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I'd love to hear of any novels out there with vegan characters (who are portrayed as regular people, not animal rights terrorists!). I'm an editor at a small press that aims to launch such books into the world. So far, so good -- we have a YA paranormal book coming out with a vegan protagonist (and vegan vampires!), and an eco-mystery with a vegan narrator.
I've recently read JM Coetzee's "Elizabeth Costello," one of my favorite vegan characters ever -- but I think it's rare to find such characters in fiction.
I'd love to hear from anyone who has found great fiction that deal with these issues in a compassionate way.
I loved Out of Breath by Blair Richmond! It was a great YA novel with a strong female character and a positive message for the environment. If you liked the Twilight Series, you'll love this one with a vegan twist!!
@ Rebecca - Thanks for the tip on Out of Breath. I just added it to my Amazon wishlist.
The main character in the Wings series by Aprilynne Pike is vegan. It may be for magical reasons, but I thought that was so neat that it was the main reason I bought the book when I was browsing through it in the bookstore (back when they actually had brick and mortar book stores). I really love that series (there are 3 books so far and a 4th is on the way), so I highly recommend it. I describe it as Twilight for fairies with better writing.
The Scott Pilgrim comics features an evil ex-boyfriend who has super powers because he is vegan. The movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World also has the same character. Both are fantastic.
My only other book I know of with a vegan character is Whisper, by my sister in law Phoebe Kitanidis. Honestly, I only read it to be supportive, so I can't really endorse it. Icka, the vegan character, is pretty much the only compelling character of the book. She wasn't written in a very positive light though. She's very angry PETA member. At one point she throws fake blood on her sister's pizza.
@Smurfy - and I love fairies!
I always love hearing about good vegan-friendly and eco-books; there seem to be too few of them out there. There's a list going on Goodreads about "Best eco-fiction" (link below) -- but I'd love to get the conversation going here, too!
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/12043.Best_eco_fiction
Going to have a look at the Wings series. Didn't like Twilight, but i do love fairies!
thanks for the tip about the Wings series, I've all them on my wish list as I lonve fantasy books, if there's a vegan main charcater even better!
There are certainly no vegans in this book, but I just re-read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (I read the original version; apparently his published edited quite a lot out when it was first published), and I was amazed at how much of an animal-rights book it is! Best of all, it connects animal rights to human rights, which is important and not done nearly often enough. So for anyone who cares about animals, this is a book worth visiting -- or re-visiting!
And for all of you who love mysteries, we published an eco-mystery featuring a vegan character -- she's all about sustainable living (if only she weren't falling in love with a hot TV news reporter who eats meat and drives a Hummer...). You can learn more about it here -- it's a great summer read:
http://www.ashlandcreekpress.com/books/fallingintogreen.html
Happy reading!
Agreed on The Jungle!!! This book had unintentionally sparked much shock, constrovery and investigation into the meat packing industry, that it led to the development of the FDA. It was hugely influential! I think about this book often and hope that someday soon someone will write a book for our time that may be just as powerful. The story of a migrant factory farm worker maybe?
Hello to all you vegan/fiction fans. I have written a novel/diet book called "Diary of a Dieting Madhouse," an ebook available on amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. It features a heroine who goes on a vegan diet, looses weight and gets the guy. It's been described as "Bridget Jones's Diary meets Skinny Bitch." The novel is loosely based on "Pride & Prejudice," and the reader can download a copy of the same diet book the heroine uses to lose weight. It's an idea I'm not sure has ever been done before. Please go to my website www.paigesingleton.com to read excerpts from both books and for links to Amazon. You can also read more chapters there. I hope you love reading it as much as I loved writing it. It's been my dream since becoming a vegetarian many years ago.
BTW, I have read two books published by Ashland Creek Press, "The Tourist Trail" and "Out of Breath," and both were extremely well-written, super readable and perfect for anyone who cares about animals, but wants to be entertained at the same time. Try them out!
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