Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)Peter Pauper Press; KaanC, DigitalVision Vectors, Getty Images (background)This is the sole novel by Emily Brontë, one of a remarkably talented trio of siblings alongside sisters Charlotte and Anne. Wuthering Heights contains all the classic elements of the doomed romance novel: forbidden love, awful misunderstandings, jealousy, revenge, and tragedy. Desperate Characters by Paula Fox (1970)W. W. Norton & Company; KaanC, DigitalVision Vectors, Getty Images (background)The best authors can conjure high emotion and deep meaning from the most ordinary of circumstances. Paula Fox’s evocative take on 1970s middle-class American life follows Sophie and Otto Bentwood, a childless married couple, across the timespan of a single weekend. In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (2019)Graywolf Press; KaanC, DigitalVision Vectors, Getty Images (background)Machado’s striking autobiographical work is a masterstroke in sensitivity, artistry, and bravery.