Books set in Tennessee
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 Tennessee 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 Color Purple
- Author: Alice Walker
- Published: June 1, 1982
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Feminism
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Christy
- Author: Catherine Marshall
- Published: June 1, 1967
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Classics, Christian Fiction
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Beard in Mind (Winston Brothers, #4)
- Author: Penny Reid
- Published: July 31, 2017
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Fiction
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Batter of Wits (Love at First Sight, #2)
- Author: Karla Sorensen
- Published: April 21, 2020
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Fiction
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Under Water: A Natural Disaster Memoir
- Author: Owen Grimenstein
- Published: October 29, 2016
- Genres: History, Nonfiction
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American Gods
- Author: Neil Gaiman
- Published: June 19, 2001
- Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Mythology
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The Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lecter, #2)
- Author: Thomas Harris
- Published: July 1, 1988
- Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery
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Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock N' Roll
- Author: Priscilla Presley
- Published: September 19, 1985
- Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Music, Memoir
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Grin and Beard It (Winston Brothers, #2)
- Author: Penny Reid
- Published: March 21, 2016
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Humor
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Natural Born Charmer (Chicago Stars, #7)
- Author: Susan Elizabeth Phillips
- Published: January 1, 2007
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit
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Fortune Calling (The Fortune Series, #1)
- Author: Hunter S. Jones
- Published: January 27, 2014
- Genres: Romance, Fiction, Short Stories
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Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business
- Author: Dolly Parton
- Published: September 20, 1994
- Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Music
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March: Book One (March, #1)
- Author: John Lewis
- Published: August 13, 2013
- Genres: Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, History, Memoir
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The Dragon King (Chattanooga Supernaturals, #1)
- Author: Candace Blevins
- Published: March 17, 2015
- Genres: Paranormal, BDSM, Fantasy, Shapeshifters
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Carved in Bone (Body Farm, #1)
- Author: Jefferson Bass
- Published: January 1, 2006
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Crime
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She Walks These Hills (Ballad, #3)
- Author: Sharyn McCrumb
- Published: January 1, 1994
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery Thriller
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Flight Behavior
- Author: Barbara Kingsolver
- Published: November 1, 2012
- Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Environment, Contemporary
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Nothing to See Here
- Author: Kevin Wilson
- Published: October 29, 2019
- Genres: Fiction, Audiobook, Magical Realism, Fantasy
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Before We Were Yours
- Author: Lisa Wingate
- Published: June 6, 2017
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Audiobook
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The Firm
- Author: John Grisham
- Published: February 28, 1991
- Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Crime
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Only Human (Only Human #1)
- Author: Candace Blevins
- Published: February 1, 2015
- Genres: BDSM, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Erotica
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Say You Want Me (The Hennington Brothers, #2)
- Author: Corinne Michaels
- Published: October 29, 2016
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Audiobook
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Flesh and Bone (Body Farm #2)
- Author: Jefferson Bass
- Published: January 1, 2007
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Crime
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Roots: The Saga of an American Family
- Author: Alex Haley
- Published: August 17, 1976
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Classics, Historical
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The Women of Brewster Place
- Author: Gloria Naylor
- Published: June 2, 1982
- Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Classics, African American
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A Death in the Family
- Author: James Agee
- Published: January 1, 1957
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Literature, Novels
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The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II
- Author: Denise Kiernan
- Published: March 5, 2013
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, World War II, Science
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Safeword Quinacridone (Safeword, #5)
- Author: Candace Blevins
- Published: December 28, 2012
- Genres: BDSM, Erotica, Romance, Erotic Romance
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Safeword Matte (Safeword, #2)
- Author: Candace Blevins
- Published: March 1, 2012
- Genres: BDSM, Erotica, Romance, M F Romance
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Duke (Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club, #1)
- Author: Candace Blevins
- Published: April 22, 2015
- Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Shapeshifters
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The Widow of the South
- Author: Robert Hicks
- Published: August 30, 2005
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Civil War, Historical
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Black Rose (In the Garden, #2)
- Author: Nora Roberts
- Published: May 31, 2005
- Genres: Romance, Fiction, Paranormal, Contemporary Romance
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A Summons to Memphis
- Author: Peter Taylor
- Published: June 29, 1986
- Genres: Fiction, Novels, Southern, Literary Fiction
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Beard Science (Winston Brothers, #3)
- Author: Penny Reid
- Published: October 11, 2016
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Humor
- Read more on Goodreads
Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley
- Author: Peter Guralnick
- Published: March 1, 1994
- Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, History
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Blue Moon (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #8)
- Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
- Published: November 1, 1998
- Genres: Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Paranormal, Fantasy
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Zombies of the Gene Pool (Jay Omega, #2)
- Author: Sharyn McCrumb
- Published: February 1, 1992
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Humor, Science Fiction
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Red Lily (In the Garden, #3)
- Author: Nora Roberts
- Published: November 29, 2005
- Genres: Romance, Fiction, Paranormal, Contemporary Romance
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Cut to the Bone (Body Farm, #8)
- Author: Jefferson Bass
- Published: September 24, 2013
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense
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Inherit the Wind
- Author: Jerome Lawrence
- Published: January 1, 1955
- Genres: Plays, Classics, Fiction, Drama
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The Children
- Author: David Halberstam
- Published: March 24, 1998
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Politics
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The Sandbox & The Death of Bessie Smith
- Author: Edward Albee
- Published: October 1, 1963
- Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Fiction
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The Reivers
- Author: William Faulkner
- Published: January 1, 1962
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Literature, Historical Fiction
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Whistle
- Author: James Jones
- Published: March 1, 1978
- Genres: Fiction, War, Historical Fiction, World War II
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Ghost Riders
- Author: Sharyn McCrumb
- Published: January 1, 2003
- Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical
- Read more on Goodreads
Walland (Hesse Creek #1)
- Author: Andrea Thome
- Published: August 12, 2016
- Genres: Romance, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads
Christmas at Carnton (Carnton, #0.5)
- Author: Tamera Alexander
- Published: October 3, 2017
- Genres: Christmas, Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction, Romance
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The Hiding Girl (Emily Calby, #1)
- Author: Dorian Box
- Published: June 15, 2020
- Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Suspense
- Read more on Goodreads
Secondhand Smoke (Dartmoor, #4)
- Author: Lauren Gilley
- Published: January 14, 2016
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Dark, Suspense
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The Serpent King
- Author: Jeff Zentner
- Published: March 8, 2016
- Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Realistic Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads