Fiction Set Primarily in a Prison

1
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
14,509 members
231 reviews
4
8 Members
Proclus, abbottthomas, thorold, roby72, calm, thecoroner, ahef1963, -pilgrim-
2
The Green Mile
by Stephen King
14,219 members
175 reviews
½ 4.3
6 Members
SqueakyChu, dara85, DorsVenabili, calm, ahef1963, WANGPP
3
Affinity
by Sarah Waters
3,561 members
134 reviews
½ 3.7
7 Members
raidergirl3, aulsmith, Soupdragon, DorsVenabili, calm, souloftherose, WANGPP
4
Alias Grace
by Margaret Atwood
13,327 members
273 reviews
3.9
6 Members
lahochstetler, DorsVenabili, calm, souloftherose, Dilara86, WANGPP
5
Holes
by Louis Sachar
30,492 members
1,050 reviews
4.1
5 Members
norabelle414, souloftherose, ahef1963, WANGPP, ManWithAnAgenda
6
Kiss of the Spider Woman
by Manuel Puig
2,528 members
45 reviews
3.9
5 Members
thorold, aulsmith, DorsVenabili, ahef1963, WANGPP
7
Incarceron
by Catherine Fisher
3,901 members
192 reviews
½ 3.7
5 Members
norabelle414, DorsVenabili, souloftherose, WANGPP, ManWithAnAgenda
8
Miracle of the Rose
by Jean Genet
778 members
3 reviews
4
4 Members
Proclus, thorold, DorsVenabili, WANGPP
9
Little Dorrit
by Charles Dickens
6,267 members
100 reviews
4
4 Members
absurdeist, thorold, DorsVenabili, souloftherose
10
Papillon
by Henri Charrière
4,243 members
75 reviews
4
4 Members
roby72, ArchDucchess, -pilgrim-, ManWithAnAgenda
11
The Castle
by Franz Kafka
9,550 members
119 reviews
3.9
4 Members
roby72, DorsVenabili, thecoroner, WANGPP
12
Kolyma Tales
by Varlam Shalamov
1,212 members
24 reviews
½ 4.3
3 Members
roby72, ArchDucchess, -pilgrim-
13
The Flowers of Aulit Prison {novelette}
by Nancy Kress
16 members
4.2
3 Members
aulsmith, DorsVenabili, WANGPP
14
Our Lady of the Flowers
by Jean Genet
2,048 members
17 reviews
3.9
3 Members
absurdeist, aulsmith, DorsVenabili
15
Bent: The Play
by Martin Sherman
372 members
4 reviews
4
3 Members
aulsmith, DorsVenabili, WANGPP
16
Different Seasons
by Stephen King
10,177 members
135 reviews
4
3 Members
ahef1963, WANGPP, ManWithAnAgenda
17
The Enormous Room
by E. E. Cummings
1,662 members
29 reviews
½ 3.7
2 Members
DorsVenabili, ManWithAnAgenda
18
The Brethren
by John Grisham
10,153 members
87 reviews
½ 3.4
3 Members
dara85, ahef1963, WANGPP
19
Resurrection
by Leo Tolstoy
3,540 members
45 reviews
3.8
2 Members
roby72, thecoroner
20
The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: Parts I-II
by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
6,005 members
48 reviews
4.2
2 Members
roby72, ArchDucchess,aulsmith
Explanations
aulsmith : Not fiction.
