15 Best Magical Realism Books for a Touch of Enchantment

For fans of: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

Regarded as one of the greatest magical realism books ever written, Cien Años de Soledad (that’s One Hundred Years of Solitude for English readers) was released in 1967, has sold more than 50 million copies and has been translated into 46 languages. Reading this tome in college had a profound effect on me as a Latina writer, and the themes of magic, spirit and family felt both transportive and warmly familiar. According to “Gabo” himself, he had been trying to pull together the multigenerational family saga for close to two decades when, on a drive to Acapulco with his family, the story came to him all at once. Inspired, he spent the next 18 months holed up, chain-smoking and writing the novel that would earn him a Nobel Prize and inspire generations of writers.

Pick up this one to read about seven generations of the Buendía family and the fictional town of Macondo. The story spans a hundred years of epic Latin American history. This is a bucket-list book, so if you’re looking for ways to read more, be sure to add Márquez’s masterpiece to your TBR list.

For fans of: The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia

With 26 books translated into over 42 languages and more than 77 million copies sold worldwide, Isabel Allende is the bestselling Spanish-language author of all time. I once had the honor of interviewing the Chilean writer, and she recounted how she started working on The House of the Spirits: She began her epic, multigenerational debut novel on Jan. 8, 1981, after writing a letter to her dying grandfather, who she couldn’t visit because her family was in political exile in Venezuela. (Fun fact: Allende now starts all her novels on Jan. 8.)

The book, published in 1982, centers on the Truebe family and its clairvoyant matriarch, Clara, who’s based on Allende’s grandmother. The saga follows Clara’s husband, the power-hungry Esteban, their lovelorn daughter, Blanca, and their revolutionary granddaughter, Alba. The novel is a sweeping and touching tale that helps us better understand the complexity of Latin America and the concepts of love and family. Give it a read, and you’ll no doubt count Allende among your favorite authors.

For fans of: In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

I recently reread this classic novel, and its flavors burn even brighter (and the family story strikes harder) than when I first read it back in college. Set in Northern Mexico during the Mexican Revolution, this 1989 novel tells the story of Tita De la Garza through recipes. It’s a fitting format—Like Water for Chocolate centers on food in both magical and mundane ways. The fable-like and romantic novel sees Tita tangle with love yet be forced to remain a spinster so she can take care of her mother. Her complex feelings magically infuse her food and dishes. With themes of fate and family, the story of the De la Garza women plays out as their passions are hidden, forbidden and expressed.

For fans of: The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

A New York Times bestseller and winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, Piranesi‘s genre can be tough to pin down. Many call it magical realism or fantasy realism. Purists say it’s contemporary fantasy. If you love magical realism books, though, you’ll adore this 2020 novel by Susanna Clarke, the internationally bestselling author of the historical fantasy novel Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It takes readers to an endless house that protagonist Piranesi treats as if it’s normal, cataloging its quirks (think: rooms that contain oceans) with scientific detail. Of course, as the story unfolds, readers begin to see where the ordinary begins and the magical appears.

“Piranesi is about a house with an infinite number of rooms,” says Louisa Smith, the founder and editor of Epic Book Society, a site that shares reading tips and book recommendations. “You follow the main character, Piranesi, as he explores the house, journaling what he finds in the labyrinth and the wonders within each room. The description is beautifully poetic and vivid, and it’s written in first person, so you get to put yourself in the mind of Piranesi as you explore with him. But the story also has existential questions about the meaning of life and the pursuit of knowledge.”

For fans of: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

This is a book I come back to again and again, learning more about the characters and the brilliance of Toni Morrison’s writing. Based on the true story of Margaret Garner, an enslaved woman who escaped from a Kentucky plantation, killed her young daughter to keep the girl from enslavement and was later caught, Beloved tells a brutal story of slavery and motherhood.

Published in 1987, Morrison’s powerful, Pulitzer Prize–winning tale is about Sethe, a former slave dealing with the tragedies of her past. But it’s also about Beloved, the ghost of Sethe’s dead child, who is the beating heart of this unforgettable magical realism book. Even Morrison saw Beloved as the core of the novel, saying, “The figure most central to the story would have to be her—the murdered, not the murderer, the one who lost everything and had no say in any of it.”

For fans of: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Salman Rushdie counted One Hundred Years of Solitude as an inspiration for his multigenerational novel, which won him the Booker Prize in 1981, the year it was published. The book blends historical events, like the peaceful protest of Mahatma Gandhi, with magical elements and tells the post-colonial story of Saleem, who was born at the exact moment of India’s independence (midnight) and who, along with a thousand other “midnight children,” possesses special powers. When it comes to magical realism books, you’re bound to find Midnight’s Children on any book recommendations list worth its salt.

For fans of: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

With more than 250,000 reviews on Amazon—over 145,000 of them five stars—it’s safe to say Matt Haig’s New York Times bestselling The Midnight Library captivated readers. Here’s the premise: There exists an infinite library, and on its shelves, you’ll find the book of your life … along with books telling of the lives you could have lived. This feel-good page-turner from 2020 imaginatively examines what makes a life worth living.

