Books like 'Divisadero'
Readers who enjoyed Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary literary-fiction historical-fiction coming-of-age family grief
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The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride: 1 by Joe Siple
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWith all his family and friends gone, one-hundred-year-old Murray McBride is looking for a reason to live. He finds it in Jason Cashman, a ten-year-old boy with a terminal heart defect and a list of five things he wants to do before he dies. Together, they race against the limited time each has left, ticking off wishes one by one... -
The Ones We Leave Behind by Deanna Lynn Sletten
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDiane picked up her mother’s phone. “How do you feel about your mother being let out of prison today after sixty-five years?” the reporter asked. Diane stared at her mother. “My grandmother is alive?” That one phone call hurled shock waves throughout the entire family.1955 – Anna Bergman Craine’s life changes in an instant when she commits a crime of passion and is sentenced to life in prison... -
The Edge of Belonging by Amanda Cox
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Ivy Rose returns to her hometown to oversee an estate sale, she soon discovers that her grandmother left behind more than trinkets and photo frames--she provided a path to the truth behind Ivy's adoption. Shocked, Ivy seeks clues to her past, but a key piece to the mystery is missing... -
What Does It Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom #1 bestselling author Sophie Kinsella, an unforgettable story—by turns heartbreaking and life-affirming—of a renowned novelist facing a devastating diagnosis and learning to live and love anew.“The bravest book you’ll read all year.”—Jodi Picoult “What Does It Feel Like? is fiction, but it is my most autobiographical work to date. Eve’s story is my story... -
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Impossible to Forget by Imogen Clark
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn this poignant novel from million-copy bestselling author Imogen Clark, an extraordinary final wish brings five lives together forever. Just turned eighteen, Romany is on the cusp of taking her first steps into adulthood when tragedy strikes, and she finds herself suddenly alone without her mother, Angie, the only parent she has ever known...Categorized as:
coming-of-age grief family literary-fiction fiction contemporary womens-fiction audiobook -
Hard Land by Benedict Wells
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsMissouri, 1985: Um vor den Problemen zu Hause zu fliehen, nimmt der fünfzehnjährige Sam einen Ferienjob in einem alten Kino an. Und einen magischen Sommer lang ist alles auf den Kopf gestellt. Er findet Freunde, verliebt sich und entdeckt die Geheimnisse seiner Heimatstadt. Zum ersten Mal ist er kein unscheinbarer Außenseiter mehr. Bis etwas passiert, das ihn zwingt, erwachsen zu werden... -
Sunset by Jessie Cave
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe debut adult novel from Jessie Cave is a spry yet reflective comedy of sisterhood, loneliness and second chances as a rootless young woman starts to piece her life back together again.Sunset is an unconventional love story about putting yourself back together when the sky has fallen in.Ruth and Hannah are sisters. They build each other up, and tear each other down... -
All My Mothers by Joanna Glen
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the author of the Costa shortlisted debut, The Other Half of Augusta Hope, comes the story of one girl’s journey to find her birth mother, and her realisation that mothers – and family – can be discovered in the most unexpected of places…London, 1980s. Though she has a comfortable, privileged life, Eva Martínez-Green is deeply unhappy...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction coming-of-age family fiction contemporary audiobook parenthood -
A Part of Me and You: An empowering and incredibly moving novel that will make you laugh and cry by Emma Heatherington
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsYou always think you have more time… Juliette always thought she’d have more time. But as her fortieth birthday approaches she is dealt the deadliest of blows – she has just weeks to live. As the terrible news sinks in, Juliette’s only concern is for her fifteen-year-old daughter, Rosie... -
Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA moving and deeply engaging debut novel about a young Native American man struggling to find strength in his familial identity, from a stellar new voice in literary fiction... -
Champagne Widows: First Woman of Champagne, Veuve Clicquot by Rebecca Rosenberg
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsChampagne, France, 1800. Twenty-year-old Barbe-Nicole inherited Le Nez (an uncanny sense of smell) from her great-grandfather, a renowned champagne maker. She is determined to use Le Nez to make great champagne, but the Napoleon Code prohibits women from owning a business...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family coming-of-age literary-fiction romance drama contemporary fiction -
Han cantado bingo by Lana Corujo
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTodo empieza con un algunas noches, en los diez minutos suspendidos antes de que Abuela regrese del bingo, dos hermanas salen a escondidas por la puerta de atrás hasta El Ahorcado —un volcán redondo como una panza bocarriba—, cuentan hasta tres y corren de vuelta sin mirar atrás...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family literary-fiction fiction magical-realism contemporary female-author book -
