Although no other Updike novel follows a family through four generations, there are a number of parallels between In the Beauty of the Lilies and others by the author. The four fictional works commonly referred to as the Rabbit novels—Rabbit, Run (1960); Rabbit Redux (1971; see separate entry); Rabbit Is Rich (1981); and Rabbit at Rest (1990; see separate entry)—chronicle the life of Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, Updike's modern hero who grows up in modest circumstances and makes a comfortable life for himself despite the many anxieties he faces from adolescence through old age.

These novels portray the changing face of America from the late 1950s through the early 1990s. Like a number of the characters in In the Beauty of the Lilies, Rabbit Angstrom struggles with religious doubts and with the lure of material culture. One can also find similarities between Clarence Wilmot and Roger Chillingworth...