Books like 'The Lacuna'
Readers who enjoyed The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical 20th century military, war & conflict action / adventure historical-fiction literary-fiction communism politics drama epistolary
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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 politics realistic -
Daughters of the Dragon: A Comfort Woman's Story by William Andrews
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDuring World War II, the Japanese forced 200,000 young Korean women to be sex slaves or “comfort women” for their soldiers. This is one woman’s riveting story of strength, courage and promises kept.In 1943, the Japanese tear young Jae-hee and her sister from their peaceful family farm to be comfort women for the Imperial Army...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics realistic social-commentary -
The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAt the start of the twentieth century, on the edge of the Russian empire, a family prospers. It owes its success to a delicious chocolate recipe, passed down the generations with great solemnity and caution. A caution which is justified: this is a recipe for ecstasy that carries a very bitter aftertaste..Categorized as:
cold-war drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction magical-realism politics -
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... -
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Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsLina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known...Categorized as:
coming-of-age communism drama family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction -
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... -
The Violinist of Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the depths of hell, can hope rise? And can love triumph over hatred?In Auschwitz, every day is a fight for survival. Alma is inmate 50381, the number tattooed on her skin in pale blue ink. She is cooped up with thousands of others, torn from loved ones, trapped in a maze of barbed wire. Every day people disappear, never to be seen again...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic war ww2 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Broken Angels by Gemma Liviero
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA Nazi doctor. A Jewish rebel. A little girl. Each one will fight for freedom—or die trying. Imprisoned in the Lodz Ghetto, Elsi discovers her mother’s desperate attempt to end her pregnancy and comes face-to-face with the impossibility of their situation. Risking her own life, Elsi joins a resistance group to sabotage the regime...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
Return to Robinswood by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsOne Irish house, two very different families, and a war that changed everything. Robinswood Estate, County Waterford, Ireland. 1946.Years of neglect and abandonment have left the family seat of the Keneficks almost derelict, but the new Lord Kenefick and his charming young wife Kate, are determined to breathe life into the old house once more... -
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 78 ratingsA newer cover edition of this title can be found here.He can’t leave his hotel. You won’t want to.From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility—a transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel...Categorized as:
cold-war communism drama family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction -
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... -
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 friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics -
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 72 ratingsThis is an epic of love, hatred, war and revolution. This is a huge novel that follows five families through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for votes for women. It is 1911. The Coronation Day of King George V. The Williams, a Welsh coal-mining family is linked by romance and enmity to the Fitzherberts, aristocratic coal-mine owners...Categorized as:
communism drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics realistic -
Always in my Heart by Ellie Dean
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs the Japanese begin their assault on Singapore, Sarah Fuller is forced to leave her parents and fianc�, Philip, behind. The long journey to England is fraught with danger, and Sarah and her sister Jane don't even know if their great-aunt is alive, let alone waiting for them. They arrive in Cliffehaven, on the south coast of England, and here Sarah must find work to support them both...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure adult -
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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... -
Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAn aspiring photographer follows her dreams and faces her fears in a poignant novel about finding beauty, promise, and love amid the chaos of war-torn Kurdistan.It’s 1979. Olivia Murray, a secretary at a Los Angeles newspaper, is determined to become a photojournalist and make a difference with her work...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama historical-fiction journey literary-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure -
Tattooist of Auschwitz Collection 3 Books Set By Heather Morris by Heather Morris
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPlease Note That The Following Individual Books As Per Original ISBN and Cover Image In this Listing shall be Dispatched Heather Morris Collection 3 Books The Tattooist of “The Tattooist of Auschwitz is an extraordinary document, a story about the extremes of human behavior existing side by calculated brutality alongside impulsive and selfless acts of love... -
The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThere on her forearm, next to a small brown birthmark, were six tattooed numbers. 'Do you remember me now?' he asked, trembling. She looked at him again, as if giving weight and bone to a ghost. 'Lenka, it's me,' he said. 'Josef. Your husband.' During the last moments of calm in prewar Prague, Lenka, a young art student, falls in love with Josef... -
