Books like 'Hamnet'
Readers who enjoyed Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical action / adventure historical-fiction literary-fiction grief family early-modern magical-realism retellings classics
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We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsIt is the spring of 1939 and three generations of the Kurc family are doing their best to live normal lives, even as the shadow of war grows closer. The talk around the family Seder table is of new babies and budding romance, not of the increasing hardships threatening Jews in their hometown of Radom, Poland...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic season-summer 20th-century -
![Sea of Memories by Fiona Valpy]()
Sea of Memories by Fiona Valpy
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWhen Kendra first visits her ailing grandmother, Ella has only one request: that Kendra write her story down, before she forgets…In 1937, seventeen-year-old Ella’s life changes forever when she is sent to spend the summer on the beautiful Île de Ré and meets the charismatic, creative Christophe...Categorized as:
drama family female-mc historical-fiction journey literary-fiction sad season-summer -
![Time of White Horses by Ibrahim Nasrallah]()
Time of White Horses by Ibrahim Nasrallah
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSpanning the collapse of Ottoman rule and the British Mandate in Palestine, this is the story of three generations of a defiant family from the Palestinian village of Hadiya before 1948. Through the lives of Mahmud, chief elder of Hadiya, his son Khaled, and Khaled’s grandson Naji, we enter the life of a tribe whose fate is decided by one colonizer after another...Categorized as:
classics family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction action-adventure adult book -
![Time of Parting by Anton Donchev]()
Time of Parting by Anton Donchev
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn the 17th century, a Bulgarian Christian region is selected by the Ottoman rulers to serve as an example of conversion to Islam. A Janissary who was taken from the village as a boy is sent to force the reluctant inhabitants to convert. The local Turkish governor seeks a peaceful solution, but ultimately torture, violence, and rebellion break out... -
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![They Burn Thistles by Yaşar Kemal]()
They Burn Thistles by Yaşar Kemal
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThis is the story of a bitter war between the poor Turkish peasants of the Taurus Mountains and the Aghas who covet their land. Ali Safa is determined to take possession of the village of Vayvay but its inhabitants will not sell. Then one villager weakens, prepared to part with his land in return for the Agha's best stallion...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction journey literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book -
![The Cypress Maze by Fiona Valpy]()
The Cypress Maze by Fiona Valpy
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn this haunting tale from the bestselling author of The Storyteller of Casablanca, Beatrice kept a wartime secret to protect the innocent. Now, could telling it set her free?Tuscany, 1943. Stranded in war-ravaged Italy, Beatrice’s dream of an escapist year teaching English is shattered...Categorized as:
historical-fiction drama season-summer grief journey literary-fiction family female-mc -
![The Pearl Sister by Lucinda Riley]()
The Pearl Sister by Lucinda Riley
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsFrom the breathtaking beaches of Thailand to the barely tamed wilds of colonial Australia, The Pearl Sister is the next captivating story in New York Times bestselling author Lucinda Riley’s epic series about two women searching for a place to call home.CeCe D’Aplièse has always felt like an outcast...Categorized as:
drama family female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic action-adventure adult -
![To Live by Yu Hua, 余华]()
To Live by Yu Hua, 余华
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the author of Brothers and China in Ten Words this celebrated contemporary classic of Chinese literature was also adapted for film by Zhang Yimou. This searing novel, originally banned in China but later named one of that nation's most influential books, portrays one man's transformation from the spoiled son of a landlord to a kindhearted peasant... -
![To Lie with Lions by Dorothy Dunnett]()
To Lie with Lions by Dorothy Dunnett
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsHaving wrested his little son from his estranged wife, Nicholas embarks on a business trip to Iceland. As he confronts the challenges of the frozen wastelands, he runs up against his vengeful wife, whose secrets threaten to topple all Nicholas has achieved...Categorized as:
early-modern family female-mc historical-fiction medieval action-adventure adult audiobook -
![The Harafish by Naguib Mahfouz]()
The Harafish by Naguib Mahfouz
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 36 ratings"The Harafish begins with the tale of Ashur al-Nagi, a man who grows from humble beginnings to become a great leader, a legend among his people. Generation after generation, however, Ashur's descendants grow further from his legendary example...Categorized as:
