The Recurring Cast
Character guide · 13 books · 1929 to 1959 · Set in the fictional Jefferson, Mississippi

William Faulkner

Literary and generalLiterary fictionClassicsFamily and book club

William Faulkner set most of his novels in Yoknapatawpha County, an invented corner of Mississippi, where the Compson, Sartoris, McCaslin and Snopes families and their neighbours recur across books, told in difficult, brilliant, many-voiced prose.

Best estimate, compiled from series guides, publisher descriptions and reviews where available, and from memory otherwise. Book level only, not chapter level. Minor includes cameos and brief references. Each book carries a confidence rating in its tooltip.

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Who appears in which book

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William Faulkner books in order

Each series in publication order, with its lead characters. Where the story runs in a different order, switch to Story order. Crossover books are marked and listed under their main series. Use My books to track what you have read.

Yoknapatawpha

10 books · Set in the fictional Jefferson, MississippiLiterary fictionClassicsFamily and book club
  1. 1Sartoris1929With Bayard SartorisBuy on Amazon
  2. 2The Sound and the Fury1929With Quentin Compson and Benjy CompsonBuy on Amazon
  3. 3As I Lay Dying1930With Darl BundrenBuy on Amazon
  4. 4Sanctuary1931With Temple DrakeBuy on Amazon
  5. 5Light in August1932With Joe Christmas and Lena GroveBuy on Amazon
  6. 6Absalom, Absalom!1936With Quentin CompsonBuy on Amazon
  7. 7The Unvanquished1938With Bayard SartorisBuy on Amazon
  8. 8Go Down, Moses1942With Isaac McCaslinBuy on Amazon
  9. 9Intruder in the Dust1948Buy on Amazon
  10. 10Requiem for a Nun1951With Temple DrakeBuy on Amazon

Snopes

3 books · Set in the fictional Jefferson, MississippiLiterary fictionClassics
  1. 1The Hamlet1940Buy on Amazon
  2. 2The Town1957Buy on Amazon
  3. 3The Mansion1959Buy on Amazon

Characters

20 recurring and key characters, with the book each one first appears in.

Yoknapatawpha County

The Snopes trilogy