Books like 'The Vanishing Half'
Readers who enjoyed The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
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Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsIt's first the story of two women in the 1980s, of gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode telling her life story to Evelyn, who is in the sad slump of middle age...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family female-mc historical-fiction lgbtq literary-fiction realistic -
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsFrom the author of Me Before You, set in Depression-era America, a breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond.Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England...Categorized as:
drama family female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century abuse -
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 41 ratings“That was it. That was all of it. A grace so ordinary there was no reason at all to remember it. Yet I have never across the forty years since it was spoken forgotten a single word.” New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family grief historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic season-summer -
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 87 ratingsA remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.“Treat yourself to this book, please - I can’t recommend it highly enough.” (Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love)“I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers...Categorized as:
drama family female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century 21st-century -
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Pushin' Up Daisies by Carolyn Brown
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCatherine O'Shea is the oldest and most responsible of the three O'Shea sisters. She has just buried her mother, one of the last victims of the flu epidemic of 1918. Her father had been one of the first to succumb to the flu and her fiance was killed in the war. And now there is a detective living at her hotel, the Black Swan, looking into the disappearance of her abusive brother-in-law... -
Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsLOVE IN A STRANGER'S EYES...ELLYIn town, they called her "Crazy Widow Dinsmore." But Elly was no stranger to their ridicule--she had been an outsider all her life, growing up in a boarded-up old house under the strict eye of her eccentric grandparents. Now she was all alone, with two little boys to raise, and a third child on the way...Categorized as:
drama family female-mc historical-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Spring House by Mary Ellen Taylor
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe lives of two women, generations apart, converge in this enthralling novel of love, mystery, memories, and secrets. Pregnant and still grieving the death of her fiancé, historian Megan Buchanan is forging ahead on a dream project: to restore to its original glory the landmark hunting lodge her own great-great-grandfather built on Virginia’s Eastern Shore... -
Winter Cottage by Mary Ellen Taylor
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA gripping novel about family secrets…and coming home for the first time. Still grieving the loss of her wandering, free-spirited mother, Lucy Kincaid leaves Nashville for the faded town of Cape Hudson, Virginia. She goes to see the house she’s inherited—one she never knew existed, bequeathed to her by a woman she’s never even met...Categorized as:
family female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century abuse adult audiobook -
The Lady Has a Past by Amanda Quick
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBeauty and glamour meet deception and revenge in this electrifying novel by New York Times bestselling author Amanda Quick.Investigative apprentice Lyra Brazier, the newest resident of Burning Cove, is unsettled when her boss suddenly goes on a health retreat at an exclusive spa and disappears without another word... -
A Picture of Murder by T.E. Kinsey
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsLate October 1909, and the season of ghouls and things that go bump in the night has descended on the village of Littleton Cotterell.Lady Hardcastle and her trusted lady’s maid, Florence, find themselves hosting a colourful cast of actors whose spooky moving picture, The Witch’s Downfall, is being shown to mark Halloween... -
Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsFrom award-winning author Alan Bradley comes the next cozy British mystery starring intrepid young sleuth Flavia de Luce, hailed by USA Today as “one of the most remarkable creations in recent literature... -
When She Dreams by Amanda Quick
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsReturn to 1930s Burning Cove, California, the glamorous seaside playground for Hollywood stars, mobsters, spies, and a host of others who find more than they bargain for in this mysterious town... -
The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe narrator of The Bottoms is Harry Collins, an old man obsessively reflecting on certain key experiences of his childhood. In 1933, the year that forms the centerpiece of the narrative, Harry is 11 years old and living with his mother, father, and younger sister on a farm outside of Marvel Creek, Texas, near the Sabine River bottoms...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama historical-fiction poc-mc 20th-century audiobook bildungsroman black-mc -
A Divided Loyalty by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsScotland Yard detective Ian Rutledge is assigned one of the most baffling investigations of his career—a cold murder case with an unidentified victim and a cold trail with few clues to follow.Chief Inspector Brian Leslie, a respected colleague of Ian Rutledge’s, is sent to Avebury, a village set inside a great prehistoric stone circle not far from Stonehenge...Categorized as:
historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult animals audiobook betrayal book -
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Poison at the Village Show: The start of a BRAND NEW cozy murder mystery series from Catherine Coles for 2022 by Catherine Coles
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWestleham Village 1947. It’s the Westleham village show and with the war finally over, everyone is looking forward to a pleasant day.But newcomer, Martha Miller doesn’t share the excitement. Because since her husband Stan left for work one day and never returned, Martha has been treated as somewhat of an outsider in Westleham. The village gossip is that Martha must be to blame…...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family female-mc historical-fiction 19th-century 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Seven Summer Nights by Harper Fox
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt’s 1946, and the dust of World War Two has just begun to settle. When famous archaeologist Rufus Denby returns to London, his life and reputation are as devastated as the city around him.He’s used to the most glamorous of excavations, but can’t turn down the offer of a job in rural Sussex. It’s a refuge, and the only means left to him of scraping a living... -
It Happened One Midnight by Julie Anne Long
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMore than one beautiful woman’s hopes have been dashed on the rocky shoals of Jonathan Redmond’s heart. With his riveting good looks and Redmond wealth and power, the world is his oyster—until an ultimatum from his father and a chilling gypsy prophesy send him hurtling headlong toward a fate he’ll do anything to avoid: matrimony...Categorized as:
family female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult alpha-mc -
She Walks These Hills by Sharyn McCrumb
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the Appalachian community of Dark Hollow, Tennessee, some believe that the ghost of Katie Wyler, kidnapped by the Shawnee two hundred years ago, is once again roaming the hills. Only an old woman gifted with "the Sight" and policewoman Martha Ayers can put the superstitions to rest—and stop a flesh-and-blood predator as elusive as the whistling wind.. -
Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe storyline of Miss Buncle's Book (1934) is a simple one: Barbara Buncle, who is unmarried and perhaps in her late 30s, lives in a small village and writes a novel about it in order to try and supplement her meagre income. D.E. Stevenson had an enormously successful writing career: between 1923 and 1970, four million copies of her books were sold in Britain and three million in the States...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century adult audiobook -
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsMiss Marple encounters a compelling murder mystery in St. Mary Mead, where under the seemingly peaceful exterior of an English country village lurks intrigue, guilt, deception, and death.Colonel Protheroe, local magistrate and overbearing landowner is the most detested man in the village. Everyone wishes he were dead and very soon he is shot in the head in the vicar’s study...Categorized as:
drama female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century amateur-sleuth audiobook -
In the Market for Murder by T.E. Kinsey
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsRevised edition: Previously published as The Spirit is Willing, this edition of In The Market For Murder includes editorial revisions.Spring, 1909, and Lady Hardcastle, amateur sleuth and all-round eccentric, is enjoying a well-deserved rest. But a week after a trip to the cattle market, Spencer Caradine, a local farmer, turns up dead in the pub, face-down in his beef and mushroom pie... -
Storm in the Village & Fairacre Festival by Miss Read
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsStorm in the Village, Miss Read, Headmistress of Fairacre School, learns of a proposed new housing development that soon has the citizens of Fairacre up in arms.In The Fairacre Festival, after a storm damages the church roof, the villagers must raise money for repairs...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction fiction classics historical humor cozy audiobook -
Hither, Page by Cat Sebastian
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA jaded spy and a shell shocked country doctor team up to solve a murder in postwar England. James Sommers returned from the war with his nerves in tatters. All he wants is to retreat to the quiet village of his childhood and enjoy the boring, predictable life of a country doctor...Categorized as:
historical-fiction lgbtq 20th-century 21st-century action-adventure adult angst audiobook -
No Shred of Evidence by Charles Todd
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOn the north coast of Cornwall, an apparent act of mercy is repaid by an arrest for murder. Four young women have been accused of the crime. A shocked father calls in a favor at the Home Office. Scotland Yard is asked to review the case. Inspector Ian Rutledge is not the first Inspector to reach the village, however. Following in the shoes of a dead man, he is told the case is all but closed... -
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Village School by Miss Read
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe first novel in the beloved Fairacre series, Village School introduces the remarkable schoolmistress Miss Read and her lovable group of children, who, with a mixture of skinned knees and smiles, are just as likely to lose themselves as their mittens...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book children classics -
The Colour Out Of Space: With The Essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature" by H.P. Lovecraft
