Books like 'A Tale for the Time Being'
Readers who enjoyed A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery military, war & conflict action / adventure magical-realism historical-fiction literary-fiction coming-of-age family bullying
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The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsIn 1942, Europe remains in the relentless grip of war. Just beyond the tents of the Russian refugee camp she calls home, a young woman speaks her wedding vows. It’s a decision that will alter her destiny…and it’s a lie that will remain buried until the next century.Since she was nine years old, Alina Dziak knew she would marry her best friend, Tomasz...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic religion spirituality war -
![The Book Thief by Markus Zusak]()
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 63 ratingsLibrarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found hereIt is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction magical-realism realistic war -
![Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan]()
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsBased on the true story of a forgotten hero, Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours. Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic war -
![The Letter by Ruth Saberton]()
The Letter by Ruth Saberton
Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Letter is a beautiful novel set in England between the First World War and the present day. Perfect for fans of Downton Abbey, it is the story of an aristocratic family, a forbidden love affair and the darkest of secrets kept for over one hundred years. On the eve of the First World War aspiring poet Kit Rivers looks forward to a bright future... -
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![Shōgun by James Clavell]()
Shōgun by James Clavell
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsAfter Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few Europeans know of and even fewer have seen--Nippon... -
![Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon]()
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 56 ratingsThe past may seem the safest place to be . . . but it is the most dangerous time to be alive. . . . Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall were torn apart by the Jacobite Rising in 1743, and it took them twenty years to find each other again. Now the American Revolution threatens to do the same... -
![The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett]()
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 87 ratingsKen Follett is known worldwide as the master of split-second suspense, but his most beloved and bestselling book tells the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.Everything readers expect from Follett is here: intrigue, fast-paced action, and passionate romance...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic religion spirituality war -
![Kane & Abel by Jeffrey Archer]()
Kane & Abel by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsBorn on the same day near the turn of the century on opposite sides of the world, both men are brought together by fate and the quest of a dream. These two men -- ambitious, powerful, ruthless -- are locked in a relentless struggle to build an empire, fuelled by their all-consuming hatred...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic war 20th-century -
![Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly]()
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsNEW YORK TIMES "BESTSELLER For readers of "The Nightingale" and "Sarah s Key, " inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this powerful debut novel reveals an incredible story of love, redemption, and terrible secrets that were hidden for decades. New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic war -
![What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon]()
What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 57 ratingsIn an unforgettable love story, a woman’s impossible journey through the ages could change everything…Anne Gallagher grew up enchanted by her grandfather’s stories of Ireland. Heartbroken at his death, she travels to his childhood home to spread his ashes. There, overcome with memories of the man she adored and consumed by a history she never knew, she is pulled into another time... -
![The Girl From the Island by Lorna Cook]()
The Girl From the Island by Lorna Cook
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA world at war.One woman will risk everything.Another will uncover her story.1940: When the island of Guernsey is invaded by the Nazis, two sisters are determined to rebel in any way they can. But when forced to take in a German soldier, they are shocked to find a familiar face on their doorstep – a childhood friend who has now become their enemy...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction religion spirituality war 20th-century action-adventure -
![Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson]()
Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThe gripping tale about two boys, once as close as brothers, who find themselves on opposite sides of the Holocaust.Elliot Rosenzweig, a respected civic leader and wealthy philanthropist, is attending a fundraiser when he is suddenly accosted and accused of being a former Nazi SS officer named Otto Piatek, the Butcher of Zamosc...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality war 20th-century -
![Deluge by Lisa Tawn Bergren]()
Deluge by Lisa Tawn Bergren
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsThe Bettarinis and Forellis have found rich fulfillment together in medieval Italia. But after fighting off countless enemies, they now must face the worst foe of all...Categorized as:
drama historical-fiction paranormal spirituality time-travel war action-adventure alpha-mc -
![Karolina's Twins by Ronald H. Balson]()
