Genre

Domestic Fiction

/dəˈmɛs.tɪk ˈfɪk.ʃən/ noun
IN ONE SENTENCE

Fiction centered on family dynamics, home life, and the private dramas that unfold within households and close relationships.

Definition

Domestic fiction finds its stories inside the home: marriages under strain, parent-child conflicts, sibling rivalries, secrets kept across kitchen tables, and the slow-motion crises that don't make headlines but reshape lives. The stakes are personal rather than public, and the drama comes from the complexity of relationships between people who can't (or won't) walk away from each other.

Why It Matters

Domestic fiction proves that you don't need external threats to create gripping stories. Learning to generate tension from family dynamics, unspoken resentments, and small daily betrayals is a skill that works in any genre. It also represents one of the most consistently popular categories with book clubs and general readers.

Famous Examples

Little Fires Everywhere — Celeste Ng

Two families in a wealthy suburb, where class, race, and motherhood collide in increasingly explosive ways.

Olive Kitteridge — Elizabeth Strout

A sharp-tongued woman and the community around her, domestic life rendered with unflinching honesty.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation — Ottessa Moshfegh

A woman sleeping through a year of her life, domestic fiction turned inward to its most extreme.

Try It Yourself

Quick Exercise

Write a scene at a family dinner table. No one says what they actually mean. Through the food they serve, the seating arrangement, the topics they avoid, and the glances they exchange, convey a conflict that everyone knows about and nobody names.

CONTINUE LEARNING
Writing the Draft
Domestic fiction requires writing subtext-heavy dialogue and finding drama in everyday interactions.