View source for List of fictional diaries

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{{More citations needed|date=October 2021}}
[[File:Punch 1888 May 26 page 1.jpg|thumb|right|295px|The first installment of ''[[Diary of a Nobody]]'' in ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' (1888)]] 
This is a '''list of fictional diaries''' categorized by type, including fictional works in diary form, diaries appearing in fictional works, and hoax diaries.

The first category, fictional works in diary form, lists fictional works where the story, or a major part of the story, is told in the form of a character's diary.<ref name="Duyfhuizen">{{cite journal |last1=Duyfhuizen |first1=Bernard |title=Diary Narratives in Fact and Fiction. Reviewed Works: ''Diary Fiction: Writing as Action'' by H. Porter Abbott; ''A Book of One's Own: People and Their Diaries'' by Thomas Mallon; ''The Diary Novel'' by Lorna Martens |journal=Novel: A Forum on Fiction |date=Winter 1986 |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=171–178 |publisher=Duke University Press|jstor=1345552 |doi=10.2307/1345552 }}</ref> Diary form is frequently used in fiction for [[young adult fiction|young adult]]s and [[tween]]s as well as adults.<ref>{{cite news |last=Westcott |first=Rebecca |date=2014-04-03 |title=Children's Books Top 10s: Top 10 Diary Books |url=https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/apr/03/rebecca-westcott-top-10-diary-books |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=[[London]] |access-date=2016-01-05 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Redmond |first=Moira |date=2014-01-14 |title=Dear Diary, How Did You Become Part of Our Literary Culture? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/jan/06/dear-diary-literary-culture-famous-diarists |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=[[London]] |access-date=2016-01-05 }}</ref> It has been used for multiple books in a series following the diarist's life over many years, such as the ''[[Adrian Mole]]'' series, the ''[[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series)|Diary of a Wimpy Kid]]'' series, and the ''[[Dork Diaries]]'' series, all of which chronicle the lives of characters who start a diary as children or adolescents and continue their diary as they mature over time. Fictionalised diaries set during distinct historical periods or events have been used since at least the 1970s to bring history to life for young people.<ref name="Storey">{{cite journal |last1=Storey |first1=Dee C. |title=Reading in the Content Areas: Fictionalized Biographies and Diaries for Social Studies |journal=The Reading Teacher |date=April 1982 |volume=35 |issue=7 |pages=796–798 |publisher=International Literacy Association and Wiley|jstor=20198101 }}</ref> ''[[Dear America]]'', ''[[My Australian Story]]'' and related series are recent examples of this genre. The form is also frequently used for fiction about adult women's lives,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Abbott |first1=H. Porter |editor-last1=Herman |editor-first1=David | editor-last2=Jahn |editor-first2=Manfred | editor-last3=Ryan |editor-first3=Marie-Laure |title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory |publisher=[[Routledge]] |date=2005 |page=106 |chapter=Diary |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oX8hmVw_yXYC&pg=PA106 |isbn=1134458401}}</ref> some notable examples being ''[[Bridget Jones's Diary (novel)|Bridget Jones's Diary]]'', ''[[The Color Purple]]'', and ''[[Pamela (novel)|Pamela]]''.

The second category lists fictional works that are not written in diary form, but in which a character keeps a diary, or a diary is otherwise featured as part of the story. Some common uses for diaries in fiction are to reveal to the reader material that is concealed from other characters, to divulge information about past events, or as a device to provide real or false evidence to investigators in [[mystery fiction|mystery]] or [[crime fiction]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Emrys |first=A.B. |date=2011 |title=Willkie Collins, Vera Caspary and the Evolution of the Casebook Novel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_-PolZ-B10MC |location=[[Jefferson, North Carolina]] |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |isbn=978-0-7864-4786-2}}</ref> Examples of diaries being used in one of these ways include Amy Dunne's false diary in ''[[Gone Girl (novel)|Gone Girl]]'' and Laura Palmer's secret diary in ''[[Twin Peaks]]''.