Karolina's Twins by Ronald H. Balson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the author of Once We Were Brothers comes a saga inspired by true events of a Holocaust survivor’s quest to fulfill a promise, return to Poland and find two sisters lost during World War II.Lena Woodward, an elderly woman, enlists the help of both lawyer Catherine Lockhart and private investigator Liam Taggart to appraise the story of her harrowing past in Nazi occupied Poland...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality war 20th-century action-adventure -
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![Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi]()
Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsKabul, 1978: The daughter of a prominent family, Sitara Zamani lives a privileged life in Afghanistan’s thriving cosmopolitan capital. The 1970s are a time of remarkable promise under the leadership of people like Sardar Daoud, Afghanistan’s progressive president, and Sitara’s beloved father, his right-hand man...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction poc-mc realistic war -
![The Source by James A. Michener]()
The Source by James A. Michener
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsIn the grand storytelling style that is his signature, James Michener sweeps us back through time to the very beginnings of the Jewish faith, thousands of years ago... -
![Confessions by Jaume Cabré]()
Confessions by Jaume Cabré
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAt 60, Adrià Ardèvol re-examines his life before his memory is systematically deleted. He recalls a loveless childhood where the family antique business and his father’s study become the centre of his world; where a treasured Storioni violin retains the shadows of a crime committed many years earlier... -
![These Tangled Vines by Julianne MacLean]()
These Tangled Vines by Julianne MacLean
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsFrom the USA Today bestselling author of A Curve in the Road comes a sweeping and captivating tale of one woman’s journey to the lush vineyards of Tuscany—and into the mysteries of a tragic family secret.If Fiona has learned anything in life, it’s how to keep a secret—even from the father who raised her... -
![The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys]()
The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsA portrait of love, silence, and secrets under a Spanish dictatorship.Madrid, 1957. Under the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, Spain is hiding a dark secret. Meanwhile, tourists and foreign businessmen flood into Spain under the welcoming promise of sunshine and wine...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction poc-mc realistic -
![A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin]()
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom acclaimed novelist Mark Helprin, a lush, literary epic about love, beauty, and the world at war.Alessandro Giuliani, the young son of a prosperous Roman lawyer, enjoys an idyllic life full of privilege: he races horses across the country to the sea, he climbs mountains in the Alps, and, while a student of painting at the ancient university in Bologna, he falls in love...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction magical-realism war 20th-century -
![The Riviera House by Natasha Lester]()
The Riviera House by Natasha Lester
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Secret weaves a lush and engrossing novel of World War II inspired by a true story and perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Pam Jenoff. Paris, 1939: The Nazis think Éliane can't understand German. They’re wrong. They think she’s merely cataloging art in a Louvre museum and unaware they’re stealing national treasures for their private collections...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Abigail by Magda Szabó]()
Abigail by Magda Szabó
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAbigail, the story of a headstrong teenager growing up during World War II, is the most beloved of Magda Szabó’s books in her native Hungary. Gina is the only child of a general, a widower who has long been happy to spoil his bright and willful daughter...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction religion spirituality war -
![The Painted Castle by Kristy Cambron]()
The Painted Castle by Kristy Cambron
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBestselling author Kristy Cambron concludes the Lost Castle novels with this sweeping tale of art and secrets long buried in England. It was supposed to be a one-week job: survey an art find, collect a hefty fee, and use that to settle historian Kiera Foley’s life back into balance...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality war 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Lord John Series by Diana Gabaldon]()
The Lord John Series by Diana Gabaldon
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDiana Gabaldon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Outlander series, delivers captivating tales of history, intrigue, and suspense that feature one of her most popular characters: Lord John Grey. This thrilling eBook collection—featuring three novels and one collection of novellas—follows Lord John as he defends his country, ferrets out spies, and unravels a haunting family mystery... -
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![The Last Restaurant in Paris by Lily Graham]()
The Last Restaurant in Paris by Lily Graham
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsParis 1944. To save her people, she served the enemy.In enemy-occupied Paris, as the locals go to bed starving and defeated by the war, music and laughter spills through the door of a little restaurant, crowded with German soldiers. The owner Marianne moves on weary feet between its packed tables, carrying plates of steaming, wholesome food for the enemy officers...Categorized as:
historical-fiction journey literary-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure book female-mc -
![All We Have Left by Wendy Mills]()
All We Have Left by Wendy Mills
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTwo girls. Two lives. One event that changed them—and the world—forever.Now: Sixteen-year-old Jesse is used to living with the echoes of the past. After her older brother died in the September 11th attacks, her dad filled their home with anger and grief. When Jesse gets caught up with the wrong crowd, one thoughtless decision turns her life upside down...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction poc-mc realistic religion -
