Skip to Main Content

Read, Watch, Listen

Last Updated: Apr 15, 2020 2:20 AM
Subjects: Adults, Authors, Fiction, Nonfiction
Tags: Read Watch Listen
Print Page

Introduction

They're Related

May 2012

Does the talent to write run in the family? Are relationships built on common interests? Certainly both are true in this BCCLSVisor of family members/spouses who are well-known authors. Some relationships will be obvious to you, some not. Some family members are co-authors, some continue a series after a relative dies, and some write under a different name.

If you're interested in more authors who are related, check out Listology.

Recommended Reads

Family

Father

Victims by Jonathan Kellerman
ISBN: 9780345505712
Publication Date: 2012-02-28
When a killer who rivals Jack the Ripper cuts a bloody swath through the city, LAPD detective Milo Sturgis needs Alex Delaware's help in catching this homicidal maniac--a disturbing case that sends Alex back into the secretive world of mental health treatment.

Mother

Gun Games by Faye Kellerman
ISBN: 9780062064325
Publication Date: 2012-01-03
Lieutenant Detective Decker and his wife, Rina, investigate an apparent teen suicide witnessed by the son of a troubled former friend whom they have welcomed into their home.

...and their Son

The Genius by Jesse Kellerman
ISBN: 9780399154591
Publication Date: 2008-04-10
A grad student meets his intellectual match and seals his dark fate when he responds to a newspaper ad seeking a conversationalist.

Father

11/22/63 by Stephen King
ISBN: 9781451627282
Publication Date: 2011-11-08
Receiving a horrific essay from a GED student with a traumatic past, high-school English teacher Jake Epping is enlisted by a friend to travel back in time to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, a mission for which he must befriend troubled loner Lee Harvey Oswald.

Mother

Survivor by Tabitha King
ISBN: 0525942416
Publication Date: 1997-02-01
The consequences of a car accident in her youth come back to haunt photographer Kissy Mellors in the form of a policeman who pursues her and whom she eventually marries, in a nearly fatal decision.

...and their Son

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
ISBN: 0061147931
Publication Date: 2007-02-01
A collector of obscure and macabre artifacts, from a cannibal cookbook to a used hangman's noose, unscrupulous metal band musician Judas Coyne is unable to resist purchasing a ghost over the Internet, which turns out to be the vengeful spirit of his late girlfriend's stepfather.

Father/Daughter

Father

Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
ISBN: 0060530626
Publication Date: 2003-03-18
Describes the courage and conviction demonstrated by eight great patriots at pivotal moments in American history.

Daughter

She Walks in Beauty by Caroline Kennedy
ISBN: 9781401341459
Publication Date: 2011-04-05
A collection of verse by some of the great poets organized into an intimate telling of the milestones and experiences of a woman's life.

Father

The Doctor and the Kid by Mike Resnick
ISBN: 9781616145378
Publication Date: 2011-12-20
When he needs more money for his nest egg, Doc Holliday enlists the conjuring help of Geronimo and the gadgetry wizardry of Thomas Edison to hunt down Billy the Kid for the bounty in a steampunk novel set in 1882 Deadwood, Colorado.

Daughter

Doppelgangster by Laura Resnick
ISBN: 9780756405953
Publication Date: 2010-01-05
Esther Diamond, the New York actress, is resting between roles by working as a singing waitress at a Manhattan mob restaurant. Then duplicate gangsters appear, bullets start flying, and it's up to Esther and her friend Max The Magician to fight Evil by stopping a gang war before it starts killing the wrong people.

Father

The Best Laid Plans by Sidney Sheldon
ISBN: 0688149111
Publication Date: 1997-09-03
The explosive story of the beautiful and ambitious Leslie Stewart, who learns that for some men power is the greatest aphrodisiac, and of Oliver Russell, the handsome governor of a small southern state, who finds out why hell has no fury like a woman scorned.

Daughter

Reflection by Mary Sheldon
ISBN: 075820308X
Publication Date: 2003-04-01
Traces the parallel chances in the life of a divorcing couple's daughter if she stays in California with her mother, an actor's agent, and becomes a child star, or returns to New York with her architect father, who doesn't want her to act.

Father

Sophie's Choice by William Styron
ISBN: 0679736379
Publication Date: 1992-03-03
Three stories are told: a young Southerner wants to become a writer; a turbulent love-hate affair between a brilliant Jew and a beautiful Polish woman; and of an awful wound in that woman's past--one that impels both Sophie and Nathan toward destruction.

Daughter

Reading My Father by Alexandra Styron
ISBN: 9781416591795
Publication Date: 2011-04-19
The daughter of Sophie's Choice author William Styron discusses what it was like growing up in the same house as a moody literary giant, whose life spiraled out of control when he sank into a deep depression.

Father/Son

Father and Son

Crescent Dawn by Clive Cussler; Dirk Cussler
ISBN: 9780399157141
Publication Date: 2010-11-16
NUMA director Dirk Pitt searches for the connections among newly discovered Roman artifacts, the rise of a fundamentalist movement, and the existence of a mysterious long-lost "manifest," which, if discovered again, may change the history of the world.

Father

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
ISBN: 0679643249
Publication Date: 2004-11-02
Portraits of Lee, Longstreet, and other Civil War leaders are interwoven with historical detail to provide a fictional recreation of the bloody battle at Gettysburg.

Son

Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara
ISBN: 0345404920
Publication Date: 1996-05-28
The lives, passions, and careers of four great military leaders--Stonewall Jackson, Winfield Scott Hancock, Joshua Chamberlain, and Robert E. Lee--come to a climax as Union and Confederate forces clash on the battlefields of the Civil War. A "prequel" to Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels.

Father and Son

Crossfire by Dick Francis; Felix Francis
ISBN: 9780399156816
Publication Date: 2010-08-17
After he discovers that his mother, an esteemed horse trainer, is being blackmailed and forced to make her horses lose, disabled Afghanistan veteran Captain Tom Forsyth must use his military skills to root out the shadowy figure responsible for his mother's predicament.

Father

Dune by Frank Herbert
ISBN: 9780441013593
Publication Date: 2005-08-02
Follows the adventures of Paul Atreides, the son of a betrayed duke given up for dead on a treacherous desert planet and adopted by its fierce, nomadic people, who help him unravel his most unexpected destiny.

Son

Sisterhood of Dune by Brian Herbert; Kevin J. Anderson
ISBN: 9780765322739
Publication Date: 2012-01-03
Decades after the Battle of Corrin destroys the thinking machines and establishes Faykan Butler as the first Imperium Emperor, war hero Vorian Atreides turns his back on politics while the Butlerian movement sweeps through the known universe. ("With their usual fidelity to the vision of the late Frank Herbert, coauthors Herbert (Frank's son) and Anderson (The Winds of Dune) continue to illuminate heretofore hidden areas of the Dune time line." Library Journal)

Father

A Heartbeat Away by Michael Palmer
ISBN: 9780312587529
Publication Date: 2011-02-15
Preparing to give a State of the Union address when a terrorist group releases a deadly virus into the Capitol building, President James Allaire is forced to enlist the services of a virologist who has been wrongly imprisoned for suspected terrorist intentions.

Son

Delirious by Daniel Palmer
ISBN: 9780758246646
Publication Date: 2011-02-01
Charlie Giles watches his life slowly unravel as he becomes the prime suspect in the murders of his former employers, who are being picked off one by one, and, with nowhere else to turn, enlists the help of his schizophrenic brother to find the truth.

Father

The Reagan I Knew by William F. Buckley
ISBN: 9780465009268
Publication Date: 2008-10-14
The late William F. Buckley Jr. offers a reminiscence of thirty years of friendship with the man who brought the American conservative movement out of the political wilderness and into the White House. Ronald Reagan and Buckley were political allies and close friends throughout Reagan's political career.

Son

Losing Mum and Pup by Christopher Buckley
ISBN: 9780446540940
Publication Date: 2009-05-06
This candid story details how the author coped with the passing of his parents, William F. Buckley, Jr., the father of the modern conservative movement, and Patricia Taylor Buckley, one of New York's most colorful socialites, between 2007 and 2008.

Husband/Wife

Husband

Playland by John Gregory Dunne
ISBN: 067942427X
Publication Date: 1994-08-02
While researching a story in Detroit, screenwriter Jack Broderick meets 1940s child star-turned-bag lady Blue Tyler, whose life had taken a precipitous turn when she fell in love with underworld killer Jacob King.

Wife

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
ISBN: 140004314X
Publication Date: 2005-10-04
An autobiographical portrait of marriage and motherhood by the acclaimed author details her struggle to come to terms with life and death, illness, sanity, personal upheaval, and grief.

Husband

Wise Guy by Nicholas Pileggi
ISBN: 0671723227
Publication Date: 1990-09-01
A longtime member of organized crime recounts his criminal career, his involvement in the six-million dollar Lufthansa robbery, and his decision to become a federal witness.