অপেক্ষা by Humayun Ahmed
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsমানুষের জীবন কি চক্রের মত? চক্রের কোন শুরু নেই, শেষ নেই। মানব জীবনও কি তাই? রহস্যময় চক্রের ভেতর এই জীবন ঘুরপাক খেতে থাকে? শুরু নেই, শেষ নেই। চক্র ঘুরছে।এই চক্রের ভেতরে ঘুরপাক খেতে খেতে অপেক্ষা করে কেউ কেউ। কিংবা সকলেই কিসের... -
All The Colours In Between by Eva Jordan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEva Jordan's much-anticipated follow up to the bestselling 183 Times a Year It's not a life, it's an adventure! Lizzie is fast approaching 50. Her once angst ridden teenage daughters, now grown and in their twenties, have flown the nest, Cassie to London and Maisy to Australia... -
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天橋上的魔術師 by Wu Ming-Yi, 吳明益
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 7 ratings...Categorized as:
family coming-of-age literary-fiction historical-fiction fiction young-adult magic contemporary -
My Struggle: Book Three by Karl Ove Knausgård
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA family of four--mother, father and two boys--move to the South Coast of Norway to a new house on a newly developed site. It is the early 1970s and the family's trajectory, upwardly mobile: the future seems limitless...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction 21st-century adult anthologies audiobook -
Grown Women by Sarai Johnson
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn this stunning debut novel, four generations of complex Black women contend with motherhood and daughterhood, generational trauma and the deeply ingrained tensions and wounds that divide them as they redefine happiness and healing for themselves. Erudite Evelyn, her cynical daughter Charlotte, and Charlotte’s optimistic daughter Corinna see the world very differently... -
Heart the Lover by Lily King
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratings“Lily King has written another masterpiece. This book overflows with her brilliance and her heart. We are so lucky.” —Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of This Time TomorrowFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Writers & Lovers comes a magnificent and intimate new novel of desire, friendship, and the lasting impact of first loveYou knew I’d write a book about you someday...Categorized as:
literary-fiction coming-of-age grief historical-fiction family romance fiction contemporary -
A Family Affair - A Free Preview of the First 7 Chapters by ReShonda Tate Billingsley
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAward-winning author ReShonda Tate Billingsley, whose bestselling fiction "tackles some of life’s toughest situations" ( The Florida Times-Union ), unravels the secrets in a mother’s past that turn her daughter’s life upside down—by revealing the family she never knew existed... -
The More You Give by Marcy Campbell
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA modern-day response to The Giving Tree, this lyrical picturebook shows how a family passes down love from generation to generation, leaving a legacy of growing both trees and community.Once there was a wide-open field, and a boy who loved his grandmother, who loved him back.The boy’s grandmother gives him many gifts, like hugs, and Sunday morning pancakes, and acorns with wild and woolly caps... -
No Honour by Awais Khan
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA young woman defies convention in a small Pakistani village, with devastating results for her and her family. A stunning, immense beautiful novel about courage, family and the meaning of love, when everything seems lost… In sixteen-year-old Abida’s small Pakistani village, there are age-old rules to live by, and her family’s honour to protect...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction adult book contemporary female-mc fiction -
Cómplices by Taibo
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJulián ha luchado contra el aburrimiento de todas las maneras posibles. Desde que le diagnosticaron hepatitis, ha recreado en su cabeza conversaciones imaginarias entre ostras que no tienen nada que hacer, ha buscado formas fantasiosas en las manchas de la pared, ha lanzado mocos al aire. Pero es feliz porque no tiene que ir a la escuela... -
They're Going to Love You by Meg Howrey
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsA magnetic tale of betrayal, art, and ambition, set in the world of professional ballet, New York City during the AIDS crisis, and present-day Los AngelesCarlisle Martin dreams of becoming a professional ballet dancer just like her mother, Isabel, a former Balanchine ballerina...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction coming-of-age family grief fiction contemporary lgbtq -
The Orchard by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFour teenagers grow inseparable in the last days of the Soviet Union—but not all of them will live to see the new world arrive in this powerful debut novel, loosely based on Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard.Coming of age in the USSR in the 1980s, best friends Anya and Milka try to envision a free and joyful future for themselves...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family coming-of-age fiction contemporary retellings audiobook -
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Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter by J. Nozipo Maraire
