Well, you probably have heard of fiction, which is the genre that is purely the product of the author’s imagination; hence, the tale and all bits of are not found in real life. If you compare it to humans, fiction is like a mother that has a lot of children and among her kids is family saga. Furthermore, family saga refers to the stories that record the lives of families for a particular time.
The term “saga” came from the North Germanic language called Old Scandinavian that means what is stated, narrative, or a tale about someone. Family saga has already reigned not just in the area of literature but also in film. There have been a lot of films and shows that center on the said genre, such as Star Wars, Sunshine, Heimat, In a Land of Plenty, The Best of Youth, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and more. But if you are more into books and want to dig deeper into the family saga fiction genre, then worry not! Listed below are some of the remarkable family saga fiction books that you must never miss reading.
Middlesex
The American publishing company called Farrar, Straus and Giroux is the publisher of the book Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. The publishing happened in September 4, 2002. Because of how amazing Eugenides’ wrote the book, it won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Award and the board of judges put in their report that the tale was broadly realized, intergenerational book as zestful as it is clever.
The novel central message revolves around renaissance, nature versus nurture, and the contradicting experiences of what the society creates as diametric. It also tackles the quest to achieve the American Dream and probes gender identity. Middlesex also records the impact of a gene mutation on three generations on a Greek family, creating significant changes in the life of the main character named Cal Stephanides, who is also the narrator of the story.
One Hundred Years of Solitude
The famous Columbian author Gabriel García Márquez is the person behind the family saga and magical realism masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude or Cien años de soledad. It was originally written in Spanish but was translated by Gregory Rabassa into English. The book was published in 1967 while the translated version was in 1970. Its publishers were Editorial Sudamericana, Har & Row, and Jonathan Cape.
It follows the story of seven generations of a family in Macondo called the Buendía Family. The founding fathers of the town were José Arcadio Buendía and his wife and at the same time first cousin Úrsula Iguarán. The couple left Riohacha, Colombia after the horrendous event, the killing of Prudencio Aguilar by José Arcadio after the victim stated that the suspect was impotent. José Arcadio came into a decision to shape up the town of Macondo at the side of a river, and that’s when the story started.
Table of Hearts
In October 1, 2010, the Mill City Press, Inc. published the romance and family saga fiction novel by Gerald James Avila called Table of Hearts. The book centers on the tale of a certain family and their customary values as they pass through time. But it wouldn’t also fall in the romance genre if a love affair is not included in its tale, wouldn’t it? Thus, the story also revolves around a love story that took place during the Vietnam War and the family’s business in Sonoma, California.
The character named Wallis Goginski followed the footsteps of his forefathers and has instilled the thoughts and ideas of his father and grandfather to work for him. He has made their stock brokerage as among the most profitable firm in the history. In other words, Wallis did a good job on running their family business. But with all the profits coming in and the times of learning and doing business have benefited the brokerage, are they all the things that Wallis truly desire in life or are there still things, such as love, that mean more than those?
The Wedding Dress
The notable author Danielle Steele is the woman behind the amazing story called The Wedding Dress. It was published by the Delacorte Press in April 28, 2020 and has fallen under the subcategories family life fiction and women’s domestic life fiction. It centers on the themes motherhood, loss, and successes. The story is set from the 1920s San Francisco that has been through a battle and has undergone through a social change to the year 1960s — which is the rise of the Silicon Valley.
It focuses on the story of four generations of women in a family that has been through a lot, including the 1928 rise of the Parisian design houses, 1929 crash, etc. The novel will bring you to a family saga that is inspiring and painful at the same time as every generation of it faces the struggles of their time. From their inheriting good amount of fortune until growing into good men and women, the wedding dress continue to be a revered piece of clothing that is being used by women of the family as they venture into their own fates.
Alex Writes 