Lauren Groff Books in Order (Updated 2026-02-08)

Lauren Groff writes literary standalones and short story collections. There isn’t a series universe to keep straight, so “reading order” is mainly about how you want to travel through her work: by publication year (most common), or by format (novels vs stories).

If you’re only reading one book, you can start anywhere. If you’re reading several, publication order gives you the clearest sense of how her scope and style expand over time.

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A practical way to pick your first Lauren Groff book

Start with a novel if you want a full immersion:

• Fates and Furies for a relationship story told with shifting angles.
• Matrix for a historical setting with fierce interior drive.
• The Vaster Wilds for a survival narrative with relentless momentum.

Start with stories if you want range fast:

• Florida for high-intensity domestic and natural pressure.
• Delicate Edible Birds for early-career variety and craft.

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Novels in publication order

1. The Monsters of Templeton (2008): A woman returns to her hometown after a personal collapse and finds the town’s myths pushing into her real life.
2. Arcadia (2012): A boy grows up inside a utopian commune, and the dream reshapes him even as it frays.
3. Fates and Furies (2015): A marriage is revealed in layers, where one version of the story keeps revising the other.
4. Matrix (2021): A young woman exiled to a struggling convent turns isolation into power, devotion, and reinvention.
5. The Vaster Wilds (2023): A servant girl escapes an early colonial settlement and runs into a wilderness that refuses mercy.

Continuity note: These are not sequels. Read in any order without plot spoilers across books.

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Short story collections in publication order

1. Delicate Edible Birds (2009): Nine stories that move across decades and relationships, often turning ordinary lives slightly off-kilter.
2. Florida (2018): Stories rooted in Florida’s heat, danger, and beauty, where families and bodies are tested by the wild nearby.
3. Brawler (2026): A nine-story collection that circles human struggle, tenderness and violence, fear and love, across different places and eras.

How to use these: If you like to “sample an author,” starting with Florida is often easiest because it has a strong unifying atmosphere. If you want the earliest entry point, start with Delicate Edible Birds.

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Optional: one clean “two-shelf” reading plan

If you want to alternate formats so it doesn’t feel repetitive:

1. The Monsters of Templeton
2. Delicate Edible Birds
3. Arcadia
4. Florida
5. Fates and Furies
6. Matrix
7. The Vaster Wilds
8. Brawler

This keeps you moving between long-form immersion and short-form variety.

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What’s new and what’s next

• Most recently published novel: The Vaster Wilds
• Most recently announced/dated new book: Brawler (story collection)

If another novel is announced after this update, it’s safest to treat it as “unconfirmed” until a publisher date is stable.

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FAQs

Do I need to read Lauren Groff in order?
No. Her novels don’t depend on one another. Order is about preference, not continuity.

Which order is best if I’m sensitive to spoilers?
There aren’t cross-book spoilers to worry about. Choose the book that sounds most like what you want to read right now.

If I only read one, what’s the most representative?
For many readers: Fates and Furies (novel) or Florida (stories), depending on whether you want a single long arc or a set of sharp snapshots.