Wife

I Feel Bad about My Neck by Nora Ephron
ISBN: 0307264556
Publication Date: 2006-08-01
A collection of essays offers a humorous look at the ups and downs of being a woman of a certain age, discussing the tribulations of maintenance and trying to stop the clock, menopause, and empty nests.

Husband

Great Sky Woman by Steven Barnes
ISBN: 0345459008
Publication Date: 2006-06-27
When a bloodthirsty tribe of invaders, the Mk*tk, threatens their peaceful existence on the prehistoric plains of Africa, two young people of the Ibandi tribe brave the forbidden heights of Kilimanjaro to pray for the safety of their people.

Wife

Joplin's Ghost by Tananarive Due
ISBN: 0743449037
Publication Date: 2005-09-20
Having resisted her family's music-centered lifestyle in her pursuit of fame, Phoenix Smalls becomes uncharacteristically intrigued by an old piano in a back room of her mother's jazz club, with ominous consequences.

Husband

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
ISBN: 9780007149827
Publication Date: 2007-05-01
An alternate historical work based on a premise that Alaska became the Jewish homeland after World War II finds detective Meyer Landsman investigating a heroin-addicted chess prodigy's murder, a case with ties to an extremist Orthodox sect.

Wife

Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman
ISBN: 9780385517867
Publication Date: 2010-07-13
Two families living on the Maine coast find their way through grief together after a tragic accident takes the lives of a young, newly-married couple, which results in a broken marriage, a bonding between bereaved siblings, and healing in the form of an adopted girl's prodigious violin talent.

Mother/Daughter

Mother

The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark
ISBN: 9781451668865
Publication Date: 2012-04-03
When an aging biblical scholar is fatally shot after revealing his possession of a unique parchment believed to have been written by Jesus, Father Aiden O'Brien investigates in a case that is complicated by circumstances implicating the man's Alzheimer's victim wife.

Daughter

Gypped by Carol Higgins Clark
ISBN: 9781439170311
Publication Date: 2012-04-03
Vacationing in California while her new husband, Jack, attends a business conference, private investigator Regan Reilly checks out a vegan family friend's concerns about an unscrupulous investment manager and uncovers a vast scam extending throughout the California coast.

Mother

Beachcombers by Nancy Thayer
ISBN: 9780345518286
Publication Date: 2010-06-22
Reuniting on Nantucket to start a business and keep an eye on their father's new romance, three sisters work, gossip and squabble while struggling with respective approaches to their responsibilities and losses.

Daughter

This Little Mommy Stayed Home by Samantha Wilde
ISBN: 9780385342667
Publication Date: 2009-06-23
New mom Joy McGuire hasn't changed her sweatpants since her baby was born. Of course she's crazy about her newborn son; it's her distracted, work-obsessed husband and his impossible mother she can't stand. With no support from her mom forthcoming, she counts on a little sleep, sanity, and chocolate to fix all her problems--until her old college boyfriend shows up at their ten-year reunion, a sexy yoga instructor turns her insides aflutter, and her husband goes missing!

Mother

Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison
ISBN: 9780312364687
Publication Date: 2007-06-12
Four very different women who share a common shoe size and a lust for great footwear--the wife of a rigid politician, a debt-ridden eBay addict, an agoraphobic phone sex operator, and a nanny for the family from hell--meet every Tuesday night to trade shoes and form friendships that will help each of them triumph over their problems.

Daughter

Here Lies Bridget by Paige Harbison
ISBN: 9780373210282
Publication Date: 2011-01-18
When Bridget Duke, the meanest girl in school, gets into a serious car accident, she ends up in limbo, facing everyone she's wronged and given only one chance to find redemption.

Mother/Son

Mother and Son

Shadow Zone by Iris Johansen; Roy Johansen
ISBN: 9780312611606
Publication Date: 2010-07-20
A discovery by submersible designer Hannah Bryson suggests a possible cause of mythical Atlantis's mysterious demise that has potentially cataclysmic consequences for the modern world.

Mother and Son

Dragon's Time by Anne McCaffrey; Todd McCaffrey
ISBN: 9780345500892
Publication Date: 2011-06-28
Mother and son authors, Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey, have teamed up again to do what they do best: add a fresh chapter to a beloved science fiction series, the Dragonriders of Pern.

Mother

The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice
ISBN: 9780307595119
Publication Date: 2012-02-14
A young reporter on assignment is attacked and bitten by an unknown beast in rural Northern California and begins a terrifying but seductive transformation into a being with a dual nature, both man and wolf.

