Ideas

Great literature grows out of periods of change, and there are few transitions more more, well, transitional than the end of your twenties and the onset of the whole rest of your life. Whether it’s Edith Wharton in The House of Mirth or Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in Americanah, authors have made narrative hay of that period in life. Here are 30 favorites from an informal poll of TIME staffers.

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