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 ww2 20th-century action-adventure book -
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng, Тан Тван Энг
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSet in Penang, 1939, this book presents a story of betrayal, barbaric cruelty, steadfast courage and enduring love.The recipient of extraordinary acclaim from critics and the bookselling community, Tan Twan Eng's debut novel casts a powerful spell...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction magical-realism -
The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra, Mark Bramhall
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena—dazzling, poignant, and lyrical interwoven stories about family, sacrifice, the legacy of war, and the redemptive power of art.This stunning, exquisitely written collection introduces a cast of remarkable characters whose lives intersect in ways both life-affirming and heartbreaking...Categorized as:
cold-war coming-of-age communism family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics -
Daughter of the Reich by Louise Fein
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFor fans of The Nightingale and All the Light We Cannot See, a spellbinding story of impossible love set against the backdrop of the Nazi regime. She must choose between loyalty to her country or a love that could be her destruction… As the dutiful daughter of a high-ranking Nazi officer, Hetty Heinrich is keen to play her part in the glorious new Thousand Year Reich... -
Hum If You Don't Know the Words by Bianca Marais
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsPerfect for readers of The Secret Life of Bees and The Help, a perceptive and searing look at Apartheid-era South Africa, told through one unique family brought together by tragedy.Life under Apartheid has created a secure future for Robin Conrad, a ten-year-old white girl living with her parents in 1970s Johannesburg...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics realistic -
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsA big, powerful saga of men in combat, written over the course of thirty-five years by a highly decorated Vietnam veteran.Intense, powerful, and compelling, Matterhorn is an epic war novel in the tradition of Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead and James Jones's The Thin Red Line...Categorized as:
cold-war coming-of-age drama friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction politics realistic -
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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 ww2 20th-century action-adventure adult -
The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsRoya, a dreamy, idealistic teenager living amid the political upheaval of 1953 Tehran, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood stationery shop, stocked with books and pens and bottles of jewel-colored ink.Then Mr...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics realistic -
Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsCalling Me Home by Julie Kibler is a soaring debut interweaving the story of a heartbreaking, forbidden love in 1930s Kentucky with an unlikely modern-day friendship. Eighty-nine-year-old Isabelle McAllister has a favor to ask her hairdresser Dorrie Curtis. It's a big one...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic -
While Paris Slept by Ruth Druart
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA family's love is tested when heroes-turned-criminals are forced to make the hardest decisions of their lives in this unforgettably moving story of love, resistance, and the lasting consequences of the Second World War. After. Santa Cruz, California, 1953. Jean-Luc and Charlotte Beauchamps have left their war-torn memories of Paris behind to live a quiet life in America with their son, Sam...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsSet in Hawai'i more than a century ago, this is the story of Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, who dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic -
The War Girls of Goodwill House: The start of a brand new historical saga series by Fenella J. Miller for 2022 by Fenella J Miller
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs war looms, can they keep the home fires burning?Lady Joanna Harcourt and her daughter Sarah discover their life of luxury at Goodwill House is over. Because with Lord Harcourt away fighting, the Harcourt girls are facing financial ruin. Lady Joanna is terrified of losing their home, but for Sarah, this means her dreams of becoming a doctor are over...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century -
Small Country by Gaël Faye
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratings‘A luminous and poignant novel about childhood, war, exile and identity…this is literature at its most powerful’ Le Parisien Magazine Burundi, 1992. For ten-year-old Gabriel, life in his comfortable expat neighbourhood of Bujumbura with his French father, Rwandan mother and little sister, Ana, is something close to paradise...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics realistic -
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... -
If Not Now, When? by Primo Levi
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsPrimo Levi was among the greatest witnesses to twentieth-century atrocity. In this gripping novel, based on a true story, he reveals the extraordinary lives of the Russian, Polish and Jewish partisans trapped behind enemy lines during the Second World War...Categorized as:
drama historical-fiction literary-fiction politics war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
Letters Across the Sea by Genevieve Graham
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsInspired by a little-known chapter of World War II history, a young Protestant girl and her Jewish neighbour are caught up in the terrible wave of hate sweeping the globe on the eve of war in this powerful love story that’s perfect for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.If you’re reading this letter, that means I’m dead... -
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When We Were Young & Brave by Hazel Gaynor
