Christopher Scalia’s new book “13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (But Probably Haven’t Read)” promises to reshape the conservative literary landscape with a fresh collection of fiction that upholds traditional values while entertaining readers.
This groundbreaking compilation introduces conservatives to lesser-known novels that embody core values without sacrificing literary quality. The carefully curated list emphasizes works by Nathaniel Hawthorne, George Eliot, and other notable authors who explore themes of tradition, family, and moral virtue. These books offer an alternative to the liberal-dominated literary canon while providing both entertainment and intellectual substance. Conservative readers tired of rehashing the same handful of recommended titles will find new treasures that speak to their worldview while expanding their cultural horizons.
The Conservative Literary Renaissance
For decades, conservatives have ceded much of the cultural battlefield to the left, particularly in literature. This oversight has allowed progressive values to dominate our cultural conversation.
Christopher Scalia, son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, aims to correct this imbalance with his thoughtfully assembled collection. His work recognizes that fiction shapes our national character as powerfully as any political treatise.
Scalia makes a compelling case that conservatives have overlooked fiction’s influence in the culture wars. While right-leaning Americans have created alternative media platforms and production studios, the novel remains largely surrendered territory.
“Over the past couple of decades, conservatives have recognized how important culture is in shaping a people, shaping a nation,” Scalia notes. “We’ve seen how conservatives have tried to act on that by forming production studios and the like, but I think fiction, and the novel in particular, is something we might overlook.”
Beyond The Usual Suspects
The conservative literary canon has traditionally centered around a limited number of authors and titles. Scalia’s collection deliberately ventures beyond these familiar waters.
“If you talk to conservatives who like to read fiction, you can find them. But they tend to praise the same handful of books or authors,” Scalia explains. “Those aren’t necessarily bad books or authors, and the purpose of this book is not to say stop reading those books—but it’s an attempt to expand the conservative bookshelf a little bit.”
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The book is designed not merely as cultural medicine but as a genuine pleasure. Scalia emphasizes that entertainment value was his primary selection criterion.
“The primary reason anybody should read any book is because it’s enjoyable,” he insists. “Nobody’s going to want to read a book because it’s the literary equivalent of eating your broccoli. My hope is that all of these novels are first and foremost great works of literature: They will entertain people, they will delight people.”
Why Fiction Matters To Conservatives
The conservative movement has historically emphasized non-fiction works like Edmund Burke’s writings or Russell Kirk’s “The Conservative Mind.” However, this approach misses fiction’s unique power to develop moral imagination.
Conservatism itself is less a rigid ideology than what Kirk called “a state of mind or body of sentiments.” This makes fiction’s emotional resonance particularly valuable for conveying conservative principles.
“Burke has endured as the permanent manual without which statesmen are as sailors on an uncharted sea,” wrote Harold Laski, highlighting how fundamental conservative texts provide essential guidance for navigating complex political waters.
Scalia’s collection acknowledges that fiction offers something unique: the ability to develop empathy and understanding through storytelling. This “sympathetic imagination” helps readers grasp human experiences beyond their own.
The conservative tradition values wisdom derived from lived experience rather than abstract theories. Well-crafted fiction allows readers to vicariously experience life lessons without personally enduring hardships.
The Literary Antidote to Progressive Culture
As America’s cultural institutions increasingly promote progressive values, Scalia’s curated collection offers a refreshing alternative. These novels reinforce traditional values without the heavy-handedness of political treatises.
Wilhelm Röpke, a conservative economist whose work “The Social Crisis of our Times” appears on many conservative reading lists, warned: “Socialism, collectivism, and their political and cultural appendages are, after all, only the last consequences of our yesterday; they are the last convulsions of the nineteenth century.”
Ayn Rand explains the biggest threat to the U.S. and the world today: a misguided set of moral values that glorifies self-sacrifice and abhors building successful projects. pic.twitter.com/4V1W7nIohm
— Students For Liberty (@sfliberty) April 20, 2025
The 13 novels featured in Scalia’s compilation explore themes like community, virtue, and moral development that counter the progressive emphasis on individualism divorced from tradition. They remind readers of perennial truths about human nature that transcend current cultural fads.
These works offer conservatives a literary foundation comparable to what T.S. Eliot called for in his “Notes Towards the Definition of Culture.” They help preserve cultural values against the tide of societal decadence that Eliot warned about.