Double Indemnity by James M. Cain (1943)

First serialized in 1936, this is one of noir novels that made Cain famous. The plot includes many noir tropes: A femme fatale lures an insurance salesman into killing her husband. In the aftermath, the corruption of the world is revealed, as characters turn on each other to save themselves at any cost. The novel makes an interesting comparison to Mildred Pierce, which uses some noir trappings, but does not fully belong in this genre.

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The Street by Ann Petry (1946)

A realist novel set in WWII-era Harlem, this was the first novel by a Black woman author to become a bestseller. The Street follows the life of a single mother struggling to provide for her son and somehow make the American fable of becoming rich through hard word come true. Like Mildred Pierce, this novel takes a dark view of human nature—the protagonist faces not only sexism, classism, and run of the mill chicanery, but also racism.

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