classics drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century -
![Le Comte de Monte-Cristo - tome 1 by Alexandre Dumas]()
Le Comte de Monte-Cristo - tome 1 by Alexandre Dumas
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by French author Alexandre Dumas completed in 1844. It is one of the author's more popular works, along with The Three Musketeers. Like many of his novels, it was expanded from plot outlines suggested by his collaborating ghostwriter Auguste Maquet...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction drama literary-fiction fiction audiobook action-adventure historical -
![The Storm Sister by Lucinda Riley]()
The Storm Sister by Lucinda Riley
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsAlly D’Aplièse is about to compete in one of the world’s most perilous yacht races when she hears the news of her adoptive father’s sudden, mysterious death. Rushing back to meet her five sisters at their family home, she discovers that her father—an elusive billionaire affectionately known to his daughters as Pa Salt—has left each of them a tantalizing clue to their true heritage...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic action-adventure audiobook -
![The Rent Collector by Camron Wright]()
The Rent Collector by Camron Wright
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsSurvival for Ki Lim and Sang Ly is a daily battle at Stung Meanchey, the largest municipal waste dump in all of Cambodia. They make their living scavenging recyclables from the trash. Life would be hard enough without the worry for their chronically ill child, Nisay, and the added expense of medicines that are not working...Categorized as:
drama family female-mc historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic action-adventure -
![The Photograph by Debbie Rix]()
The Photograph by Debbie Rix
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsItaly, 1958: Rachael is a young widow with a small child. After a lifetime of running for survival, of not knowing who to trust and where to call home, she finds herself in a place of safety. On a sun-drenched Italian island for one carefree summer the troubles of her past fade away and she falls in love...Categorized as:
drama family female-mc historical-fiction journey literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure -
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![The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri]()
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsThe unforgettable love story of a mother blinded by loss and her husband who insists on their survival as they undertake the Syrian refugee trail to Europe.Nuri is a beekeeper; his wife, Afra, an artist. They live a simple life, rich in family and friends, in the beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo--until the unthinkable happens. When all they care for is destroyed by war, they are forced to escape... -
![The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley]()
The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsFrom New York Times bestselling author Lucinda Riley, The Moon Sister transports you to the grandeur of the remote Scottish Highlands and the gypsy caves of Granada, just as Spain descends into civil war, interweaving the stories of two women searching for their destinies, at the risk of potentially losing their chance at love... -
![The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years by Chingiz Aitmatov]()
The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years by Chingiz Aitmatov
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSet in the vast windswept Central Asian steppes and the infinite reaches of galactic space, this powerful novel offers a vivid view of the culture and values of the Soviet Union's Central Asian peoples... -
![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 grief historical-fiction journey literary-fiction action-adventure adult -
![The People We Keep by Allison Larkin, Julia Whelan]()
The People We Keep by Allison Larkin, Julia Whelan
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsListening Length 11 hours and 8 minutesThe People we Keep is about a young songwriter longing to find a home in the world.Little River, New York, 1994: April Sawicki is living in a run-down motorhome, flunking out of school, and picking up shifts at the local diner...Categorized as:
drama family female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic season-summer action-adventure -
![Palace of Desire by Naguib Mahfouz]()
Palace of Desire by Naguib Mahfouz
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe sensual and provocative second volume in the Cairo Trilogy, Palace Of Desire follows the Al Jawad family into the awakening world of the 1920's and the sometimes violent clash between Islamic ideals, personal dreams and modern realities...Categorized as:
classics drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher]()