![Rosa's Gold - A Story of Holocaust Echoes by Ray Kingfisher]()
Rosa's Gold - A Story of Holocaust Echoes by Ray Kingfisher
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsNicole Sutton is a young girl with problems. A tragic car accident has taken away her brother, and ripped her parents' marriage apart. Together with her mother she moves to a new house, a new town, and a life she never wanted. In the dusty cellar of the house she stumbles upon a well-worn notebook – the scribbled war memoirs of Mac, an old soldier...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult book -
![Catching the Wind by Melanie Dobson]()
Catching the Wind by Melanie Dobson
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhat happened to Brigitte Berthold? That question has haunted Daniel Knight since he was thirteen, when he and eleven-year-old Brigitte escaped the Gestapo agents who arrested both their parents. They survived a harrowing journey from Germany to England, only to be separated upon their arrival...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction religion spirituality war 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate]()
The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsA new novel inspired by historical events: a story of three young women on a journey in search of family amidst the destruction of the post-Civil War South, and of a modern-day teacher who rediscovers their story and its connection to her own students' lives...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic spirituality war -
![The Arsonists' City by Hala Alyan]()
The Arsonists' City by Hala Alyan
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"Feels revolutionary in its freshness." --Entertainment Weekly"The Arsonists' City delivers all the pleasures of a good old-fashioned saga, but in Alyan's hands, one family's tale becomes the story of a nation--Lebanon and Syria, yes, but also the United States. It's the kind of book we are lucky to have...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction poc-mc war action-adventure -
![A Column of Fire by Ken Follett]()
A Column of Fire by Ken Follett
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 61 ratingsAs Europe erupts, can one young spy protect his queen? Ken Follett takes us deep into the treacherous world of powerful monarchs, intrigue, murder, and treason with his magnificent epic, A Column of Fire—the chronological latest in the Kingsbridge series, following The Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, and the prequel, The Evening and the Morning...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality war 21st-century -
![Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline]()
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 76 ratingsThe #1 New York Times Bestseller“A lovely novel about the search for family that also happens to illuminate a fascinating and forgotten chapter of America’s history. Beautiful... -
![The Covenant by James A. Michener]()
The Covenant by James A. Michener
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsJames A. Michener’s masterly chronicle of South Africa is an epic tale of adventurers, scoundrels, and ministers, the best and worst of two continents who carve an empire out of a vast wilderness. From the Java-born Van Doorn family tree springs two great branches: one nurtures lush vineyards, the other settles the interior to become the first Trekboers and Afrikaners... -
![I Saw Her That Night by Drago Jančar]()
I Saw Her That Night by Drago Jančar
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsI Saw Her That Night, a love story in time of war, is a novel about a few years in the life and mysterious disappearance of Veronika Zarnik, a young bourgeois woman from Ljubljana, sucked into the whirlwind of a turbulent period in history... -
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![The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer]()
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsA grand love story and an epic tale of three brothers whose lives are torn apart by war.Paris, 1937. Andras Lévi, a Hungarian Jewish architecture student, arrives from Budapest with a scholarship, a single suitcase, and a mysterious letter he has promised to deliver to C. Morgenstern on the rue de Sévigné...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction religion spirituality -
![A Sparrow Falls by Wilbur Smith]()
A Sparrow Falls by Wilbur Smith
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA Sparrow Falls, another gripping installment in Wilbur Smith's Courtney Family Adventure seriesMark Anders grew up on eight thousand acres of African land that bore his family name. Then he fought in Europe's Great War and, upon returning to his ancestral home, he saw savagery unlike any other….In Africa, Mark's family estate has been despoiled... -
![Sooley by John Grisham]()
Sooley by John Grisham
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author John Grisham takes you to a different kind of court in his first basketball novel. Samuel "Sooley" Sooleymon is a raw, young talent with big hoop dreams...and even bigger challenges off the court...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic war action-adventure -
![The Paris Orphan by Natasha Lester]()
The Paris Orphan by Natasha Lester
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris Seamstress comes a World War II novel that spans continents and crosses generations as an American soldier and an enterprising Vogue photographer brave war-torn France to help a lost little girl find the one thing she never had: a family...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality war 20th-century -
![On the Wings of Hope by Ella Zeiss, Helen MacCormac]()
On the Wings of Hope by Ella Zeiss, Helen MacCormac