The third category lists hoax diaries, that were presented as being true diaries of real people when first published, but were later discovered to be fiction. ''[[Go Ask Alice]]'', the first of a number of books by [[Beatrice Sparks]] purported to be based on diaries of real teenagers, was originally presented by Sparks as the non-fictional diary of an anonymous teenage girl,<ref name="nilsen">Alleen Pace Nilsen, "The House That Alice Built", ''School Library Journal'', October 1979, pp. 109-112.</ref> but was later classified by publishers as fiction.<ref name="yagoda">Ben Yagoda, ''Memoir: A History''. New York: Riverhead Books, 2009.</ref>

==Fictional works in diary form==
*''[[Alice, I Think (novel)|Alice, I Think]]'' by [[Susan Juby]]
*The ''Amazing Days of [[Abby Hayes]]'' series by [[Anne Mazer]]
*''[[The American Diary of a Japanese Girl]]'' by [[Yone Noguchi]]
*''[[Any Human Heart|Any Human Heart:The Intimate Journals of Logan Mountstuart]]'' by [[William Boyd (writer)|William Boyd]]
*''[[The Basic Eight]]'' by [[Daniel Handler]]
*''[[Bert Diaries]]'' by [[Anders Jacobsson and Sören Olsson]].
*''[[The Book of the New Sun]]'' by [[Gene Wolfe]]
*''[[The Book of Ebenezer Le Page]]'' by [[Gerald Basil Edwards]]
*''[[Bridget Jones's Diary (novel)|Bridget Jones's Diary]]'' series by [[Helen Fielding]]
*''The Brightfount Diaries'' by [[Brian Aldiss]]
*''[[The Bunker Diary]]'' by [[Kevin Brooks (writer)|Kevin Brooks]]
*''[[California Diaries]]'' (series) by [[Ann M. Martin]]
*''[[Catherine, Called Birdy]]'' by [[Karen Cushman]]
*''Charmed Thirds'' by [[Megan McCafferty]]
*''[[The Color Purple]]'' by [[Alice Walker]]
*''[[Confessions of Georgia Nicolson]]'' by [[Louise Rennison]]
*''[[Dangling Man]]'' by [[Saul Bellow]]
* ''[[Dear America]]'', ''[[Dear Canada]]'' and ''[[My America]]'', series of historical novels for children
*''[[Dear Dumb Diary]]'' by [[Jim Benton]]
*''[[The Debt to Pleasure]]'' by [[John Lanchester]]
*''[[Diary (novel)|Diary]]'' by [[Chuck Palahniuk]]
*''[[Diary of a Chav]]'' series by [[Grace Dent]]
*''[[Diary of a Country Priest]]'' by [[Georges Bernanos]]
*''[[The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red]]'' by [[Ridley Pearson]]
*''The Diaries of Emilio Renzi'' (3 volumes: ''The Formative Years, The Happy Years, A Day in the Life)'' by [[Ricardo Piglia]]<ref>{{Cite news|last=Thirlwell|first=Adam|title=Imaginary Conspiracies|journal=The New York Review of Books 2022 |language=en|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/07/19/emilio-renzi-imaginary-conspiracies/|access-date=2021-10-26|issn=0028-7504}}</ref>
*"[[Diary of a Madman (Nikolai Gogol)|Diary of a Madman]]" by [[Nikolai Gogol]]; this title has also been used by [[Diary of a Madman (Lu Xun)|Lu Xun]] and [[Diary of a Madman (Guy de Maupassant)|Guy de Maupassant]]
*''[[Diary of a Nobody]]'' by [[George Grossmith]] and [[Weedon Grossmith]]
*''[[Diary of a Pilgrimage]]'' by [[Jerome K Jerome]]
*''[[Diary of a Provincial Lady]]'' by [[E. M. Delafield|E.M. Delafield]]
*''[[The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks]]'' by [[Robertson Davies]]
*''[[Either/Or (Kierkegaard book)|Diary of a Seducer]]'' by [[Søren Kierkegaard]]
*''Diary of a Somebody'' by [[Christopher Matthew]]
*''[[Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series)|Diary of a Wimpy Kid]]'' series by [[Jeff Kinney (writer)|Jeff Kinney]]
*''[[Dinotopia]]'' by [[James Gurney]]
*''[[Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey]]'' by [[Margaret Peterson Haddix]]
*''[[Dork Diaries]]'' by [[Rachel Renée Russell]]
*''Double Eclipse'' by [[Melissa de la Cruz]]
*''[[Dracula]]'' by [[Bram Stoker]]
*''[[Flowers for Algernon]]'' by [[Daniel Keyes]]
*''[[From the Files of Madison Finn]]'' series by Laura Dower
*''[[A Gathering of Days]]'' by [[Joan W. Blos]]
*''[[Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (book)|Gentlemen Prefer Blondes]]'' by [[Anita Loos]]
*''[[Go Ask Malice|Go Ask Malice: A Slayer's Diary]]'' by Robert Joseph Levy
*''[[Hidden Passions|Hidden Passions: Secrets from the Diaries of Tabitha Lenox]]'' by Alice Alfonsi and James E. Reilly
*''[[The Horla]]'' by [[Guy de Maupassant]]
*''[[Houseboy (novel)|Houseboy]]'' by [[Ferdinand Oyono]]
*''[[I Capture the Castle]]'' by [[Dodie Smith]]
*''I Trissy'' by [[Norma Fox Mazer]]
*''Jazmin's Notebook'' by [[Nikki Grimes]]
*''[[A Journal of the Plague Year]]'' by [[Daniel Defoe]]
*''[[The Lacuna]]'' by [[Barbara Kingsolver]]
*''[[The Little White Bird]]'' by [[J.M. Barrie]]
*''[[Love That Dog]]'' by [[Sharon Creech]]
*''The Lost Diaries of [[Nigel Molesworth]]'' by [[Geoffrey Willans]]
*''The Luminous Novel'' by [[Mario Levrero]]<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-08-13|title=The Luminous Novel by Mario Levrero review – an extraordinary autofictional diary|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/aug/13/the-luminous-novel-by-mario-levrevo-review-an-extraordinary-autofictional-diary|access-date=2021-10-26|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref>
*''[[Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph]]'' by [[Frances Sheridan]]
*''The Memory Book of Starr Faithfull: A Novel'' by [[Gloria Vanderbilt]]
*''[[Michael (novel)|Michael]]: A German Destiny in Diary Form'' by [[Joseph Goebbels]]
*''[[The Moneypenny Diaries]]'' by [[Samantha Weinberg]] (under the pseudonym Kate Westbrook)
*''A Month of Sundays'' by [[John Updike]]
*''[[The Moth Diaries]]'' by [[Rachel Klein (novelist)|Rachel Klein]]
*''[[My Story (Scholastic UK)|My Story]]'', ''[[My Australian Story]]'', ''[[My Story (Scholastic New Zealand)|My Story (New Zealand)]]'', ''[[My Name Is America]]'', series of historical novels for children 
*''[[Myra Breckinridge]]'' by [[Gore Vidal]]
*''[[Nausea (novel)|Nausea]]'' by [[Jean-Paul Sartre]]
*''[[Notes on a Scandal]]'' by [[Zoë Heller]]
*''[[Parable of the Sower (novel)|Parable of the Sower]]'' by [[Octavia E. Butler]]
*''[[Parable of the Talents (novel)|Parable of the Talents]]'' by [[Octavia E. Butler]]
*''[[The Pendragon Adventure]]'' by [[D. J. MacHale]] (a series of ten novels)
*''Penny Pollard's Diary'' by [[Robin Klein]]
*''[[The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas]]'' by [[Machado de Assis]]
*''[[The Princess Diaries]]'' by [[Meg Cabot]]
*''[[Random Acts of Senseless Violence]]'' by [[Jack Womack]]
*''Runaway'' by [[Wendelin Van Draanen]]
*''[[Second Helpings]]'' by [[Megan McCafferty]]
*''[[The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾]]'' by [[Sue Townsend]], and others in the series
*''The Secret Diary of [[Anne Boleyn]]'' by [[Robin Maxwell (author)|Robin Maxwell]]
*''[[The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer]]'' by [[Jennifer Lynch]]
*''[[Sloppy Firsts]]'' by [[Megan McCafferty]]
*''[[So Much To Tell You]]'' by [[John Marsden (writer)|John Marsden]]
*''[[Spud (novel)|Spud]]'' by [[John van de Ruit]] and others in the series
*''[[The Story of B]]'' by [[Daniel Quinn]]
*''[[Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas]]'' by [[James Patterson]]
*''The Tale of Murasaki'' by [[Liza Dalby]]
*''[[The Turner Diaries]]'' by [[William Luther Pierce]] (under the pseudonym Andrew MacDonald)
*''[[The Vampire Diaries]]'' by [[L. J. Smith (author)|L. J. Smith]] (This has only partial diary entries in diary format. The rest of the book is in text form.)
*''[[The Yellow Wallpaper]]'' by [[Charlotte Perkins Gilman]]
*''[[Youth in Revolt]]'' by C.D. Pyane
*''[[Z for Zachariah]]'' by [[Robert C. O'Brien (author)|Robert C. O'Brien]]
*''[[Z213: Exit]]'' by [[Dimitris Lyacos]]
*''[[Zama (novel)|Zama]]'' by [[Antonio di Benedetto|Antonio Di Benedetto]]

==Diaries appearing in fictional works==
* [[The Diary (Adventure Time)|''Adventure Time'' "The Diary"]] (animated episode): Nurse Poundcake keeps her diary.
* ''Andělská srdce'' (Angelic Hearts) by [[Anna Řeháková]]
*''[[An Unkindness of Ghosts]]'' by [[Rivers Solomon]]: Lune keeps journals. 
*''[[The Basic Eight]]'' by Daniel Handler: Flannery Culp keeps diaries. 
*''[[Cloud Atlas (novel)|Cloud Atlas]],'' by [[David Mitchell (author)|David Mitchell]]''.'' Sections of the novel deal with the Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing.
*''[[Doctor Who]]'' (television series): [[Doctor (Doctor Who)|The Doctor]] keeps a "500 year diary", Joan Redfern keeps "A Journal of Impossible Things", and Melody Pond/ River Song keeps "River Song's Diary".  
*''[[Elfquest]]'' (comics): Cam Triomphe keeps a diary (mentioned in the sub-series ''Fire-Eye'' and ''The Rebels'').
*''[[The End of the Affair]]'' by [[Graham Greene]]: Part of the narrative is revealed through a diary stolen from Sarah by the narrator, Maurice Bendrix.
*''[[Future Diary]]'' (manga and anime): The combatants of the battle royale game each have their own unique cellphone diary with special abilities of describing the future.
*''[[Gone Girl (novel)|Gone Girl]]'' by [[Gillian Flynn]]: Amy Dunne keeps a diary.
*''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'' by [[J. K. Rowling]]: A [[Tom Riddle's diary|magical diary created by Tom Riddle]] plays a role in the story and is eventually destroyed.
*''[[Homestuck]],'' by [[Andrew Hussie]]''.'' Mindfang keeps a journal. Rose chronicles her adventures within Sburb.
*''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]'' (film): Dr. Henry Walton Jones Sr. keeps a "Grail Diary".
*[[John Winchester (Supernatural)|John Winchester]]'s diary in the TV show ''[[Supernatural (U.S. TV series)|Supernatural]]'': The diary Sam and Dean's father keeps to record a list of supernatural creatures.
*''[[Lolita]]'' by [[Vladimir Nabokov]]: The narrator Humbert keeps a diary, where he records his secret thoughts about Lolita and her mother.
*''Low Red Moon'' by [[Caitlín R. Kiernan]]: Caroline Snow keeps a diary.
*''[[Mort]]'' and other ''[[Discworld]]'' books by [[Terry Pratchett]]: The diaries of every sentient being ever to live on the [[Discworld (world)|Discworld]] appear.
*''[[Mother Night]]'' by [[Kurt Vonnegut]]: ''Memoirs of a Monogamous Casanova'', the erotic diary of the protagonist, Howard W. Campbell.
*''[[Mrs Dale's Diary]]'' (BBC Radio Series): The diary mentioned in the title is part of the story.  
*''[[Ready Player One]]'': Upon death, James Donovan Halliday releases Anorak's Almanac, an extensive look into the pop-culture he consumed.
*''[[The Saga of Darren Shan]]'' by [[Darren Shan]]: The character Darren Shan keeps a diary.
*''[[Star Trek]]'' episodes often contain entries in the [[Captain's log]].
*''[[Superman]]'' (comics): Superman keeps a giant-sized diary at his [[Fortress of Solitude]].
*''[[The Tenant of Wildfell Hall]]'' by [[Anne Brontë]]: The character Helen Graham gives the narrator Gilbert Markham her diaries to read; the diaries constitute the second volume of the novel.
*''[[Twin Peaks]]'' (television series) by David Lynch: Laura Palmer keeps a diary.
*''[[V for Vendetta (film)|V for Vendetta]]'': Dr Delia Surrige keeps a diary.
*''[[The Voyage of the Dawn Treader|Voyage of the Dawn Treader]]'' by [[C. S. Lewis]]: Eustace Clarence Scrubb keeps a diary.
*''[[The Vampire Diaries]]'' (television series): Elena Gilbert, Jonathan Gilbert, and Stefan Salvatore all keep journals.
*''[[Watchmen]]'': The vigilante [[Rorschach (comics)|Rorschach]] keeps a journal which becomes a significant plot point.

==Hoax diaries==
{{Further|Fake memoirs}}
*''[[Go Ask Alice]]'' by [[Beatrice Sparks]] (1971), who was known for producing books purporting to be the "real diaries" from troubled teens (including ''[[Jay's Journal]]'')
*''[[Hitler Diaries]]'' by [[Konrad Kujau]] (1983)
*[[Mussolini diaries]]
*''[[The Diary of a Farmer's Wife 1796-1797]]'' by Anne Hughes<ref>Jeanne Preston (Editor), ''The Diary of a Farmer's Wife, 1796–97'', Penguin Books Ltd; New edition 29 October 1992, {{ISBN|0140157069}}, accessed 13 December 2015)</ref>
*Three medical diaries by John Knyveton (actually by Ernest Gray):<ref>Evans, Martin H. & Hooper, Geoffrey: "Three misleading diaries: John Knyveton MD - from naval surgeon's mate to man-midwife." [http://ijh.sagepub.com/content/26/4/762 International Journal of Maritime History (2014) 26: 762-788.]</ref>
:*''The Diary of a Surgeon in the Year 1751–1752'' (1938)
:*''Surgeon's Mate: the diary of John Knyveton, surgeon in the British fleet during the Seven Years War 1756–1762'' (1942)
:*''Man midwife; the further experiences of John Knyveton, M.D., late surgeon in the British fleet, during the years 1763–1809'' (1946)
*''Diary of Elizabeth Pepys'' (1991) by [[Dale Spender]]<ref name=tomalin>{{cite news |last1=Tomalin |first1=Claire |author-link1=Claire Tomalin |title=Letters: Oct 19: Spoofs and Pepys |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/oct/19/featuresreviews.guardianreview15 |access-date=13 June 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=18 October 2002}}</ref>
*''The Journal of Mrs Pepys'' (1998) by Sara George.<ref name=tomalin />

==See also==
*[[List of fake memoirs and journals]]
*[[Epistolary novel]]
*[[List of diarists]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{inc-lit|date=October 2021}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fictional diaries}}
[[Category:Lists of fictional things|Diaries]]
[[Category:Diaries]]
[[Category:Fictional diaries| ]]
[[Category:Lists of books by type|Diaries]]