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsTheir motto was to be prepared, but nothing could prepare them for war. . .The New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Came Home sets her unforgettable new novel in China during WWII, inspired by true events surrounding the Japanese Army’s internment of teachers and children from a British-run missionary school.China, December 1941...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction politics realistic -
The Narrowboat Girls: a heartwarming story of friendship, struggle and falling in love by Rosie Archer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen the Second World War takes Britain's men away to fight, it is women who step up to fill the jobs left behind. From farms to factories, no job is too back-breaking, and for many women it offers their first real chance at independence.Two such women from very different backgrounds find themselves working on the narrowboats - piloting freights round southern England's network of canals... -
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsSet during the waning days of the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic in 1960, this extraordinary novel tells the story of the Mirabal sisters, three young wives and mothers who are assassinated after visiting their jailed husbands...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction magical-realism politics -
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... -
My Mother's Secret by J.L. Witterick
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA novel based on a true story, a mother and daughter risk their lives to provide shelter to two families and a German soldier--all unbeknownst to each other--in a tiny two-room house in Sokal, Poland, during the Nazi invasion...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsAn alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780525656975 can be found here. Spanning Prohibition-era Montana, the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, New Zealand, wartime London, and modern-day Los Angeles, Great Circle tells the unforgettable story of a daredevil female aviator determined to chart her own course in life, at any cost...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction journey lgbtq literary-fiction -
A Bitter Rain by James D. Shipman
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA former professor descends into darkness in this provocative story of a Nazi soldier torn between duty and conscience. East Prussia, Nazi Germany, 1939. History professor Erik Mueller is a model citizen and a family man. He’s also a decorated sergeant in the Gestapo... -
Anywhere But Home: A novel by Daniel Speck, Jaime McGill
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe English-language debut of the acclaimed international bestseller—Anywhere but Home crosses continents, cultures, and generations to tell a sweeping story of self-discovery, finding your own place in a new world, and the revelatory mysteries of being a family.Milan, 2014...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction revolution 20th-century action-adventure adult -
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... -
A Single Swallow by Zhang Ling
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe eagerly awaited English translation of award-winning author Zhang Ling’s epic and intimate novel about the devastation of war, forgiveness, redemption, and the enduring power of love.On the day of the historic 1945 Jewel Voice Broadcast—in which Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender to the Allied forces, bringing an end to World War II—three men, flush with jubilation, made a pact... -
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What the Day Owes the Night by Yasmina Khadra
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratings'If a woman loves you, Younes, if she truly loves you, and if you have the wisdom to appreciate this great privilege, then there is no god to touch you.'As a young man Younes' life is irrevocably changed when he leaves his broken home for the vibrant, colourful and affluent European district of Río Salado...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics -
Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor, Heather Webb
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor has joined with Heather Webb to create this unforgettably romantic novel of the Great War.August 1914. England is at war...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama epistolary family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction war -
The Girl from the Train by Irma Joubert
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSix-year-old Gretl Schmidt is on a train bound for Auschwitz. Jakób Kowalski is planting a bomb on the tracks. As World War II draws to a close, Jakób fights with the Polish resistance against the crushing forces of Germany and Russia. They mean to destroy a German troop transport, but Gretl’s unscheduled train reaches the bomb first. Gretl is the only survivor... -
Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsUrsula Hegi draws parallels between groups of outsiders in this dramatic audiobook set in Germany. Trudi Montag, the town librarian, feels dissociated from society because she is a dwarf. In her role as librarian, Trudi meticulously archives secrets, stories, and history, all of which become her source of power when the townspeople allow Jews to be mistreated during World War II...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic war -
The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA 20-year-old Chinese painter named Stephen is sent to his family's summer home in a Japanese coastal village to recover from a bout with tuberculosis. Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper and a master gardener. Over the course of a remarkable year, Stephen learns Matsu's secret and gains not only physical strength, but also profound spiritual insight...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic -
The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsBased on the true World War II story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris, this is an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family, and the power of literature to bring us together, perfect for fans of The Lilac Girls and The Paris Wife...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic
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