Published: November 3, 2015
- Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook
- Read more on Goodreads

A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes, #1)

- Rating: 3.77 (54,853 ratings)
- Author: Brittany Cavallaro
- Published: March 1, 2016
- Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Vision in White (Bride Quartet, #1)

- Rating: 4.12 (134,267 ratings)
- Author: Nora Roberts
- Published: April 28, 2009
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Winterbound

- Rating: 3.69 (113 ratings)
- Author: Margery Williams Bianco
- Published: January 1, 1936
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens
- Read more on Goodreads

The Barbarians are Coming

- Rating: 3.38 (257 ratings)
- Author: David Wong Louie
- Published: January 1, 2000
- Genres: Fiction, China, Contemporary, Asian Literature
- Read more on Goodreads

Magical Blend (Paramour Bay #1)

- Rating: 3.89 (1,247 ratings)
- Author: Kennedy Layne
- Published: October 2, 2018
- Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fantasy, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

The World's Most Haunted House: The True Story of the Bridgeport Poltergeist on Lindley Street

- Rating: 3.28 (578 ratings)
- Author: William J. Hall
- Published: August 25, 2014
- Genres: Nonfiction, Paranormal, Horror, Ghosts
- Read more on Goodreads

365 Days to Alaska

- Rating: 4.22 (467 ratings)
- Author: Cathy Carr
- Published: January 19, 2021
- Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Family, Contemporary
- Read more on Goodreads

Wishin' and Hopin'

- Rating: 3.58 (16,474 ratings)
- Author: Wally Lamb
- Published: November 1, 2009
- Genres: Christmas, Fiction, Humor, Holiday
- Read more on Goodreads

Gentle Rogue (Malory-Anderson Family, #3)

- Rating: 4.20 (21,500 ratings)
- Author: Johanna Lindsey
- Published: December 1, 1990
- Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Pirates
- Read more on Goodreads

American Beauty

- Rating: 3.68 (96 ratings)
- Author: Edna Ferber
- Published: January 1, 1931
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics
- Read more on Goodreads

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

- Rating: 4.05 (194,966 ratings)
- Author: Ocean Vuong
- Published: June 4, 2019
- Genres: Fiction, Poetry, LGBT, Contemporary
- Read more on Goodreads

The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: An Autobiography

- Rating: 3.71 (70 ratings)
- Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- Published: February 6, 2013
- Genres: Biography, Memoir, Feminism, Nonfiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted

- Rating: 4.31 (882 ratings)
- Author: Justin Martin
- Published: May 31, 2011
- Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Architecture
- Read more on Goodreads

Nightmare Session (Private School #1)

- Rating: 3.57 (44 ratings)
- Author: Steven Charles
- Published: September 1, 1986
- Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Paranormal
- Read more on Goodreads

The Courage of Sarah Noble

- Rating: 3.89 (6,756 ratings)
- Author: Alice Dalgliesh
- Published: January 1, 1954
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Childrens, Historical
- Read more on Goodreads

An Acceptable Time (Time Quintet, #5)

- Rating: 3.80 (21,222 ratings)
- Author: Madeleine L'Engle
- Published: October 1, 1989
- Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Science Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Kristy's Great Idea (The Baby-Sitters Club, #1)

- Rating: 3.98 (32,630 ratings)
- Author: Ann M. Martin
- Published: August 1, 1986
- Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade
- Read more on Goodreads

My Brother Sam Is Dead

- Rating: 3.42 (17,356 ratings)
- Author: James Lincoln Collier
- Published: January 1, 1974
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Historical
- Read more on Goodreads

Trending Now