Family saga

The family saga is a genre of literature which chronicles the lives and doings of a family or a number of related or interconnected families over a period of time. In novels (or sometimes sequences of novels) with a serious intent, this is often a thematic device used to portray particularly historical events, changes of social circumstances, or the ebb and flow of fortunes from a multiplicity of perspectives.

Related Topics:
Literature - Sequences of novels

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The typical family saga follows generations of a family through a period of history in a series of novels. A number of sub-genres of the form exist such as the AGA saga.

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Successful writers of popular family sagas include Susan Howatch, R. F. Delderfield and Philippa Carr.

Related Topics:
Susan Howatch - R. F. Delderfield - Philippa Carr

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Examples of family sagas of literary note include:

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• Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
• Buddenbrooks - Thomas Mann
• The Forsyte Saga - John Galsworthy
• Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
• The House of the Spirits by Isabelle Allende
• Jalna books of Mazo de la Roche
• The Kent Family Chronicles and The Crown Family Saga - John Jakes
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
• Roots - Alex Haley
• The Thorn Birds - Coleen McCullough
• Holes, a novel by Louis Sachar

In cinema:

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• The Best of Youth, La Meglio gioventù
 
Family saga: See also ►