21
The Keep
by Jennifer Egan
2,147 members
98 reviews
½ 3.4
2 Members
WANGPP, ManWithAnAgenda
22
The House of the Dead
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
3,696 members
37 reviews
3.9
2 Members
roby72, -pilgrim-
Explanations
-pilgrim-: Set in a katorga
23
Night
by Elie Wiesel
12,885 members
240 reviews
½ 4.3
3 Members
absurdeist, ahef1963, WANGPP,dara85 ,-pilgrim-
Explanations
dara85 : Not fiction
24
Sleep Toward Heaven
by Amanda Eyre Ward
411 members
20 reviews
3.8
2 Members
dara85, WANGPP
25
The Glass Cell
by Patricia Highsmith
416 members
9 reviews
½ 3.7
2 Members
thorold, DorsVenabili
26
The Enchanted
by Rene Denfeld
1,078 members
75 reviews
4.1
2 Members
ahef1963, WANGPP
27
The Last Day of a Condemned Man
by Victor Hugo
1,416 members
30 reviews
3.8
2 Members
roby72, DorsVenabili
28
Falconer
by John Cheever
1,529 members
23 reviews
½ 3.5
Member
DorsVenabili
29
The Choiring of the Trees
by Donald Harrington
127 members
2 reviews
½ 4.3
Member
dara85
30
War Trash
by Ha Jin
1,269 members
32 reviews
½ 3.7
2 Members
DorsVenabili, WANGPP
31
Chess Story
by Stefan Zweig
4,977 members
140 reviews
4.1
2 Members
DorsVenabili, WANGPP
32
The Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas
30,655 members
494 reviews
½ 4.3
4 Members
absurdeist, thorold, roby72, DorsVenabili, ,aulsmith ,-pilgrim-
Explanations
: Very little of the book takes place in the prison, actually. It surprised me how little given the importance of the imprisonment itself. Most of the book takes place after the escape though.
33
The Ballad of Frankie Silver
by Sharyn McCrumb
965 members
22 reviews
3.8
Member
dara85
34
Camp Concentration: A Novel
by Thomas M. Disch
1,220 members
34 reviews
½ 3.6
Member
aulsmith
35
The Exiles
by Christina Baker Kline
1,194 members
89 reviews
4
Member
dara85
36
Hard Rain Falling
by Don Carpenter
937 members
30 reviews
4.2
Member
absurdeist
37
Do Time Get Time
by Andrey Rubanov
11 members
4
Member
-pilgrim-
Explanations
-pilgrim-: Set in Matryoshka Tishina
38
Night Heron
by Adam Brookes
258 members
40 reviews
½ 3.7
Member
-pilgrim-
39
The Prisoner
by Thomas M. Disch
382 members
12 reviews
½ 3.3
Member
-pilgrim-
40
The Unwilling
by John Hart
292 members
27 reviews
4.1
Member
dara85
41
The Wall {short story}
by Jean-Paul Sartre
9 members
1 review
5
Member
aulsmith
42
The Institute
by Stephen King
6,764 members
190 reviews
4.1
Member
ahef1963
43
The Inmate
by Freida McFadden
2,533 members
43 reviews
3.9
Member
dara85
44
Eileen: A Novel
by Ottessa Moshfegh
2,761 members
126 reviews
½ 3.5
Member
WANGPP
45
Sleeping Beauties
by Stephen King
4,064 members
112 reviews
½ 3.6
Member
WANGPP
46
The Skull Mantra
by Eliot Pattison
1,000 members
38 reviews
3.8
Member
WANGPP
47
Fellside
by M. R. Carey
886 members
60 reviews
½ 3.6
Member
WANGPP
48
The Ploughmen
by Kim Zupan
259 members
30 reviews
3.8
Member
WANGPP
49
If This Is a Man / The Truce
by Primo Levi
2,700 members
35 reviews
½ 4.5
Member
roby72,-pilgrim-
Explanations
-pilgrim- : not fiction, and very few stories set during prison.
50
Midnight Express
by Billy Hayes
425 members
6 reviews
3.8
Member
abbottthomas,-pilgrim-
Explanations
-pilgrim- : The film was fictionalised, but I can find no suggestion that the book is not the autobiography that it purports to be.
51
My Ten Years' Imprisonment
by Silvio Pellico
188 members
3 reviews
½ 3.3
Member
roby72,-pilgrim-
Explanations
-pilgrim- : Not fiction
52
Selections from the Prison Notebooks
by Antonio Gramsci
1,330 members
1 review
4.1
Member
roby72,aulsmith ,-pilgrim-
Explanations
aulsmith : Not fiction.