The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsArtist's daughter Penelope Keeling can look back on a full and varied life: a Bohemian childhood in London and Cornwall, an unhappy wartime marriage, and the one man she truly loved. She has brought up three children - and learned to accept them as they are. Yet she is far too energetic and independent to settle sweetly into pensioned-off old-age... -
![An Artificial Light by Petra Durst-Benning, Edwin Miles]()
An Artificial Light by Petra Durst-Benning, Edwin Miles
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA defiant woman in pre–World War I Germany carves out her own unconventional destiny as the enthralling Photographer’s Saga continues.Germany, 1911. Certain things are expected of a woman. Defiant Mimi Reventlow has chosen to be the woman she wants to be. For now, that’s the resident, if temporary, photographer in Laichingen...Categorized as:
drama family female-mc historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Chesapeake by James A. Michener]()
Chesapeake by James A. Michener
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsOnce again James A. Michener brings history to life with this 400-year saga of America's great bay and its Eastern Shore. Following Edmund Steed and his remarkable family, who parallel the settling and forming of the nation, CHESAPEAKE sweeps readers from the unspoiled world of the Native Americans to the voyages of Captain John Smith, the Revolutionary War, and right up to modern times... -
![Extinction by Thomas Bernhard]()
Extinction by Thomas Bernhard
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe last work of fiction by one of the twentieth century’s greatest artists, Extinction is widely considered Thomas Bernhard’s magnum opus. Franz-Josef Murau—the intellectual black sheep of a powerful Austrian land-owning family—lives in Rome in self-imposed exile, surrounded by a coterie of artistic and intellectual friends...Categorized as:
classics drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure -
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![Green City in the Sun by Barbara Wood]()
Green City in the Sun by Barbara Wood
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA magnificent saga of two proud and powerful families—one British, one African—and their battle over Kenya’s destiny in the twentieth century.In 1917, Dr. Grace Treverton arrives in Kenya, determined to bring modern medicine to the African natives. Her brother, Sir Valentine Treverton, has his own dream for the British protectorate: to establish an agricultural empire to rival any in England...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction action-adventure adult book -
![Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris]()
Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSarajevo, spring 1992. Each night, nationalist gangs erect barricades, splitting the diverse city into ethnic enclaves; each morning, the residents – whether Muslim, Croat or Serb – push the makeshift barriers aside.When violence finally spills over, Zora, an artist and teacher, sends her husband and elderly mother to safety with her daughter in England...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction journey season-summer drama family fiction historical -
![Tuareg by Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa]()
Tuareg by Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Tuaregs are the true sons of the desert. They can survive in the harshest of conditions like nobody else. The noble inmouchar Gacel Sayah, is the master of a large extension of the desert. One day, two fugitives arrive from the north and Gacel, following his ancient and sacred hospitality laws, gives them shelter...Categorized as:
drama historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book fiction -
![Four Fires by Bryce Courtenay]()
Four Fires by Bryce Courtenay
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn a small town like any other small town around Australia live the Maloneys. They are a fifth-generation Australian family of Irish Catholic descent who are struggling to reach the first rung of the social ladder. The Maloneys are a family you won't forget: a strong mother, a father broken by war, three boys and two girls, one of whom has an illegitimate daughter...Categorized as:
drama family female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Jessica by Bryce Courtenay]()
Jessica by Bryce Courtenay
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratings'A superb storyteller ... it is impossible not to be impressed by Courtenay's talents' - The Times JESSICA is based on the real life of a remarkable young Australian woman who defied the conventions of her time. She had a stubborn streak and the courage to act out her convictions ... in spite of the consequences... -
![Her Own Legacy by Debra Borchert]()
Her Own Legacy by Debra Borchert
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA Woman Fights for Her Legacy as the French Revolution Erupts Headstrong Countess Joliette de Verzat prefers secretly managing her family’s Loire Valley château and vineyards to the cut-throat politics of Versailles. For nearly three centuries, generations of families have toiled to produce Château de Verzat wines, and their homes and livelihoods depend upon Joliette...Categorized as:
