Family saga

The family saga is a genre of literature which chronicles the lives and doings of a family or a number of related or interconnected families over a period of time. In novels (or sometimes sequences of novels) with a serious intent, this is often a thematic device used to portray particularly historical events, changes of social circumstances, or the ebb and flow of fortunes from a multiplicity of perspectives.

The typical family saga follows generations of a family through a period of history in a series of novels. A number of sub-genres of the form exist such as the AGA saga.

Successful writers of popular family sagas include Susan Howatch[?], R. F. Delderfield and Philippa Carr.

Examples of family sagas of literary note include:

• The Forsyte Saga - John Galsworthy
• Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

See also

• Family life in literature