I love Chicago like the air I breathe.
I think it’s also easy to say I’m obsessed with this city, its history, its neighborhoods, the people, the lakefront, the towering skyscrapers, our parks, our festivals, all of it.
Chicago is a world-class city, which is why I’m never surprised when we are often featured prominently in Best of City lists that rate global destinations. We have so much to offer. Have I mentioned our spectacular museums? The Field Museum of Natural History, The Art Institute, The Adler Planetarium, more. Yes, it can get a little cold here in winter, but our spring is like nowhere else in the world. When the warm weather emerges, it’s like everyone is drawn outside, along the glimmering Chicago Riverwalk, at Wrigley Field to catch a Cubs game, or enjoying some time reading a book at North Avenue Beach.
Nearly all of my books feature Chicago as a character, because it’s such a rich city, with a compelling history that has drawn a wonderful mix of people from around the world to call it home. It seems like every time I turn down a new block, meet a new person here, or dig into another layer of this city’s history, a new novel emerges in my head.
Many authors as well have turned to Chicago, to highlight how magical and mysterious it can be. It’s no surprise that a number of artists have been inspired by this town. Walt Disney was born in Hermosa, a short walk from where I live today. L. Frank Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in Humboldt Park. We have Mickey Mouse because of Chicago. We have a yellow brick road because of Chicago. We have so very much because of Chicago, just like we have the list of five wonderful books below.
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The year 2003 was a highlight for fiction starring the city of Chicago, because in addition to The Devil in the White City, The Time Traveler’s Wife was released. Where The Devil in the White City is non-fiction, fiction, history and true crime, The Time Traveler’s Wife is a blend of science fiction and romance. (Chicago lends itself well to genre-blending).
The novel is a chronologically confusing contemporary love story that follows unwilling time traveler Henry as he meets Clare, who will one day be his wife. Henry is a Chicago-based librarian who suffers from a genetic disorder that causes him to involuntarily time travel, and he does so throughout the novel, going backwards and forwards.
It’s a beautifully written story which allows one to sink into the depths of the prose and get lost in the utterly heartbreaking tale.
Perhaps the reason we’re so drawn to this story is because it highlights the many questions and uncertainties about love. Can love transcend space and time? What is human connection? What is the possibility of a bond between two people holding on as their relationship is bent and reshaped into something new? Chicago makes for a spectacular backdrop as this puzzle unfolds.
The Chicago setting is highlighted throughout, with prominent scenes at The Art Institute of Chicago and premier research institution, the Newberry Library.
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
I love a narrative where reality is just pulled out from under you and everything you once thought you knew is well, no more. This novel was released in 2017 and so, many of us are familiar with some of the scientific ideas presented here from other media, but I assure you this is an original and thrilling read, and of course, it takes place in a modern-day Chicago.
Late one night college professor Jason Dessen is walking back home after a night out in the city. He’s thinking about enjoying the rest of the evening with his wife and son. Then, everything changes when he hears someone say “Are you happy with your life?” What follows next is a mind-bending science-fiction thriller where Dessen breaks free from captors, rushes home to find that his wife is no longer his wife and his child is no more. Reality has shifted and he is trying to figure out what happened to him and his life in those hours he was not conscious after his abduction. Dark Matter, which is also a TV series, covers physics, the multiverse, the confrontation of the self, all against the backdrop of Chicago and its neighborhoods.
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
Hard-boiled detective crime fiction meets science-fiction and fantasy in Jim Butcher’s Storm Front, which is book 1 in a sweeping series. There are multiple books in what is known as The Dresden Files, including a number of tie-ins, such as comic books, short story collections, and yes, there’s also a television show.
When Chicago Police encounter a double murder that seems beyond their capabilities, they call in specialist Harry Dresden, a wizard well-equipped at handling paranormal investigations. Dark sorcery is suspected behind the crime, and so a dark wizard is the primary suspect. Dresden is soon targeted not just by the killer, but by the Chicago Police who think that Dresden is behind the murders. Our supernatural detective has to work quickly to stop the real murderer and clear his name.
