Books like Minimum of two by Tim Winton

A woman's rise from poverty to political influence, inspired by stories told by a storyteller's daughter.

In Tim Winton’s sweeping Australian novel, the Lamb and Pickle families, both scarred by tragedy, become intertwined in a sprawling house that serves as a microcosm of working‑class life.

Breath follows a paramedic’s haunting encounter with a deceased teen, echoing memories of growing up in Western Australia’s surf culture and the fierce bond of two young men pushing boundaries.

The Awakening and Selected Stories of Kate Chopin

Nam Le’s seven powerful short stories span continents, from Colombia’s slums to Iowa City, Tehran’s streets and a South‑China‑Sea voyage—each revealing the depth of human experience.

*"Although this is Australian author Tsiolkas’ fourth novel, it is the first to be published in the U.S. With its raw style, liberal use of profanity and racial epithets, and laserlike focus on the travails of suburban life, it is a down-and-dirty version of Tom Perrotta’s best-selling Little Children (2004). At a barbecue in a Melbourne suburb, a man loses his temper and slaps the child of the host’s friends. This incident unleashes a slew of divisive opinions, pitting friends and families against each other as the child’s parents take the man to court. Told from eight different viewpoints, the novel also deftly fills in disparate backstories encompassing young and old, single and married, gay and straight, as well as depicting how multiculturalism is increasingly impacting the traditional Aussie ethos. For good measure, the author also throws in male vanity, infidelity, and homophobia. Tsiolkas’ in-your-face style is sure to alienate some readers—the child’s parents, for example, are among the book’s most unlikable characters—but his novel, which won the 2009 Commonwealth Prize, fairly radiates with vitality as it depicts the messy complications of family life."* -- Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist

Twelve short stories by Tobias Wolff exploring the characters' lives and search for the 'right path'.

A collection of short stories by Tim Winton that explore life along the coastal regions of Western Australia.

In post‑war Tasmania, the novel follows a Slovenian immigrant family grappling with exile and a hidden truth that strains the relationship between Bojan and his motherless daughter, Sonia.

A London waterman sentenced to New South Wales faces the ultimate decision when he is transported as a convict, forcing him to confront themes of love, identity and belonging in the harsh early colonial landscape.

The works of Kate Chopin, including short stories, psychological fiction, and women's fiction, highlighting the struggles of women and their relationships in the American South of the late 19th century.

A collection of short stories by Kate Chopin, spanning Louisiana life and themes of self-discovery and freedom in American literature.

Short stories of life in a Louisiana bayou, featuring the Creole way of life and miscegenation, written by Kate Chopin, a prominent figure in American literature.

Barney Panofsky smokes too many cigars, drinks too much whiskey, and is obsessed with two things: the Montreal Canadiens hockey team and his ex-wife Miriam. An acquaintance from his youthful years in Paris, Terry McIver, is about to publish his autobiography. In its pages he accuses Barney of an assortment of sins, including murder. It's time, Barney decides, to present the world with his own version of events. Barney's Version is his memoir, a rambling, digressive rant, full of revisions and factual errors (corrected in footnotes written by his son) and enough insults for everyone, particularly vegetarians and Quebec separatists. But Barney does get around to telling his life story, a desperately funny but sad series of bungled relationships. His first wife, an artist and poet, commits suicide and becomes--a la Sylvia Plath--a feminist icon, and Barney is widely reviled for goading her toward death, if not actually murdering her. He marries the second Mrs. Panofsky, whom he calls a "Jewish-Canadian Princess," as an antidote to the first; it turns out to be a horrible mistake. The third, "Miriam, my heart's desire," is quite possibly his soul mate, but Barney botches this one, too. It's painful to watch him ruin everything, and even more painful to bear witness to his deteriorating memory. The mystery at the heart of Barney's story--did he or did he not kill his friend Boogie?

In 'Turning', Tim Winton weaves a collection of interlinked tales that explore second thoughts, mid‑life regret, and attitude change in a brooding coastal Western Australian town.