Books set in Louisiana
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 Louisiana 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 Secret to Hummingbird Cake
- Author: Celeste Fletcher McHale
- Published: February 9, 2016
- Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Southern
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Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles, #1)
- Author: Anne Rice
- Published: April 12, 1976
- Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Vampires
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A Streetcar Named Desire
- Author: Tennessee Williams
- Published: January 1, 1947
- Genres: Plays, Classics, Fiction, Drama
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The Awakening
- Author: Kate Chopin
- Published: January 1, 1899
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Feminism, School
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Night Embrace (Dark-Hunter, #2)
- Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
- Published: June 24, 2003
- Genres: Paranormal Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy
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A Confederacy of Dunces
- Author: John Kennedy Toole
- Published: April 1, 1994
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Humor, Literature
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Steel Magnolias
- Author: Robert Harling
- Published: January 1, 1988
- Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Fiction
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Sookie Stackhouse 8 Volume Set (Sookie Stackhouse, #1-8)
- Author: Charlaine Harris
- Published: January 1, 2009
- Genres: Fantasy, Vampires, Fiction, Urban Fantasy
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The Vampire Lestat (The Vampire Chronicles, #2)
- Author: Anne Rice
- Published: January 1, 1985
- Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Vampires, Fiction
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The Queen of the Damned (The Vampire Chronicles, #3)
- Author: Anne Rice
- Published: January 1, 1988
- Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Vampires, Fiction
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In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead (Dave Robicheaux, #6)
- Author: James Lee Burke
- Published: April 15, 1993
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller
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Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1)
- Author: Charlaine Harris
- Published: May 1, 2001
- Genres: Fantasy, Vampires, Paranormal, Romance
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Midnight Bayou
- Author: Nora Roberts
- Published: October 15, 2001
- Genres: Romance, Fiction, Mystery, Paranormal
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10 Steps to Girlfriend Status (Bird Face, #2)
- Author: Cynthia T. Toney
- Published: September 1, 2015
- Genres: Young Adult, Christian Fiction
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8 Notes to a Nobody (Bird Face, #1)
- Author: Cynthia T. Toney
- Published: February 11, 2014
- Genres: Fiction, Christian, Christian Fiction, Young Adult
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Cane River
- Author: Lalita Tademy
- Published: January 1, 2001
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, African American
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Out of the Easy
- Author: Ruta Sepetys
- Published: February 12, 2013
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Historical, Fiction
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Ruined (Ruined, #1)
- Author: Paula Morris
- Published: August 1, 2009
- Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Ghosts
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Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, #1)
- Author: Jeaniene Frost
- Published: November 1, 2007
- Genres: Paranormal, Vampires, Urban Fantasy, Romance
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Louisiana Longshot (Miss Fortune Mystery, #1)
- Author: Jana Deleon
- Published: June 23, 2012
- Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Humor, Fiction
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Call Me by My Name
- Author: John Ed Bradley
- Published: May 1, 2014
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Sports, Historical
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The Veil (Devil's Isle, #1)
- Author: Chloe Neill
- Published: August 4, 2015
- Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Magic
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Rising Moon (Nightcreature, #6)
- Author: Lori Handeland
- Published: January 2, 2007
- Genres: Paranormal Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy
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Fear the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity, #9)
- Author: Alexandra Ivy
- Published: October 24, 2011
- Genres: Paranormal Romance, Paranormal, Vampires, Romance
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Hurricane Force (Miss Fortune Mystery, #7)
- Author: Jana Deleon
- Published: September 20, 2015
- Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Romance, Humor
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The Other Side of Freedom
- Author: Cynthia T. Toney
- Published: October 9, 2017
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Young Adult
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Shadowed Summer
- Author: Saundra Mitchell
- Published: February 10, 2009
- Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Mystery, Ghosts
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Pearl in the Mist (Landry, #2)
- Author: V.C. Andrews
- Published: January 1, 1994
- Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Horror, Romance
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The Love Potion (Cajun, #1)
- Author: Sandra Hill
- Published: December 1, 1999
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Humor
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Fiddle Fever
- Author: Sharon Arms Doucet
- Published: September 1, 2000
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction
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6 Dates to Disaster (Bird Face, #3)
- Author: Cynthia T. Toney
- Published: December 5, 2016
- Genres: Christian, Young Adult
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American Hippo (River of Teeth, #1-2)
- Author: Sarah Gailey
- Published: May 22, 2018
- Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Alternate History
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The Last Suppers
- Author: Mandy Mikulencak
- Published: December 26, 2017
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Mystery
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Ruby (Landry, #1)
- Author: V.C. Andrews
- Published: January 1, 1993
- Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Horror, Romance
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Sweet Ruin (Immortals After Dark, #15)
- Author: Kresley Cole
- Published: December 1, 2015
- Genres: Paranormal Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy
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Night Pleasures (Dark-Hunter, #1)
- Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
- Published: October 13, 2002
- Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy
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The Tin Roof Blowdown (Dave Robicheaux, #16)
- Author: James Lee Burke
- Published: January 1, 2007
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller
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Red River
- Author: Lalita Tademy
- Published: December 4, 2006
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, African American
- Read more on Goodreads
Madam: A Novel of New Orleans
- Author: Cari Lynn
- Published: February 25, 2014
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Prostitution
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Midnight on Julia Street
- Author: Ciji Ware
- Published: January 1, 1999
- Genres: Romance, Historical Fiction, Time Travel, Fiction
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A Stained White Radiance (Dave Robicheaux, #5)
- Author: James Lee Burke
- Published: April 2, 1992
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller
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Pieces of Why
- Author: K.L. Going
- Published: September 8, 2015
- Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Family
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Part of Me: Stories of a Louisiana Family
- Author: Kimberly Willis Holt
- Published: January 1, 2006
- Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Childrens
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Swamp Thing, Vol. 6: Reunion
- Author: Alan Moore
- Published: September 1, 1987
- Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy
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Men of the Otherworld (Otherworld Stories, #1)
- Author: Kelley Armstrong
- Published: January 27, 2009
- Genres: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Fantasy, Werewolves
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The Rules for Disappearing (The Rules for Disappearing, #1)
- Author: Ashley Elston
- Published: May 14, 2013
- Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Contemporary, Romance
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Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse, #11)
- Author: Charlaine Harris
- Published: May 3, 2011
- Genres: Fantasy, Vampires, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
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Cajun Waltz
- Author: Robert H. Patton
- Published: June 14, 2016
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical
- Read more on Goodreads
The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane
- Author: Kate O'Shaughnessy
- Published: March 3, 2020
- Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads