This course explores the genre of the novel through the framework of ethics-of-care theory. Care theorists define caregiving as meeting another’s need in networks of mutual support. Talia Schaffer, for example, “argue[s] for caregiving as one of the most fundamental forms of human relationality.” In what ways is the novel a genre of care? How do novels and novelists enact, depict, and neglect the call for mutual support? How can reading for care illuminate our present moment? The course will bring together readings on ethics of care with novels ranging from Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko (1688) to Patricia Lockwood’s No One Is Talking About This (2021).