The problem with literary bases for decks is that there are usually only enough important characters and grand themes to comfortably fit the Major Arcana, with a few Minors leftover perhaps--and that is fitting, given that the Majors are traditionally the part of the tarot deck that houses the sweeping archetypes that have withstood several hundred years of tarot evolution. But then that leaves a vacuum in the Minors that must be filled in other, related ways (see: Robert Place's Vampire tarot, in which most of the Trumps are linked to Bram Stoker's Dracula , while the Minors are filled with various other vampire tropes and even real-life figures from the literary milieu of Stoker's day).
That's why long and varied cycles of mythology like the Arthurian canon or the Thousand and One Nights are better suited to tarot than individual novels, IMO.
If I were going to pick a work of fiction, I would pick the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller . I think there could be some very interesting choices in that for The Devil and the High Priestess, and some fairly predictable ones for The Moon, the Hanged Man, the Emperor, the Hierophant, Judgment--really, I could keep going. I should think most people would think of John Proctor as The Fool, but I think it would be more interesting--somewhat of a twist--with Abigail Williams as The Fool (we see most of the action from John's perspective but she has her own journey, as well). I suppose Proctor goes furthest through the "Fool's Journey" as we know it, however.
ETA: But echoing my points above, there wouldn't be enough material for all of the Minors. They would have to pull a Robert Place and populate the Courts and numbered cards with figures and events from witchcraft-trial-related history and call it "The Salem Tarot" or somesuch.
I think the Mists of Avalon is quite a good--and marketable--idea, Penthasilia. Not only has the tarotist market proved its interest in all things Arthurian (and Celtic, for that matter), but that book was a huge bestseller year after year and there would be a built-in market of non-tarotists who would be interested in it. Plus, this very long book is so densely populated with characters and events (echoing the breadth of the various Arthurian legend cycles and versions over the centuries) that it would not be a stretch to have 56 distinct Minors based closely on the novel in addition to the archetypes in the Majors.
desertrat, I agree with the Chronicles of Narnia . That is another marketable idea but for the fact that those CS Lewis fans who are fundamentalist Christians (such as many people I know) are a built-in non- market for a Narnia tarot deck. The Narnia franchise and CS Lewis's theological works have been steady bestsellers for the (English language) Christian publishing market for the past 15-20 years that I know of, and whomever has the rights to the works would likely be unwilling to jeopardize that massive market.