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWritten as a letter from a Zimbabwean mother to her daughter, a student at Harvard, J. Nozipo Maraire evokes the moving story of a mother reaching out to her daughter to share the lessons life has taught her and bring the two closer than ever before...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family fiction contemporary epistolary 20th-century book -
The Half Brother by Lars Saabye Christensen
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThis Nordic Prize-winning novel, a truly gripping epic, relates the lives of four generations of a unique and strange family with touching intimacy and surreal comedy.Traces four generations of a family marked by the untimely birth of Fred, a misfit and boxer conceived during a devastating rape who forges an unusual friendship with his younger half-brother, Barnum...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction 21st-century adult book classics -
The Temptation to Be Happy by Lorenzo Marone, Shaun Whiteside
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCesare is a seventy-seven-year-old widower and cynical troublemaker, a man who has always struggled to care for others and has given up trying. Aside from an intermittent fling with a nurse called Rossana, he avoids contact with his neighbours and even his own children. One day, the enigmatic Emma moves into the neighbouring flat with her strange and sinister husband... -
Lessons by Ian McEwan
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has closed, eleven-year-old Roland Baines's life is turned upside down. Two thousand miles from his mother's protective love, stranded at an unusual boarding school, his vulnerability attracts piano teacher Miss Miriam Cornell, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family coming-of-age fiction audiobook contemporary book -
Misophonia by Dana Vowinckel
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPart coming-of-age tale, part family saga, an extraordinary debut novel set between Berlin, Chicago, and Jerusalem “about being Jewish and German, and all the awkwardness that entails” (The Guardian).It’s the hottest of summers in Chicago, and fifteen-year-old Margarita is spending her vacation as usual, under the not-so-watchful eyes of her aging maternal grandparents... -
In the Time of Our History by Susanne Pari
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsInspired by her own Iranian-American heritage, the acclaimed author weaves a beautifully crafted story of mothers and daughters, secrets and lies, and defying expectations—even when those choices come with an irrevocable cost...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family fiction contemporary audiobook friendship female-mc -
The Lover by A.B. Yehoshua, Philip Simpson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“Elusive, haunting.”— New York Times Book Review A husband’s search for his wife’s lover, lost amid the turbulence of the Yom Kippur War, is the heart of this dreamlike novel. Through five different perspectives, Yehoshua explores the realities and consequences of the affair and the search, laying bare deep-rooted tensions within family, between generations, between Jews and Arabs...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book contemporary fiction -
Gravel Heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, a powerful story of exile, migration, and betrayal.Salim has always known that his father does not want him. Living with his parents and his adored Uncle Amir in a house full of secrets, he is a bookish child, a dreamer haunted by night terrors. It is the 1970s and Zanzibar is changing... -
Eddie's Bastard by William Kowalski
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratings"Eddie's Bastard" is William Amos Mann IV, known as Billy -- the son of a heroic pilot killed in Vietnam and an unknown woman. The last in a line of proud, individualistic Irish-American men, Billy is discovered in a basket at the door of the dilapidated mansion where his bitter, hard-drinking grandfather, Thomas Mann, has exiled himself... -
The Life List by Chrissy Anderson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen she was just sixteen, Chrissy Anderson made a life list… …The outcome is a dream husband, a career to envy, and the kind of best friends every girl wants. Then out of nowhere…an affair. What would you do if you realized the life you created wasn’t right for you? You think you know the answer? Think again... -
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Blodsbunden by Augustin Erba
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMitt i en nedgången förort bor en blåblodig prinsessa med sin man, deras tre barn och en gigantisk schäfer. Innanför väggarna i höghuslägenheten försöker familjen hålla en egen värld vid liv, och där vill mamman helst stanna. Den äldste sonen Amadeus sätts i privatskola i stan "för att inte bli knarkare som grannbarnen", som hans mamma säger... -
Dream Wheels by Richard Wagamese
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsRodeo cowboy Joe Willie Wolfchild, riding an explosive bull called See Four and moments away from becoming World Champion, suffers a devastating accident. His parents and grandparents use all their native wisdom to ease him out of his subsequent bitter depression, but without success...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family grief historical-fiction literary-fiction abuse adult audiobook -
Abandoned Child by Kitty Neale
