Order of Book Series
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Lee Smith Books in Order

Lee Smith has written 21 books, published between 1969 and 2023. The first book is Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed (1969) and the newest is Silver Alert (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
21
Published
1969–2023
Pages on record
4,553 in 16 of 21 books
Reading time
76–114 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,553 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 16 of 21 titles with a page count on record.

See all 21 books in order Printable Lee Smith checklist

Lee Smith, born November 1, 1944, is an American fiction writer whose work often draws on a background in the American South. The catalogue lists 21 books from Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed (1969) to Silver Alert (2023), including Fancy Strut (1973), Black Mountain Breakdown (1980), Oral History (1983) and Fair and Tender Ladies (1988). The Last Girls was a New York Times bestseller and won the Southern Book Critics Circle Award. Smith's honours also include the O. Henry Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Fiction and the North Carolina Award for Literature. Subjects include the Southern states, women, teenage girls, orphans and family life.

How many Lee Smith books are there?

Lee Smith has 21 books, released between 1969 and 2023.

Lee Smith Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 21 Lee Smith books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed by Lee Smith (1969)
  2. Cover of Fancy Strut by Lee Smith (1973)
  3. Cover of Family Linen by Lee Smith (1985)
  4. Cover of Me and My Baby View the Eclipse by Lee Smith (1990)
  5. Cover of The Devil's Dream by Lee Smith (1992)
  6. Cover of Saving Grace by Lee Smith (1995)
  7. Cover of The Christmas Letters by Lee Smith (1996)
  8. Cover of New Stories from the South 2001 by Lee Smith, book 11 of the New Stories From The South series (2001)
  9. Cover of The Last Girls by Lee Smith (2002)
  10. Cover of On Agate Hill by Lee Smith (2006)
  11. Cover of Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger by Lee Smith (2010)
  12. Cover of Conversations with Lee Smith by Lee Smith (2012)
  13. Cover of Guests on Earth by Lee Smith (2013)
  14. Cover of Dimestore: A Writer's Life by Lee Smith (2016)
  15. Cover of Blue Marlin by Lee Smith (2020)
  16. Cover of Silver Alert by Lee Smith (2023)
  1. 1
    Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed1969 · 180 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1969180
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Fancy Strut1973 · 358 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1973358
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Black Mountain Breakdown1980 · confirmed 2/4
    1980–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Cakewalk1981 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1981256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Oral History1983 · 352 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1983352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Family Linen1985 · 272 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1985272
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Fair and Tender Ladies1988 · confirmed 2/4
    1988–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Me and My Baby View the Eclipse1990 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1990288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Devil's Dream1992 · confirmed 2/4
    1992–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Saving Grace1995 · 291 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1995291
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Christmas Letters1996 · 136 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1996136
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    News of the Spirit1997 · confirmed 2/4
    1997–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    New Stories from the South 2001New Stories From The South #112001 · 346 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2001346
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Last Girls2002 · 406 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2002406
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    On Agate Hill2006 · 384 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2006384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger2010 · 352 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2010352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Conversations with Lee Smith2012 · 244 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2012244
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Guests on Earth2013 · 352 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2013352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Dimestore: A Writer's Life2016 · 200 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2016200
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Blue Marlin2020 · 136 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2020136
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    Silver Alert2023 · confirmed 2/4
    2023–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Lee Smith books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

New Stories From The South in order

1 book
  1. 11. New Stories from the South 2001

Standalone books

20 books

20 Lee Smith titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Lee Smith books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 21 Lee Smith books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Lee Smith

Start with Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed (1969), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Lee Smith book?

Silver Alert (2023) is the newest Lee Smith book released so far.

Is there a new Lee Smith book coming?

No next Lee Smith book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Lee Smith at a glance

Paused
No new Lee Smith title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
Release pace
Lee Smith books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
Length
4,553 pages across the 16 of 21 books with a recorded length, a median of 290 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Lee Smith books, 5 of 21, were published in the 1990s.

What the Lee Smith books are about

19 of the 21 Lee Smith books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: southern states is tagged on 7 of 19. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.