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsFirst published in 1927, "The Colour Out of Space" is H. P. Lovecraft's signature science-fiction horror story, finely presented here in a single volume with Lovecraft's landmark essay on "weird" fiction, "Supernatural Horror in Literature" - a must-read for all students and lovers of horror. Quixotic Books are reprints of important classic and historic texts, handsomely formatted and presented...Categorized as:
literary-fiction 20th-century adult aliens anthologies audiobook classics cosmic-horror -
The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsYoung, beautiful, and adventurous Nicola Ferris loves her life as a secretary at the British Embassy on the lush island of Crete. Then on her day off, she links up with two hiking companions who have inadvertently stumbledupon a scene of blood vengeance. And suddenly the life Nicola adores is in danger of coming to an abrupt, brutal, and terrifying end . -
On Folly Beach by Karen White
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling author of the Tradd Street novels comes a story of old wounds and second chances, set in the small South Carolina town of Folly Beach. To most people, Folly Beach is simply the last barrier island before reaching the great Atlantic. To some, it’s a sanctuary for lost souls..Categorized as:
drama family female-mc grief historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic season-summer -
Rainwater by Sandra Brown
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA romantic historical novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Seeing Red about an independent woman who runs a boarding house in Dust Bowl Texas.Ella Baron runs her Texas boarding house with the efficiency of a ship’s captain and the grace of a gentlewoman...Categorized as:
drama family female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook -
The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsFrom National Book Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author Louise Erdrich, a profound and enchanting new novel: a richly imagined world “where butchers sing like angels.”Having survived World War I, Fidelis Waldvogel returns to his quiet German village and marries the pregnant widow of his best friend, killed in action...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction lgbtq literary-fiction poc-mc realistic 20th-century audiobook -
Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThe summer of 1963 begins like any other for nine-year-old Starla Claudelle. Born to teenage parents in Mississippi, Starla is being raised by a strict paternal grandmother, Mamie, whose worst fear is that Starla will turn out like her mother...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction poc-mc realistic season-summer -
The Missing Page by Cat Sebastian
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsEngland, 1948: Semi-retired spy Leo Page and country doctor James Sommers team up to solve a decades-old mystery.When James learns that an uncle he hasn’t heard from in ages has left him something in his will, he figures that the least he can do is head down to Cornwall for a weekend to honor the old man’s parting wishes... -
Thrush Green by Miss Read
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsMiss Read's charming chronicles of small-town life have achieved an almost legendary popularity worldwide by offering a welcome return to a gentler time and "wit, humor, and wisdom in equal measure" (Cleveland Plain Dealer). This volume introduces Thrush Green, the neighboring village to Fairacre: its blackthorn bushes, thatch-roofed cottages, enchanting landscape, and jumble sales...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book classics -
The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsPoland, 1909 Stanislaw is determined to escape the Russians and follow his brother to America, a land where anything seems possible.Wisconsin, 1941With all the men off to war, Fritzi and her sisters must learn men’s work -- from fixing flats to driving the tow truck and the All-Girl Filling Station is born...Categorized as:
drama family female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure -
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The Legacy of Halesham Hall by Jenni Keer
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSolve the house's puzzle. Claim the Bellingham inheritance . . . Uncover the truth behind the mysterious legacy of Halesham Hall in this page-turning dual-time novel from the author The Secrets of Hawthorn Place, perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley and Kate Morton.A love that seems lost, may still yet be found, for real love always endures.1890...Categorized as:
historical-fiction female-mc historical mystery fiction time-travel multi-pov incest -
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R.A. Dick, Josephine Leslie
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsBurdened by debt after her husband's death, Lucy Muir insists on moving into the very cheap Gull Cottage in the quaint seaside village of Whitecliff, despite multiple warnings that the house is haunted. Upon discovering the rumors to be true, the young widow ends up forming a special companionship with the ghost of handsome former sea captain Daniel Gregg...Categorized as:
drama historical-fiction literary-fiction family female-mc 20th-century adult audiobook -
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThe movement of the train rocked me like a lullaby. I closed my eyes to the dusty countryside and imagined the sign I’d seen only in Gideon’s stories: Manifest—A Town with a rich past and a bright future.Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction realistic season-summer 20th-century action-adventure -
Close Up by Amanda Quick