The books highlight a number of Chicago area landmarks, Shedd Aquarium, Wrigley Field, Graceland Cemetery and more, making even Chicagoans feel at home, if they like their home sprinkled with the paranormal.
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Chicago is known as a city of neighborhoods, a city of skyscrapers, and so to imagine it as anything but, is a major shift in our perception. Divergent, part one of a trilogy, is a 2011 young adult dystopian novel. The citizens are unaware of what exists beyond the city borders. Yet, all they know is that there is danger outside of the boundaries of their home.
We follow sixteen-year-old Beatrice who lives in a society that is divided into five factions. Those groups are assigned based on an individual’s key ability and include Candor (honesty), Abnegation (selflessness), Dauntless (bravery), Amity (peacefulness), and Erudite (intelligence). Beatrice, who later becomes Tris, undergoes training and the initiation process for her determined group, which includes a grueling number of intense trials. There’s a romance, as well as secrets that Tris is keeping.
Divergent often is compared against a number of post-apocalyptic novels that became quite popular during this time period. What sets this one apart is of course the concept that an individual can be much more than what a society deems that they should. Much of what is explored here is the individual, individualism and the power of being unique. Also, Roth’s writing is brisk, imaginative, and thrilling. Additionally, what makes it special is of course, Chicago.
Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake
Chicago is just a great city for love stories it seems. The first two words in the summary of this novel are, “Chicago, sometime” which is such a lovely punctuation because so much of Chicago seems so timeless and yet possible at any time.
In Alone With You in the Ether we return to one of the most romantic places in the U.S., The Art Institute of Chicago. This is not what one would consider a traditional romance, and yet, what is a traditional romance today with all of our worldly complications? And there are no two more complicated characters than Regan and Aldo who have very intricate and complex interior and exterior lives.
Blake’s writing is beautiful, poetic, and inquiring as she investigates what love is, and how it can develop, be tested, and be maintained. Regan is a docent at The Art Institute, she’s also free flowing, libertine, and under mandatory mental treatment. Aldo is a doctoral student in mathematics. Both are so different, and yet, maybe not?
There are features of the city and its neighborhoods, and Blake effectively uses aspects of Chicago to complement each character’s personality and background in this wondrous and compelling romance.
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Vanishing Daughters
Saberhagen’s “An Old Friend of the Family” is at least partially set in Chicago.
P.N. Elrod’s Jack Fleming novels are set in 1930s Chicago.
And though it’s a TV show, we shouldn’t forget Kolchak the Night Stalker.
“The Last Hot Time” by John Ford. It shares a bit of the world created in the “Borderlands” novels and anthologies, but it is so much more heartbreaking. And the post (elven) apocalyptic landscape of Chicago is affectionately depicted.
Then there’s Robots of Gotham by Todd McAulty. That one was a blast to read.
Kolchack the Night Stalker was set in Chicago (Karel “Carl” Kolchack having failed to thrive in Las Vegas and Seattle). I’ve always wondered if on his commutes, Kolchack ever encountered Dr. Robert Hartley, and if so, what they discussed.
The women in their lives wearing more sweaters, perhaps?
What does Chicago have to offer (aside from the deep-dish pizzas)? How about a U-boat? A freakin’ U-BOAT, open to visitors! (Museum of Science and Industry, on the south side, near to the big school that I attended, the one with the first atomic reactor memorial art work.)
But Butcher’s Chicago isn’t this Chicago. It’s pretty clear from the docks along the lake, the warehouses on the way to O’Hare, etc.
Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neill
Not this genre, but Risky Business is set in the Chicago suburbs. And of course Ferris Bueller.
A couple of years ago I visited Chicago and went on a Dresden Files locations tour (that I made up for myself). I had a great time.
The Lives of Tao by Wesley Cho begins in Chicago.
They are not books, but:
My Bodyguard [film]
The Blues Brothers [film]
E.R. [TV show]
all love letters to Chicago and the El
The third book in The Road to Nowhere series by Meg Elison — The Book of Flora — is partially set in a post-apocalyptic woman-only city called Shy, aka Chicago.