historical-fiction female-mc literary-fiction family historical fiction feminism action-adventure -
![Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges, Sophie Blackall]()
Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges, Sophie Blackall
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsRuby is unlike most little girls in old China. Instead of aspiring to get married, Ruby is determined to attend university when she grows up, just like the boys in her family... -
![The Last Checkmate by Gabriella Saab]()
The Last Checkmate by Gabriella Saab
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsReaders of Heather Morris’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz and watchers of The Queen’s Gambit won’t want to miss this amazing debut set during World War II. A young Polish resistance worker, imprisoned in Auschwitz as a political prisoner, plays chess in exchange for her life, and in doing so fights to bring the man who destroyed her family to justice...Categorized as:
family female-mc grief historical-fiction journey literary-fiction 20th-century abuse -
![The Diviners by Margaret Laurence, Margaret Atwood]()
The Diviners by Margaret Laurence, Margaret Atwood
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Diviners is the culmination and completion of Margaret Laurence's Manawaka cycle.This is the powerful story of an independent woman who refuses to abandon her search for love. For Morag Gunn, growing up in a small Canadian prairie town is a toughening process – putting distance between herself and a world that wanted no part of her...Categorized as:
classics drama female-mc historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic 20th-century -
![The Emigrants by Vilhelm Moberg]()
The Emigrants by Vilhelm Moberg
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsConsidered one of Sweden's greatest 20th-century writers, Vilhelm Moberg created Karl Oskar and Kristina Nilsson to portray the joys and tragedies of daily life for early Swedish pioneers in America. His consistently faithful depiction of these humble people's lives is a major strength of the Emigrant Novels...Categorized as:
classics drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult -
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![Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck]()
Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOn her fortieth birthday, Madame Wu carries out a decision she has been planning for a long time: she tells her husband that after twenty-four years their physical life together is now over and she wishes him to take a second wife...Categorized as:
classics drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure -
![A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk]()
A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA Strangeness In My Mind is a novel Orhan Pamuk has worked on for six years. It is the story of boza seller Mevlut, the woman to whom he wrote three years' worth of love letters, and their life in Istanbul.In the four decades between 1969 and 2012, Mevlut works a number of different jobs on the streets of Istanbul, from selling yoghurt and cooked rice, to guarding a car park...Categorized as:
classics drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic 21st-century -
![Raj Kahini by Abanindranath Tagore]()
Raj Kahini by Abanindranath Tagore
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings<span><span>An unforgettable historical novella that leads you to the flowing sand dunes of Rajasthan, the clash of swords, to the courtyard of kings and queens. The book captures the spirit of a heroic past that never fails to move readers even today...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction retellings action-adventure adult book fiction -
![Severed Knot by Cryssa Bazos]()
Severed Knot by Cryssa Bazos
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBarbados 1652. In the aftermath of the English Civil War, the vanquished are uprooted and scattered to the ends of the earth. When marauding English soldiers descend on Mairead O’Coneill’s family farm, she is sold into indentured servitude...Categorized as:
early-modern historical-fiction literary-fiction medieval action-adventure adult book fiction -
![A Knight's Seduction by Catherine Kean]()
A Knight's Seduction by Catherine Kean
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsGrieving for her young suitor killed during a prisoner escape, Lady Claire Sevalliere plans to leave the great castle at Wode to live with her aunt. Claire will remain a maiden, devoted to her beloved who died. However, before she can depart, Wode is besieged. Claire is taken hostage... -
![Isola by Allegra Goodman]()
Isola by Allegra Goodman
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn unforgettable epic saga of a French noblewoman deserted on an island where her survival will depend on the power of her faith and love—from the New York Times bestselling author of Sam.Heir to a chateau with its own village and lands, Marguerite is destined for a life of prosperity and gentility...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction early-modern female-mc fiction historical survival audiobook -