“The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is one of the most popular magical realism books of the last several years,” says Julianne Buonocore, president of the Literary Lifestyle, a virtual reading community for women. “It uses magical realism to allow a depressed woman to visit a supernatural library, where she can look into books that show her other paths she may have taken in her life. As you follow her fantastical journey, it makes you think about the many paths you could have taken and how they may have turned out.”

For fans of: The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo

A riveting work of magical realism (and a powerful movie adaptation by Ang Lee), Life of Pi tells the story of Piscine Molitor Patel, a South Indian boy from Pondicherry, who’s named after a swimming pool and goes by “Pi.” After a shipwreck, Pi is stranded for 227 days on a boat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Yann Martel’s award-winning book, published in 2001, is a stunning (and surprising) story of survival and loss, perseverance and human nature—one that I thought about for a long, long time after reading it. If you’re ready to give this one a go, we have good news: It’s currently free on Kindle Unlimited for subscribers.

For fans of: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Anna-Marie McLemore’s 2015 debut novel is a wonderfully imaginative young adult story that’s like Romeo and Juliet meets magical realism. It drops readers into the rivalry between two families of circus performers. At its heart are Lace and Cluck, who fall in love against the odds.

“The Weight of Feathers is a beautiful book, from the engrossing story to the lush prose,” says Reader’s Digest Books Editor Tracey Neithercott. “The magical realism elements are woven in so well—they’re sometimes subtle, always purposeful. The book reads like a fairy tale in the best way.”

For fans of: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Published in 1994 by one of Japan’s most celebrated novelists, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle tells the story of an ordinary man and his extraordinary journey as he searches for his missing cat and his missing wife, and as he traverses alternate realities at the bottom of a well. The surreal story explores Japanese nationalism, evolving relationships and the search for meaning.

Though literary scholars typically point to novels by Latin American authors when discussing magical realism books, Haruki Murakami himself points out the connection between such tales and Asian writers. “In Japan, I think that other world is very close to our real life, and if we decide to go to the other side, it’s not so difficult,” he told the New Yorker. “I get the impression that in the Western world, it isn’t so easy to go to the other side; you have to go through some trials to get to the other world. But in Japan, if you want to go there, you go there. So in my stories, if you go down to the bottom of a well, there’s another world. And you can’t necessarily tell the difference between this side and the other side.”

For fans of: Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang

Shark Heart, published in 2023, is the daring, original love story about metamorphosis in marriage both figuratively and literally: Shortly after they’re married, Wren’s husband transforms into a shark. The premise may be asking a lot of readers, but as Booktokker and Bookstagrammer Shelby Gambrell points out, it’s worth stepping out of your comfort zone for this book.

“When I read the summary of this novel, I was out,” she says. “I’m not a fantasy reader. I like complicated interpersonal relationships, not saltwater fever dreams. I’m so glad I took the plunge. This novel is extraordinary. Sprint to add this to the top of your TBR if you sink your teeth into relationship dynamics and the evolution of a marriage. And make sure you are surrounded by comfort foods because I had the worst book hangover of all time with this read.”

For fans of: Dream of the Red Chamber by Tsao Hsueh-Chin

Published in 1986 by Mo Yan (author Guan Moye’s pen name, which translates to “don’t speak”), Red Sorghum centers on three generations of the Shandong family as they move from red sorghum liquor producers to freedom fighters of the second Sino-Japanese war. Through a series of flashbacks, the narrator recounts the lives of his grandparents and the horrors of war. Read the book first—Yan became the first Chinese author to win the coveted Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012—and when you’re done, catch the 1986 movie adaptation.

For fans of: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

If you devoured Like Water for Chocolate and are hungry for another novel where food has power, pick up Sarah Addison Allen’s Garden Spells. It’s magical realism meets Southern fiction, all wrapped up in a family drama centered on the Waverly sisters. There’s Claire, who imbues food with magic. Then there’s Sydney, who skipped town years ago and has just returned with her daughter in tow. The women will have to reckon with the past if they want a future in each other’s lives.

“Reading this book feels like sitting under a big tree in the summertime. It’s such a comfort read,” says Neithercott. “Pick it up for the small-town setting, sweet romances, story of sisterhood, charming magic and sense that everything is going to be all right.”

For fans of: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Set in Alaska in the 1920s, The Snow Child spins the story of a childless couple whose lives are changed by the appearance of a mysterious little girl who calls herself Faina—and who may have been fashioned out of snow. A nod to the Russian fairy tale The Snow Maiden, the story weaves a magical tale of love, loss, grief and repair, and it’s guaranteed to tug at your heartstrings. The author’s debut novel, the book was published in 2012 and short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction that same year.

For fans of: The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie

A classic of Russian literature, The Master and Margarita is a magical surrealism story that promises a wild, wild ride. Don’t believe us? Marlon James, author of the National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf, had this to say about the 1966 novel: “Nude vampires, gun-toting talking black cat and devil as ultimate party starter aside, the miracle of this novel is that every time you read it, it’s a different book.” To sum up a book you really need to read to experience, here’s the premise: The devil arrives in Moscow and wreaks havoc on the city. Expect a dual-timeline satire that’s as funny as it is fantastical.