In the mid-1800s, the English-speaking world was mad for tales of bigamy—the original spouse either hiding in the attic or just back from the colonies. The culprit was Jane Eyre, which set off a micro-genre of copycat books. Below, a few more recent examples of breakout authors and their sincerest flatterers.
the hunger games: scholastic; the bone season: bloomsbury; divergent: harpercollins children’s books; gone girl and is everyone hanging out without me?: crown publishing group; the husband’s secret: amy einhorn books; the silent wife: penguin books; bossypants: little, brown and company; mindy kaling: filmmagic; lena dunham and tina fey: getty images