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAs World War II draws to a close, can two young people find love, hope—and freedom?February 1942: Terrifying reports of the Wehrmacht’s advance across the Soviet Union spread like wildfire, striking new fear into the already oppressed German families living there.Harri Pfeiffer, now sixteen, is summoned to the forced labour camp in Chelyabinsk...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![The Secrets Between Us by Laura Madeleine]()
The Secrets Between Us by Laura Madeleine
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA gripping mystery with a heart-breaking revelation, The Secrets Between Us is a sublimely satisfying story of lost love, betrayal and the dangers of war. Perfect for fans of Kate Morton's The Lake House and Dinah Jeffries' Before the Rains. High in the mountains in the South of France, eighteen-year-old Ceci Corvin is trying hard to carry on as normal...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction paranormal time-travel war 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Victory Garden by Rhys Bowen]()
The Victory Garden by Rhys Bowen
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Tuscan Child comes a beautiful and heart-rending novel of a woman’s love and sacrifice during the First World War.As the Great War continues to take its toll, headstrong twenty-one-year-old Emily Bryce is determined to contribute to the war effort...Categorized as:
drama epistolary family historical-fiction literary-fiction paranormal war 20th-century -
![Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum]()
Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsFor fifty years, Anna Schlemmer has refused to talk about her life in Germany during World War II. Her daughter, Trudy, was only three when she and her mother were liberated by an American soldier and went to live with him in Minnesota. Trudy's sole evidence of the past is an old photograph: a family portrait showing Anna, Trudy, and a Nazi officer, the Obersturmfuhrer of Buchenwald...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality war 20th-century -
![Beyond the Moon by Catherine Taylor]()
Beyond the Moon by Catherine Taylor
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA strange twist of fate connects a British soldier fighting in the First World War in 1916 with a young woman living in modern-day England a century later, in this haunting literary time travel novel.Two people, two battles: one against the invading Germans on the battlefields of 1916 France, the other against a substandard, uncaring mental health facility in modern-day England...Categorized as:
drama historical-fiction literary-fiction paranormal time-travel war 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Young Lions by Irwin Shaw]()
The Young Lions by Irwin Shaw
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Young Lions is a vivid and classic novel that portrays the experiences of ordinary soldiers fighting World War II. Told from the points of view of a perceptive young Nazi, a jaded American film producer, and a shy Jewish boy just married to the love of his life, Shaw conveys, as no other novelist has since, the scope, confusion, and complexity of war...Categorized as:
drama historical-fiction literary-fiction poc-mc war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
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![The Berlin Girl by Mandy Robotham]()
The Berlin Girl by Mandy Robotham
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The German Midwife comes the heart-wrenching story of a country on the brink of war, a woman who puts herself in the line of fire, and a world about to be forever changed.Berlin, 1938: It’s the height of summer, and Germany is on the brink of war...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction spirituality war 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Sound Of Thunder by Wilbur Smith]()
The Sound Of Thunder by Wilbur Smith
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsTHE SOUND OF THUNDER continues the Courtney saga where WHEN THE LIONS FEEDS left off. Sean Courtney is off to fight the burghers in the Boer War -- first in harrowing missions on the front lines for the British Guides, then as the leader of commandos designed to fight the Boers on their own terms -- guerilla combat in the field... -
![The Woman with the Blue Star by Pam Jenoff, Sanna Majuri]()
The Woman with the Blue Star by Pam Jenoff, Sanna Majuri
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratings1942. Sadie Gault is eighteen and living with her parents amid the horrors of the Kraków Ghetto during World War II. When the Nazis liquidate the ghetto, Sadie and her pregnant mother are forced to seek refuge in the perilous sewers beneath the city. One day Sadie looks up through a grate and sees a girl about her own age buying flowers...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality war -
![The Silver Music Box by Mina Baites]()
The Silver Music Box by Mina Baites
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA captivating cross-generational novel from German author Mina Baites about a Jewish family divided by World War II and an inheritance with the power to bring them back together. 1914. For Paul, with love. Jewish silversmith Johann Blumenthal engraved those words on his most exquisite creation, a singing filigree bird inside a tiny ornamented box... -
![The City of Tears by Kate Mosse]()
The City of Tears by Kate Mosse
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsFollowing on from the Sunday Times number one bestseller, The Burning Chambers, Kate Mosse's The City of Tears is the second thrilling historical epic in The Burning Chambers series, for fans of Ken Follett and Dan Brown... -
![Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer]()
Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsFrom the internationally bestselling author of Kane and Abel and A Prisoner of Birth comes Only Time Will Tell, the first in an ambitious new series that tells the story of one family across generations, across oceans, from heartbreak to triumph. The epic tale of Harry Clifton’s life begins in 1920, with the words “I was told that my father was killed in the war...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure
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