Son

Light Before Day by Christopher Rice
ISBN: 1401300391
Publication Date: 2005-03-16
Abruptly fired while pursuing a career-making story, journalist Adam Murphy is left adrift in West Hollywood, until he encounters mystery novelist James Wilton, with whom he investigates the disappearances of a number of young gay men.

Mother and Son

The Big Bedtime Book by Jan Berenstain (Illustrator); Mike Berenstain; Stan Berenstain (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9780060574345
Publication Date: 2008-05-27
The cubs and Mrs. Grizzle share six classic fairy tales in the signature Berenstain style, featuring Papa, Mama, Brother, Sister, and Honey Bear.

Mother

Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
ISBN: 9781400065745
Publication Date: 2010-04-13
An ordinary suburban family is shattered by the unanticipated, violent consequences of seemingly casual decisions.

Son

Venomous by Christopher Krovatin; Kelly Yates (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9781416924876
Publication Date: 2008-09-02
Locke Vinetti has struggled with his inner demons since he was eight, but now that he has met the blue-haired goth-girl of his dreams, he knows he has to rid himself of his anger once and for all.

Siblings

Sister

I Like You by Amy Sedaris
ISBN: 0446578843
Publication Date: 2006-10-16
An unconventional hostess offers a warm and witty guide to the art of entertaining, furnishing a treasury of recipes, helpful advice, and offbeat tips on how to pull off a party with extraordinary flair regardless of the occasion.

Brother

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris; Ian Falconer (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9780316038393
Publication Date: 2010-09-28
An original collection of humorous fables features animals with unmistakably human failings, including a cynical cat struggling to sit through his prison-mandated AA meetings, and a pair of lovers separated by prejudiced family members.

Sister

I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron
ISBN: 9780307595607
Publication Date: 2010-11-09
A humorous collection of personal essays discusses the author's career in journalism, divorce, a long-anticipated inheritance with unanticipated results, and the evolution of her relationship with her e-mail in-box.

Sister

The Lion Is In by Delia Ephron
ISBN: 9780399158483
Publication Date: 2012-03-29
Escaping from their personal lives and taking refuge in a nightclub, a runaway bride, a recovering alcoholic, and a downtrodden minister's wife adopt a retired circus lion and spend their days waitressing until the past catches up with them.

Sister

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
ISBN: 9780307455192
Publication Date: 2009-04-07
In early nineteenth-century England, an orphaned young woman accepts employment as a governess at Thornfield Hall, a country estate owned by the mysteriously remote Mr. Rochester.

Sister

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
ISBN: 9781847490025
Publication Date: 2007-04-01
The tale of Heathcliff's and Cathy's ungovernable love and suffering--and the havoc that their passion wreaks on the families of the Earnshaws and the Lintons.

Brother

Nothing Lost by John Gregory Dunne
ISBN: 1400041430
Publication Date: 2004-05-04
The brutal killing of black drifter Edgar Parlance ignites a destructive circus of the media, power politics, legal infighting, passion, and more for a rural midwestern town and the diverse characters involved.

Brother

Too Much Money by Dominick Dunne
ISBN: 9780609603871
Publication Date: 2009-12-15
Writer Gus Bailey witnesses the disappearance of the old-money society that once occupied him, and investigates the murder of one of the world's wealthiest men, an effort that is sabotaged by the man's calculating wife and schemers within Gus's own set.

Sister

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
ISBN: 9780143038412
Publication Date: 2007-01-30
Traces the author's decision to quit her job and travel the world for a year after suffering a midlife crisis and divorce, a journey that took her to three places in her quest to explore her own nature and learn the art of spiritual balance.

Sister

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
ISBN: 0618683070
Publication Date: 2006-05-22
After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her.

Sister

The Sea Lady by Margaret Drabble
ISBN: 9780151012633
Publication Date: 2007-05-07
Traveling separately to Ornemouth, England, a town by the North Sea where they had spent a summer together as children, Humphrey Clark and Ailsa Kelman reassess the course of their individual lives and decisions over the past thirty years of separation.

Sister

Ragnarok by A. S. Byatt
ISBN: 9780802129925
Publication Date: 2012-02-07
A retelling of the Norse myth about the end of the world that follows the blitz-era evacuation of a young girl whose worldview is dramatically changed upon reading "Asgard and the Gods."

List Created By

Ruth Greenberg

Catalog/Collection Development Librarian, BCCLS

Websites

Related Guides