These authors are the best and I consider them classics: Marilynne Robinson, Anne Tyler, Alice Hoffman, Jane Smiley. "housekeeping" by Robinson is an absolute "must" if you haven't read it. Smiley's Thousand Acres is another. All of these authors write great stories but in a wonderful literate way. I can't say enough about all of them. Include Joan Didion, but she requires a commitment to be reedy to study.