Best books…chosen by Rowan Beaird

Rowan Beaird’s debut novel, The Divorcées, is set in 1951 at a Reno “divorce ranch”— a hotel catering to women seeking to end their marriages quickly by establishing six weeks’ residency in Nevada. Below, Beaird recommends six essential novels of the era.

The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith (1952). Highsmith once said that the protagonist of this novel, Therese, “came from my own bones.” But due to its sexual content, The Price of Salt was originally published under a pseudonym. This love story, between Therese and the complex Carol, is Highsmith at her best, and it dares to give readers something we rarely expect from her work: a happy ending.

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin (1953). I love books with a tight timeline, and this semi-autobiographical novel unfolds over the course of a single day. As always, Baldwin’s writing is fierce and powerful, and he creates a rich character study as his protagonist wrestles with sexuality, religion, and family secrets.

Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan (1954). Published when Sagan was only 18, Bonjour Tristesse was a sensation and a scandal. It’s a remarkable portrait of teenage girlhood. It was said that the book would “deal a fatal blow to the image of young French women in the eyes of foreigners.” If that doesn’t make you want to read it, I don’t know what will.

Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and

Seymour: An Introduction by J.D. Salinger (1955). This book, another of Salinger’s installments about the Glass family, comprises two novellas. The first tells of Seymour’s wedding day; the second is his brother Buddy’s attempt to introduce Seymour to the reader. Both stories are at once funny and devastating; beautiful portraits of the love shared between siblings.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (1959). Hill House is a place of ghosts, but Jackson knows real terror comes from what can’t be seen. Her novel creates a haze around the actual hauntings, focusing instead on the instability of the characters, creating a sense of destabilization that stays with the reader.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote (1958). It’s difficult to separate this novella from the iconic Audrey Hepburn film, but the original text is darker and infinitely more interesting. Harper’s Bazaar pulled the story over fears about the reaction of one advertiser: Tiffany’s. Luckily, Capote’s sharp, elegant story found a home in Esquire.