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsKitty Neale is back! Curl up with this heartrending new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of A BROKEN FAMILY and A FATHER’S REVENGEAll she wanted was a mother’s love …DESPISEDPenny’s childhood was spent in the shadows of her mother’s business schemes, feeling alone and unimportant... -
The Promise: A Passionate Romance by M.V. Kasi
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTwo billionaire brothers. Two village belles. A promise. A charade. And falling in love... Vikram and Vishal are the heirs to the well-known Saaho Group fortune. London bred and educated, the handsome brothers are accustomed to a jet-setting lifestyle while they win cutthroat business deals, date beautiful women and spend time with their doting family... -
Don't Forget Me by Victoria Stevens
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Hazel Clarke is no stranger to heartbreaks, and being sent to live with a father she’s never met is the latest in a string of them. Even the beauty of eastern Australia isn’t enough to take her mind off her mother and the life she had to leave behind in England... -
Hôtel Splendid by Marie Redonnet
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThese three short novels are the first works to appear in English by a remarkable contemporary French author, Marie Redonnet. Born in Paris in 1947, Redonnet taught for a number of years in a suburban lycée before deciding to pursue a writing career full time... -
Sea of Tranquillity by Paul Russell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPaul Russell's delicately layered, richly textured novels have won him widespread acclaim as one of the finest contemporary American novelists... -
Five Night Stand by Richard J. Alley
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLegendary jazz pianist Oliver Pleasant finds himself alone at the end of his career, playing his last five shows, hoping the music will draw his estranged family back…Frank Severs, a middle-aged, out-of-work journalist, is at a crossroads as his longtime dreams and marriage grind to a standstill…And piano prodigy Agnes Cassady is desperately grasping for fulfillment before a debilitating disease... -
The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the beloved author of the triumphant New York Times bestseller Ask Again, Yes comes a magnificently told novel about the complexities of marriage, family, longing, and desire.Malcolm Gephardt, the handsome and gregarious longtime bartender at the Half Moon, has always dreamed of owning a bar. When his boss is finally ready to retire, Malcolm is inspired to buy the place...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction adult book contemporary fiction -
Em's Awful Good Fortune: A Novel by Marcie Maxfield
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPart dysfunctional marriage, part global romp, this is not your typical expat story. Em’s Awful Good Fortune is a deeply personal, marriage-coming-apart-at-the-seams look at the struggle between a woman’s desire for partnership and her need for identity...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family literary-fiction fiction contemporary female-mc breakup domestic-drama -
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Honey by Isabel Banta
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA coming-of-age story that follows the meteoric rise of singer Amber Young as she navigates fame in the late-1990s and early-2000s era of pop music superstardomIt is 1997, and Amber Young has received a life-changing call. It is a chance thousands of girls would die for: the opportunity to join girl group Cloud9 in Los Angeles and escape her small town...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction coming-of-age fiction contemporary young-adult friendship book -
Difficult Light by Tomás González
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsGrappling with his son’s death, the painter David explores his grief through art and writing, etching out the rippled landscape of his loss.Over twenty years after his son’s death, nearly blind and unable to paint, David turns to writing to examine the deep shades of his loss... -
History of the Rain by Niall Williams, Jennifer McGrath
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBedbound in her attic room beneath the falling rain, in the margin between this world and the next, Plain Ruth Swain is in search of her father...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction 21st-century adult audiobook book -
The Orphans of Race Point: A Novel by Patry Francis
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSet on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a suspenseful page-turning saga of love, murder, and the true meaning of faith from the author of the acclaimed The Liar’s Diary... -
Three O'Clock in the Morning by Gianrico Carofiglio
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA coming-of-age novel—a heady union of Before Sunrise and Beautiful Ruins—about a father and his teenage son who are forced to spend two sleepless nights exploring the city of Marseilles, a journey of unexpected adventure and profound discovery that helps them come to truly know each other.Antonio is eighteen years old and on the cusp of adulthood...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction audiobook bildungsroman book contemporary -
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn this bestselling classic novel which became a famous film, Jane Graham, alone and pregnant, retreats to a dingy attic bedsit in Fulham where she finds unexpected companionship, happiness and love...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book classics
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