Equal Affections, by David Leavitt (1989)
This excellent book is a joy to savor: quietly written, with intensely drawn characters and plotlines to ponder. Most books take me couple of days to read, but this one took over a week because I felt like I needed to read it slowly and not miss anything. Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like heavy English Lit. It's ordinary "family fiction," about a mother, a father, the father's mistress; the dramatic lesbian folk-singing daughter; the helpful younger brother and his partner Walter. The mother's cancer, which surfaces several times and keeps her husband from leaving her. The son's resentment of his sister. Walter's online flirtations. It's a great book.
Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters (2002)
I SO love Sarah Waters's books. She totally fools me. I remember reading Affinity (see review) and thinking, "Things CAN'T be as they seem...and yet, how else could they be?" And then Sarah Waters says, "HERE'S how."
In this plot involving a motley collection of con artists, it isn't clear until the very end who is conning whom. Every time I thought I knew what was going on, something changed. I strongly recommend this author.
Set This House in Order, by Matt Ruff (2003)
Definitely one of the best realistic fiction books I've read. The main characters have multiple personality disorder, and although the book was a novel I ended up with greater understanding of the disorder and respect for people dealing with it. I thought it was clever the way the author made the disorder so easy to imagine.
In addition, there's a good suspenseful plot: not only an "external" one, as the characters deal with the traumas of the outer world, but also an internal one as they deal with their own inner geographies. Excellent book.