The Best Canadian Novels by Canadian Authors

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

This novel is an epic and heartbreaking saga of life in India. It is a story of love and friendship in an unnamed city in 1975. Four strangers who are fleeing the caste system try and escape their city when the government declares a State of Emergency.

People come together and are ripped apart in this memorable book. This is a must for your list of Canadian novels to read.

Someone Knows My Name: A Novel/ Book of Negroes (non-American Editions) by Lawrence Hill

This book was published in Canada and is the winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize. Aminata Diallo is abducted as a child in Africa and enslaved in South Carolina.

She escapes during the Revolutionary was and goes to Manhattan when she becomes a scribe- recording the names of the black slaves. This book captures a lesser-known aspect of history and is beautifully written which is such a contrast to the poignant story within. 

Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels

This multiple award-winning Canadian historical fiction novel follows Jakob Beer, a Polish Holocaust survivor, over the course of his life as he becomes a famous poet. The second part of the book is told from the perspective of Ben who was born to Holocaust survivors. Their stories come together through Jacob’s poetry.

This beautifully written book will have you thinking about things in an entirely different way. I have never read a Holocaust book like it.

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

The Glass Hotel has been on my TBR since our spring round-up was released. Ponzi schemes, ghosts, cargo ships, weird-sibling dynamics. Sounds like the game I play with my kids where I ask them to name a few random things I turn into a story.⁣ Except this story is way better (and makes way more sense) than any story I could come up with.

This tale had me captivated. It’s a dark, honest look at human nature. This was my first experience with Emily St. John Mandel, but now I want to go read Station 11.

Kamila Knows Best by Farah Heron

This Bollywood retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma is a sweet and easy-to-read contemporary fiction book that brings Emma to life in a whole new way.

Kamila Hussain lives with her dad and is trying to keep him healthy after a few health scares. She works with him at an accounting firm and spends her free time volunteering with animals and matchmaking.

When her secret nemesis comes back to town, her world is turned upside down. If you want to check out more Jane Austen Retellings, check out our post!

Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim

Oh, how I loved this matchmaking book. ⁣What could be better than a love story set in a Paris tea shop with a little magic sprinkled on top? This magical realism book is not a complicated or unexpected story.  But what it is, is delightful, fun, and lighthearted. ⁣

Vanessa Yu never wanted to see people’s future in tea leaves and spent her entire life fighting it.  She also knows that this “gift” will stand in the way of having a successful relationship because she cannot stop blurting out truths whether she wants to or not. 

When Vanessa’s aunt offers to bring her to Paris to hone her skills and get her life in order, Vanessa goes.  As she finally gets to experience Paris, she wonders if she can change her destiny as well. When it comes to matchmaking books, this one is a favorite! And be sure to check out our delectable books about tea.

Ragged Company by Richard Wagamese

This is one of my all-time favorite books of fiction and the fact that it was written by a Canadian author makes it that much better. After reading it I told everyone I knew to READ this book. You must savor this book and don’t rush the reading. 
I felt a connection to each character and their tragic narrative. 
The writing is truly captivating in the oral storytelling tradition. The beliefs and spirituality of First Nations shine through the narrative of these characters. 

I know that I have not touched the plot but I want you to read and experience this book for yourself. (Written by Carolyn Robins)

In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje 

This was the first book that I read by Michael Ondaatje, a wonderful and well-known Canadian author. I found it particularly fascinating as it combined true stories and fictionized stories based on facts about the early immigrants to Toronto in the 1930s, their living conditions, and their importance in building the landmarks of Toronto…The Bloor Street viaduct and the Harris Water Treatment Plant.

This was a beautifully written story that has stayed with me these many years. His more famous book” The English Patient” was a much more difficult book for me to read. His love of poetry is more evident in that book and its format was unusual. I have to say that I liked watching the film The English Patient more than I did reading the book. (Written by Carolyn Robins)

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

When a boat sinks in the Pacific, the only survivors are a 16-year-old boy named Pi, an orangutan, a hyena, a Bengal tiger, and a zebra. And while this book was written less than 20 years ago, it is already a modern classic.

This is not a book that once read can be forgotten. I know that some people look at the story as an extended metaphor in which each animal represents a person but personally, I like the book exactly the way it was written. There is magic in the pages of this book in all meanings of the word. I had no idea Martel was Canadian and this on one of my favorite books on this list of Canadian Novels.

Fall on Your Knees by Anne-Marie MacDonald 

I read this book when it was first published in 2002. Needless to say, I needed to remind myself of some of the plot details but, the emotions in this book remain.

This book is a multigenerational saga that deals with the effect of trauma. This book will bring you to your knees, literally and figuratively. This is a heartwrenching pick from our list of books by Candian authors.

Dear Life by Alice Munro

Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2013. She has won numerous awards including the Mann Booker for her short stories.

I have read a few, everyone I know from Canada has read some of her work and I would be remiss if I did not include her on this list; however, I should add that I do not like her writing. She is a brilliant writer who makes you feel the way her characters feel. Unfortunately, this is often completely depressing.

The Secret Daughter by Ship Somaya Gowda

This is a powerful novel about two families and the daughter that ties them together. One poor family in India has a daughter that they cannot take care of so they take her to an orphanage.

One American family adopts a child from India who grows up to win an internship that would allow her to live in India for a year. The story is beautifully written and poignant as it examines two mothers and the love they have for their children. It looks at the economic disparity in India and how people’s lives are shifted and shaped.

From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle

Winner, Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Nonfiction
Winner, Indigenous Voices Awards
Winner, High Plains Book Awards
Finalist, CBC Canada Reads
A Globe and Mail Book of the Year
An Indigo Book of the Year
A CBC Best Canadian Nonfiction Book of the Year  

There is a reason this book has won so many prestigious awards. It is the memoir of a Métis Cree man who was abandoned as a toddler and placed in foster care with his two brothers. This book is a powerful look and family, prejudice, racism, and fighting to overcome it all to find happiness.

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munch

Robert Munch and his collection of smart and mostly hilarious children’s books are a household name in Canada. I have the entire collection of books which was given to me when my oldest was born.

The Paper Bag Princess is an unlikely princess story (which is one of my favorite kinds of story). The Princess rescues the Prince and finds her own way. Its amazing. While I Love You Forever may be Munch’s most famous book, this one is my Favorite

Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang by Mordecai Richler

Is there anyone who is not Canadian that has heard of this book? Im honestly curious because it is a household name in Canada.

Jacob Two-Two is two plus two plus two years old. He must say everything twice since nobody listens to him the first time and he is a prisoner of the Hooded Fang because he insulted a grown-up. It is dark and humorous a happy ending. It is more than what is seems by an award winning and acclaimed author Mordecai Richler

The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier

Every child in Canada has read this book. Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit but, there is no book that is more quintessentially Canadian than this one.

Hockey…Check
Hockey Legend Maurice Richard….Check
Rivalry between the Habs (The Montreal Canadiens) and the Leaf…..Double Check

Raven Brings the Light by Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd

This book is new to be but, I think it will be a Canadian classic one day. This is a story that has been traced back 3,000 years and passed on through generations.

This version of the story was told to the author by Chester Bolton, Chief of the Ravens, from the village of Kitkatla in 1975 (approx). This beautiful story was brought to life by the gorgeous art of Robert Budd. Fun fact: Robert and I went to school together until third grade and I and lucky to call him friend.