![Stay with Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀]()
Stay with Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsThis celebrated, unforgettable first novel, shortlisted for the prestigious Women's Prize for Fiction and set in Nigeria, gives voice to both husband and wife as they tell the story of their marriage--and the forces that threaten to tear it apart.Yejide and Akin have been married since they met and fell in love at university... -
![Four Reigns by Kukrit Pramoj, คึกฤทธิ์ ปราโมช]()
Four Reigns by Kukrit Pramoj, คึกฤทธิ์ ปราโมช
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis English version of the Thai novel Si Phaendin tells the rich and entertaining story of one woman's life both inside and outside the royal palace in Bangkok...Categorized as:
classics family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic action-adventure adult -
![A Distant Hope by Ellin Carsta, Gerald Chapple]()
A Distant Hope by Ellin Carsta, Gerald Chapple
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn this breathtaking and emotional saga, a family must travel far from home to save what they hold dear. Hamburg 1888: After thirty prosperous years, coffee importer Peter Hansen & Sons faces hard times—and certain bankruptcy—unless three brothers can make savvy moves to save the faltering business after their father’s untimely death... -
![Four Sisters by Val Wood]()
Four Sisters by Val Wood
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA powerful story about the bond of sisterhood and how it can triumph against any adversity, from the Sunday Times bestselling author Val Wood.Hull, 1852. Matty has had to care for her three younger sisters ever since their mother’s death ten years ago. She and the girls’ beloved father have worked hard to keep the family together and now it’s time to celebrate as Matty turns eighteen...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family drama literary-fiction classics female-mc historical tragedy -
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![The Blue Mountain by Meir Shalev]()
The Blue Mountain by Meir Shalev
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe absorbing first novel by one of Israel's most important and acclaimed contemporary writers focuses on four idealistic early settlers of the modern state of Israel... -
![Dusk by F. Sionil José]()
Dusk by F. Sionil José
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWith Dusk (originally published in the Philippines as Po-on), F. Sionil Jose begins his five-novel Rosales Saga, which the poet and critic Ricaredo Demetillo called "the first great Filipino novels written in English." Set in the 1880s, Dusk records the exile of a tenant family from its village and the new life it attempts to make in the small town of Rosales...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction magical-realism action-adventure adult -
![Caddie Woodlawn's Family by Carol Ryrie Brink, Marguerite Davis]()
Caddie Woodlawn's Family by Carol Ryrie Brink, Marguerite Davis
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsCaddie Woodlawn is back and there are more frontier adventures to go on in this sequel to the Newbery Medal–winning novel, Caddie Woodlawn! The high-spirited Caddie is back with her lively siblings for some amusing escapades. In these fourteen stories, learn about frontier life with the seven Woodlawn children...Categorized as:
classics family female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic action-adventure book -
![Leaving Ireland by Ann Moore]()
Leaving Ireland by Ann Moore
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAfter crossing an ocean from her beloved Ireland and traversing thousands of miles of frontier and canyon, Gracelin O'Malley finds a new home for her family, halfway around the world from her old one. She's haunted by echoes of the past, even when a man she misjudged proves himself worthy and her children soon acclimate. All this-and a wish Grace thought would never come true...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction action-adventure adult book female-author -
![Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi]()
Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsUganda’s history reimagined through the cursed bloodline of the Kintu clan in an award-winning debut.In 1750, Kintu Kidda unleashes a curse that will plague his family for generations...Categorized as:
classics drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction magical-realism 21st-century -
![Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado]()
Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOne bright spring day in 1925, Gabriela arrives from the poverty-stricken backwoods of Brazil to the lively seaside port of Ilhéus amid a flock of filthy migrant workers. Though wearing rags and covered in dirt, she attracts the attention of Nacib, a cafe owner, who is in desperate need of a new cook. So dire is his situation that he hires the disheveled girl...Categorized as:
classics drama female-mc historical-fiction journey literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century
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