Fiction Set Primarily in a Prison

1
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
14,525 members
232 reviews
4
8 Members
Proclus, abbottthomas, thorold, roby72, calm, thecoroner, ahef1963, -pilgrim-
2
The Green Mile
by Stephen King
14,260 members
176 reviews
½ 4.3
6 Members
SqueakyChu, dara85, DorsVenabili, calm, ahef1963, WANGPP
3
Affinity
by Sarah Waters
3,570 members
135 reviews
½ 3.7
7 Members
raidergirl3, aulsmith, Soupdragon, DorsVenabili, calm, souloftherose, WANGPP
4
Alias Grace
by Margaret Atwood
13,096 members
274 reviews
3.9
6 Members
lahochstetler, DorsVenabili, calm, souloftherose, Dilara86, WANGPP
5
Holes
by Louis Sachar
30,663 members
1,053 reviews
4.1
5 Members
norabelle414, souloftherose, ahef1963, WANGPP, ManWithAnAgenda
6
Kiss of the Spider Woman
by Manuel Puig
2,526 members
45 reviews
3.9
5 Members
thorold, aulsmith, DorsVenabili, ahef1963, WANGPP
7
Incarceron
by Catherine Fisher
3,908 members
192 reviews
½ 3.7
5 Members
norabelle414, DorsVenabili, souloftherose, WANGPP, ManWithAnAgenda
8
Miracle of the Rose
by Jean Genet
780 members
3 reviews
4
4 Members
Proclus, thorold, DorsVenabili, WANGPP
9
Little Dorrit
by Charles Dickens
6,307 members
101 reviews
4
4 Members
absurdeist, thorold, DorsVenabili, souloftherose
10
Papillon
by Henri Charrière
4,253 members
75 reviews
4
4 Members
roby72, ArchDucchess, -pilgrim-, ManWithAnAgenda
11
The Castle
by Franz Kafka
9,599 members
119 reviews
3.9
4 Members
roby72, DorsVenabili, thecoroner, WANGPP
12
Kolyma Tales
by Varlam Shalamov
1,219 members
24 reviews
4.2
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
2,056 members
17 reviews
3.9
3 Members
absurdeist, aulsmith, DorsVenabili
15
Bent: The Play
by Martin Sherman
373 members
4 reviews
4
3 Members
aulsmith, DorsVenabili, WANGPP
16
Different Seasons
by Stephen King
10,232 members
136 reviews
4
3 Members
ahef1963, WANGPP, ManWithAnAgenda
17
The Enormous Room
by E. E. Cummings
1,666 members
29 reviews
½ 3.7
2 Members
DorsVenabili, ManWithAnAgenda
18
The Brethren
by John Grisham
10,199 members
87 reviews
½ 3.4
3 Members
dara85, ahef1963, WANGPP
19
Resurrection
by Leo Tolstoy
3,561 members
46 reviews
3.9
2 Members
roby72, thecoroner
20
The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: Parts I-II
by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
6,016 members
48 reviews
4.2
2 Members
roby72, ArchDucchess,aulsmith
Explanations
aulsmith : Not fiction.
21
The Keep
by Jennifer Egan
2,150 members
98 reviews
½ 3.4
2 Members
WANGPP, ManWithAnAgenda
22
The House of the Dead
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
3,730 members
37 reviews
3.9
2 Members
roby72, -pilgrim-
Explanations
-pilgrim-: Set in a katorga
23
Night
by Elie Wiesel
12,933 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
418 members
9 reviews
½ 3.7
2 Members
thorold, DorsVenabili
26
The Enchanted
by Rene Denfeld
1,080 members
75 reviews
4.1
2 Members
ahef1963, WANGPP
27
The Last Day of a Condemned Man
by Victor Hugo
1,429 members
30 reviews
3.8
2 Members
roby72, DorsVenabili
28
Falconer
by John Cheever
1,534 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
1,270 members
32 reviews
½ 3.7
2 Members
DorsVenabili, WANGPP
31
Chess Story
by Stefan Zweig
5,020 members
140 reviews
4.1
2 Members
DorsVenabili, WANGPP
32
The Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas
30,810 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
967 members
22 reviews
3.8
Member
dara85
34
Camp Concentration: A Novel
by Thomas M. Disch
1,224 members
34 reviews
½ 3.6
Member
aulsmith
35
The Exiles
by Christina Baker Kline
1,192 members
89 reviews
4
Member
dara85
36
Hard Rain Falling
by Don Carpenter
954 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
259 members
40 reviews
½ 3.7
Member
-pilgrim-
39
The Prisoner
by Thomas M. Disch
379 members
12 reviews
½ 3.3
Member
-pilgrim-
40
The Unwilling
by John Hart
294 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
6,848 members
194 reviews
4.1
Member
ahef1963
43
The Inmate
by Freida McFadden
2,561 members
44 reviews
3.9
Member
dara85
44
Eileen: A Novel
by Ottessa Moshfegh
2,784 members
127 reviews
½ 3.5
Member
WANGPP
45
Sleeping Beauties
by Stephen King
4,115 members
114 reviews
½ 3.6
Member
WANGPP
46
The Skull Mantra
by Eliot Pattison
1,000 members
39 reviews
3.8
Member
WANGPP
47
Fellside
by M. R. Carey
887 members
59 reviews
½ 3.6
Member
WANGPP
48
The Ploughmen
by Kim Zupan
266 members
29 reviews
3.8
Member
WANGPP
49
If This Is a Man / The Truce
by Primo Levi
2,707 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
189 members
3 reviews
½ 3.3
Member
roby72,-pilgrim-
Explanations
-pilgrim- : Not fiction
52
Selections from the Prison Notebooks
by Antonio Gramsci
1,337 members
1 review
4.1
Member
roby72,aulsmith ,-pilgrim-
Explanations
aulsmith : Not fiction.