The best books about social class

Perfect Chemistry is one of the books I read as a model for writing the character relationship between my young adult novel characters, Shantel and Christopher. Alex is the perfectly crafted bad boy character who falls in love with Brittany and in the process is changed with how he sees his life. 

The faction system in the book, and series, is brilliant and I think most people would find their place and live quite comfortably. I identified as a Divergent and I believe it represents a number of creatives and intuitives that are popping up in society today. Though this book is a few years old, it has never been more relevant. Teens are changing the world by insisting on inclusion, diversity, and adaptability. They are so fluid and open; the older generations should really wake up and pay attention. There are millions of Triss Priors out there!

Few books can make you laugh just from the title alone, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was just one such book. Before the book blew up, became a movie, and spawned its own subgenre of fantastical reimaginings of classical literature, I remember seeing it on display at a Barnes and Nobles and laughing just at the title alone. The good news is that, much like a zombie who just ate a clown, the book continues to be funny on the inside.

Wellborn Margaret Macy is not used to hard work, so when she falls on hard times and disguises herself as a maid in a gentleman’s palatial home, she’s going to have difficulties. However, it’s not just a matter of getting the silver shiny as she also has to remain undetected by her employer…who tried to court her not so very long ago.

This book takes the readers into a dystopian version of North America: the world is no longer the same! America Singer, a poor girl from a lower caste, is selected to play bachelorette with the prince (along with 29 other girls) while the country is in chaos with rebellions. It’s a really great story that evokes thoughts about the system of the world we live in while springing us into new versions of the real world.  

Written more than thirty years after the Napoleonic Wars, Thackeray’s novel says a great deal about Regency morality and behaviour. Anti-heroine Becky Sharp is a penniless young woman on the make who considers morals and fair play to be a luxury. Becky moves with the changing times, aiming to advance and profit from every useful contact – particularly male. In short, she uses people and none more so than her supportive friend Amelia Sedley. As time sweeps on, Becky often goes too far but will she get her comeuppance?