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWelcome to Burning Cove, California where 1930s Hollywood glamour conceals a ruthless killer… Vivian Brazier never thought life as an art photographer would include nightly wake-up calls to snap photos of grisly crime scenes or headshots for aspiring male actors. Although she is set on a career of transforming photography into a new art form, she knows her current work is what’s paying the bills... -
Summer of Night by Dan Simmons
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsIt's the summer of 1960 in Elm Haven, Illinois, and five 12-year old boys are forming the bonds that a lifetime of changes will never erase. But then a dark cloud threatens the bright promise of summer vacation: on the last day of school, their classmate Tubby Cooke vanishes. Soon, the group discovers stories of other children who once disappeared from Elm Haven... -
Ghost on Black Mountain by Ann Hite
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsONCE A PERSON LEAVES THE MOUNTAIN, THEY NEVER COME BACK, NOT REALLY. THEY’RE LOST FOREVER. Nellie Clay married Hobbs Pritchard without even noticing he was a spell conjured into a man, a walking, talking ghost story. But her mama knew. She saw it in her tea leaves: death. Folks told Nellie to get off the mountain while she could, to go back home before it was too late... -
Tightrope by Amanda Quick
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the Author's website: An unconventional woman and a man shrouded in mystery walk a tightrope of desire as they race against a killer to find a machine that could change the world.Former trapeze artist Amalie Vaughn moved to Burning Cove to reinvent herself, but things are not going well... -
The Toll-Gate by Georgette Heyer, Daniel Hill
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCaptain John Staple’s exploits in the Peninsula had earned him the sobriquet Crazy Jack among his fellow Dragoons. Now home from Waterloo, life is rather dull. But when he finds himself lost and benighted at an unmanned toll-house in the Pennines, his soldiering exploits pale away besides an adventure — and romance — of a lifetime...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book classics -
A Question of Inheritance by Elizabeth Edmondson
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDecember 1953Hugo Hawksworth is on the tail of rogue Cold War agents at a top-secret government facility, while back home at Selchester Castle they’re awaiting the arrival of the new Earl—an American, the long-lost son of the murdered Lord Selchester... -
A Very English Murder by Verity Bright
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMove over Miss Marple, there’s a new sleuth in town! Meet Eleanor Swift: distinguished adventurer, dog lover, dignified lady… daring detective? England, 1920. Eleanor Swift has spent the last few years travelling the world: taking tea in China, tasting alligators in Peru, escaping bandits in Persia and she has just arrived in England after a chaotic forty-five-day flight from South Africa... -
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A Killer in King's Cove by Iona Whishaw
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsA smart and enchanting postwar mystery that will appeal to fans of the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear.It is 1946, and war-weary young ex-intelligence officer Lane Winslow leaves London to look for a fresh start...Categorized as:
historical-fiction female-mc europe british-isles united-kingdom england urban france -
A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O'Nan
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSet just after the Civil War, A Prayer for the Dying is the story of a small Wisconsin town gripped by a mysterious, deadly epidemic, and one man desperate to save it. Torn between his loyalty to his family, his faith in God, and his terror of this vicious disease, Jacob Hansen struggles to preserve his sanity amid the chaos and violence around him...Categorized as:
grief historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult american-civil-war apocalyptic book -
Death in Daylesford by Kerry Greenwood
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSurrounded by secrets, great and small, the formidable Miss Phryne Fisher returns to vanquish injustice.When a mysterious invitation arrives for Miss Phryne Fisher from an unknown Captain Herbert Spencer, Phryne's curiosity is excited. Spencer runs a retreat in Victoria's spa country for shell-shocked soldiers of the First World War...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook australia book -
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThe village of Chilbury in Kent is about to ring in some changes.This is a delightful novel of wartime gumption and village spirit that will make your heart sing out.Kent, 1940.In the idyllic village of Chilbury change is afoot. Hearts are breaking as sons and husbands leave to fight, and when the Vicar decides to close the choir until the men return, all seems lost...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family female-mc grief historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic -
I Kissed an Earl by Julie Anne Long
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsViolet Redmond's family and fortune might be formidable and her beauty and wit matchless—but her infamous flair for mischief keeps all but the most lionhearted suitors at bay. Only Violet knows what will assuage her restlessness: a man who doesn't bore her to tears, and a clue to the fate of her missing brother...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult alpha-mc aristocracy audiobook -
The Other Lady Vanishes by Amanda Quick
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Knew Too Much sweeps readers back to 1930s California--where the most dazzling of illusions can't hide the darkest secrets... After escaping from a private sanitarium, Adelaide Blake arrives in Burning Cove, California, desperate to start over...
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