13 Authors Who Nail Voice

One thing that never fails to draw me into a book is an authentic, captivating voice. If you’re not familiar with that term, I’m referring not to a single character in a scene of dialogue, but to the way the author writes the entire book. It’s an author’s style, and the quality that makes the writing unique. So, authors who write in third person can still have a distinctive “voice” about their work. The list I’ve compiled below, however, refers to a second kind of “voice,” and that is the characteristic speech, thought patterns, and unique point of view of the first-person narrator.

I always hesitate when putting together lists of authors because there just isn’t enough room to mention them all. So full disclosure, this is not an exhaustive list! But these are the authors who come to mind when I think of those who really nail their first-person voice in their novels.  In alphabetical order by last name, they are:

1. Mesu Andrews. Her novel Isaiah’s Daughter won the Christy Award for historical fiction last year, and just by reading the first couple of sentences, you are already convinced the voice is strong and compelling. Of Fire and Lions releases this week, by the way!

2. Jessica Dotta. Her Price of Privilege trilogy is a stunning study in first-person narration. Begin with Born of Persuasion.

3. Chris Fabry. My favorite of his so far is The Promise of Jesse Woods, which is also a Christy Award winner. I listened to the audiobook, which he narrates himself, and that was a fabulous extra layer to the “voice” of the novel.

4. Susie Finkbeiner. When I read her Pearl Spence novels, starting with A Cup of Dust, I immediately thought of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.  The voice of Pearl is one you can just settle into and experience as much as read. It’s also consistent throughout the series, which is no small feat, especially when the narrator is a child, growing older in each book. Now get ready, dear readers, for her upcoming release (June 2019) All Manner of Things, set in the 1960s, and also written in first-person. I do believe its her finest work yet, which I do not say lightly! Prepare yourself to fall in love with Annie Jacobson and her family.

5. Heather Day Gilbert. Heather writes both historical and contemporary, and I love her voice in all of them. But the most impressive to me are her Viking Saga books, God’s Daughter and Forest Child, which garnered a starred review from Publisher's Weekly. She really brings us inside the minds of two Viking women with a surprising level of authenticity. If you like historical fiction, don’t miss these.

6. Susan Meissner. My favorite of hers so far is As Bright as Heaven, which covers the tough topic of the Spanish flu epidemic in Philadelphia. Unique voices of a mother and her daughters make a huge story extremely intimate and personal.

7. Michele Phoenix. Michele’s book The Space Between Words is a split-time novel, giving us voices of a young French Huguenot girl and a young woman who was a victim of a terrorism in Paris. Both storylines and voices are captivating.

8. Allison Pittman. Allison is such a versatile author, able to span centuries and genres with her work. Two of my favorites from her are On Shifting Sand, and her latest work, The Seamstress, which actually combines first-person and third-person points of view.

9. Shawn Smucker. Shawn is another genre-crossing author, writing fiction and nonfiction. The Day the Angels Fell showcases the voice of a young boy, and the sequel, The Edge of Over There, gives us a girl’s perspective. I really enjoy Shawn’s YA books, but I cannot wait for his upcoming release (July 2019) for adults: Light from Distant Stars.

10. Ann Tatlock. My favorite by far from Ann is I’ll Watch the Moon, written from a little girl’s perspective during a polio epidemic in the St. Paul, Minnesota, area. Please do yourself a favor, and read this book. It’s one that I read from the library but loved so much I asked for my own copy for Christmas.

11. Lisa Wingate. Her book Before We Were Yours is tough to read in places, but I loved it for the voice of the child narrator, and for the writing itself. This is another book I listened to first, and then bought the ebook for myself so I could savor the writing all over again.

12. Suzanne M. Wolfe. I was blown away by Suzanne’s book The Confessions of X. The book won a national award, but I think it deserves a lot more street buzz. If you’re looking for something different from the typical historical fiction, check this out.

13. Elizabeth Byler Younts. Her book The Solace of Water just slayed me. There were multiple voices and they were all so distinct and compelling! I listened to this on audiobook, too, and the various accents employed infused the story with even more life.

What do you think? Have you read any of these novels? What others would you add to the list?