Sometimes – when life has been kicking you personally in the teeth, or you’re just a bit bummed out about the way the world is going – it’s nice to read a book about someone overcoming the insurmountable. Whether it’s a fictional story about a plucky teen protagonist toppling a regime, or a real-life memoir about someone who managed to pull of the impossible, there’s a comfort in it. Here are twelve books about beating the odds.
Educated by Tara Westover
Educated, first published in 2018, is Tara Westover’s account of her remarkable and unlikely life: growing up in a family of survivalist Mormons, leaving them to step foot in a classroom for the first time as a university student, and going on to complete a PhD at Cambridge University. Despite her stumble start, Westover managed to ‘home school’ herself all the way to the hallowed halls of the ivory tower. You’ll be captivated by the way Westover is able to relate her story, with frankness and fairness that any memoir writer should envy. Read my full review of Educated here.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
A lot of young adult books about beating the odds feature a ‘chosen one’: a character who is prophesied or predicted to win whatever game they’re playing. The Hunger Games is the rare best-seller where the protagonist is just a regular girl thrust into the spotlight. Katniss Everdeen had no intentions of becoming a household name, or (in later books) becoming a symbol of the resistance against an exploitative and oppressive ruling class, but she’s forced to rise to the occasion for the love of her family and community. Read my full review of The Hunger Games here.
I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell
Cheating death just once might seem like sufficient grounds to write a book about beating the odds – but Maggie O’Farrell managed it no fewer than seventeen times. In I Am, I Am, I Am she details each brush with death, from the encounter with the machete-wielding mugger in South America, the night of teenage misadventure that almost ended underwater, the childhood illness O’Farrell wasn’t expected to survive, the traumatic labour and eventual C-section, the plane malfunction that sent her and her fellow passengers hurtling through the sky… All terrifying, in their own way. Read my full review of I Am, I Am, I Am here.
The Martian by Andy Weir
It’s hard to imagine longer odds than those of surviving being abandoned, alone, on a mission to Mars. That’s a terrifying idea, and yet Andy Weir transforms it into one of the most engaging, hopeful, and uplifting science fiction books of the 21st century. The Martian follows Mark Watney through his endeavour to simply survive, as the only man on the Red Planet. He must grow food, maintain a breathable atmosphere, and make his way to the landing spot for the next mission so that they can take him home. As I said, it’s the longest possible odds – and your heart will be in his mouth until he beats them. Read my full review of The Martian here.
I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
Simply surviving a gunshot wound to the head is enough to constitute ‘beating the odds’ in anyone’s book: but in I Am Malala, a young woman tells the story of how she not only overcame the physical and emotional trauma of that experience, but went on to win a Nobel Prize for her efforts to ensure every girl gets an education. She refused to be silenced, and her miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York.
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
No one is better placed to know the odds that need to be beaten than an actuary for a life insurance company. In Here One Moment, an actuary boards a plane and – through a series of wild and unlikely circumstances – finds herself predicting the deaths of everyone on board, down to the day and cause. Over the subsequent weeks and months, each passenger must face down their own mortality. Did the ‘Death Lady’ correctly predict their deaths, or will they be one of the lucky few to beat the odds? Read my full review of Here One Moment here.
In Order To Live by Yeonmi Park
For every defector who beats the odds and escapes the North Korean regime, there are hundreds – maybe thousands – more who don’t make it. Nothing will immerse you more in this stark reality than In Order To Live, a memoir by defector Yeonmi Park. This is an astonishing true story of physical and mental endurance, detailing how she escaped the world’s most impenetrable and fearful dictatorship. Against the odds, Park has gone on to become an advocate for human rights and support for victims of human trafficking. Read my full review of In Order To Live here.
Pheasants Nest by Louise Milligan
We all know the story: a young woman, taken from the streets, and used to a violent man’s ends. The odds on surviving that scenario are punishingly small for the victim. In Pheasants Nest, Louise Milligan (one of Australia’s bravest, most committed crime journalists who has seen this scenario play out countless times) tells the story of a survivor, a woman who finds herself living the nightmare and how she manages to come through the other side of it. Read my full review of Pheasants Nest here.
The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore
For hundreds of years, women were easily silenced by men with even a modicum of power. A woman who cried, or shouted, or fought back, or advocated for herself, could be labelled ‘crazy’ and hidden away from public view without fuss. It still happens today, of course, but it’s much harder to do, and that’s thanks – in large part – to women like Elizabeth Packard. In The Woman They Could Not Silence, Kate Moore reveals the story of a woman who beat the odds, and fought for herself and all other women confined against their will. This is a vivid portrait of a woman who defied all expectations.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Nearly two hundred years ago, Charles Dickens wrote an epic novel about a boy who beat incredible odds to rise from an abusive home in an English village to a life of comfort, with a happy marriage and a large family. Barbara Kingsolver has taken that story and transplanted it to present-day Appalachia in Demon Copperhead, where a young boy must similarly fight the tides that push against him to rise from a trailer-park upbringing to an adult life of freedom and joy. Through foster care, derelict schools, athletic success, opioid addiction, great love and devastating loss, the titular character will win your heart and give you hope. Read my full review of Demon Copperhead here.
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings traces Angelou’s life from age three to seventeen. The renowned poet and activist’s life got off to a rough start (to say the least). This book depicts a radical transformation, from a nervous young girl subjected to racism and abuse to a self-possessed young woman with hope and determination. At many critical junctures, books and literature provide solace to Angelou, and it’s through the power of the written word that she reclaims her own agency and beats the odds. Read my full review of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings here.
Room by Emma Donoghue
Room is a story told from the perspective of five-year-old Jack, a boy who has spent his entire life held captive in a single locked room with his mother. It’s all he has ever known. This is no post-apocalyptic hide-out or agoraphobic folie à deux – they are both victims of a terrible crime (based on the real-life horrors of Josef Fritzl). Against unbelievable odds, Jack’s mother manages to keep him happy and healthy despite their dire circumstances, enough so that they are able to plan an ambitious bid for freedom. Read my full review of Room here.
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