Three is the Magic Number: Trilogies You May Not Have Known Were Trilogies

By Lynn Ann Lobash, Associate Director, Readers Services and Engagement
October 24, 2014

The Hunger Games, Divergent, Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy—when you cannot get enough of a character or just don't want the story to end, three is a welcome number. These popular trilogies need no further introduction, but here are some titles you may be surprised to learn, are also part of a trilogy.

Wolf Hall Cover

Nick Bantock’s Griffin and Sabine trilogy: Griffin and Sabine / Sabine’s Notebooks / The Golden Mean
This trilogy traces a relationship in correspondence between Griffin, a postcard designer and Sabine, a postage stamp illustrator.

Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy: Wolf Hall / Bring Up the Bodies / The Mirror and the Light (due out 2015)
This collection follows the life of Thomas Cromwell from his modest beginnings through his rise to one of the most powerful men in the service of Henry VIII.

Gilead Cover

Marilynne Robinson’s trilogy: Gilead / Home / Lila
These three exquisite books feature a cast of characters living in Gilead, Iowa.

Paul Auster’s New York trilogy: City of Glass / Ghosts / The Locked Room
A must-read for detective novel fans, this postmodern detective fiction honors elements of traditional detective novels, while it observes them.

Roddy Doyle’s Barrytown trilogy: The Commitments / The Snapper / The Van
Beginning with The Commitments, a group of unemployed Dubliners decide to form a band, the novels follow the life of Jimmy Rabbite (the band’s manager) and his family.

The Good Earth

Cormac McCarthy’s Border trilogy: All the Pretty Horses / The Crossing / Cities of the Plain
This evocative trilogy follows two young men coming of age in the Southwest and Mexico.

Toni Morrison’s Jazz trilogy: Beloved / Jazz / Paradise
Told from the point of view of the African American experience during three periods of war: the Civil War, World War I, and the Vietnam War.

Pearl S. Buck’s House of Earth trilogy: The Good Earth / Sons / A House Divided (House of Earth)
Set in China pre- WWI, the trilogy traces a family over several generations in a period of intense economic decline.

Things Fall Apart Cover

Chinua Achebe’s The Africa trilogy: Things Fall Apart / No Longer at Ease / Arrow of God
Set in Africa, these are personal tales of emotional and intellectual responses to colonization.

Willa Cather’s Great Plains trilogy: Oh Pioneers! / The Song of the Lark / My Antonia
Cather tells the story of the Bergsons, Swedish immigrants living in the Great Plains at the turn of the century with vivid prose to be savored. Give yourself some time with this one.

John le Carre’s Karla trilogy: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / The Honourable Schoolboy / Smiley’s People
Intricately plotted, and morally complex, this trilogy follows master spy George Smiley into international intrigue.

Louisa May Alcott’s March Family trilogy: Little Women / Little Men / Jo’s Boys
Set in a small New England town during the Civil War years, the trilogy chronicles the lives of the March sisters, and especially Jo, through childhood, family and career.