Books like 'Brother, I'm Dying'
Readers who enjoyed Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical family social-commentary politics university grief poc-mc journey high-school literary-fiction
-
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... -
![Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan]()
Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn this searing novel, a courageous young woman tries to protect her dream of becoming a doctor as civil war devastates Sri Lanka.Jaffna, 1981. Sixteen-year-old Sashi wants to become a doctor. But over the next decade, a vicious civil war tears through her home, and her dream spins off course as she sees her four beloved brothers and their friend K swept up in the mounting violence...Categorized as:
literary-fiction politics family poc-mc social-commentary historical-fiction fiction historical -
![Selected Poems by Langston Hughes]()
Selected Poems by Langston Hughes
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWith the publication of his first book of poems, The Weary Blues, in 1926, Langston Hughes electrified readers and launched a renaissance in black writing in America. The poems Hughes wrote celebrated the experience of invisible men and women: of slaves who "rushed the boots of Washington"; of musicians on Lenox Avenue; of the poor and the lovesick; of losers in "the raffle of night...Categorized as:
high-school literary-fiction poc-mc politics social-commentary university 20th-century anthologies -
![The Time of Our Singing by Richard Powers]()
The Time of Our Singing by Richard Powers
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Overstory, an enthralling, wrenching novel about the lives and choices of one family, caught on the cusp of identities.Jonah, Ruth and Joseph are the children of mixed-race parents determined to raise them beyond time, beyond identity, steeped in song. Yet they cannot be protected from the world forever...Categorized as:
family literary-fiction poc-mc politics social-commentary 21st-century adult audiobook -
-
![Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko]()
Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTwo extraordinary Indigenous stories set five generations apart. When Mulanyin meets the beautiful Nita in Edenglassie, their saltwater people still outnumber the British. As colonial unrest peaks, Mulanyin dreams of taking his bride home to Yugambeh Country, but his plans for independence collide with white justice. Two centuries later, fiery activist Winona meets Dr Johnny...Categorized as:
family journey literary-fiction poc-mc historical-fiction fiction historical poc-author -
![Blackberries, Blackberries by Crystal Wilkinson, Nikky Finney]()
Blackberries, Blackberries by Crystal Wilkinson, Nikky Finney
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAs the title implies, this beautifully written collection bursts with stories reminiscent of blackberries-–-small, succulent morsels that are inviting and sweet, yet sometimes bitter...Categorized as:
literary-fiction poc-mc social-commentary family fiction poc-author realistic anthologies -
![White Dog Fell from the Sky by Eleanor Morse]()
White Dog Fell from the Sky by Eleanor Morse
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAn extraordinary novel of love, friendship, and betrayal for admirers of Abraham Verghese and Edwidge Danticat Eleanor Morse’s rich and intimate portrait of Botswana, and of three people whose intertwined lives are at once tragic and remarkable, is an absorbing and deeply moving story...Categorized as:
journey literary-fiction poc-mc politics social-commentary university action-adventure adult -
![Gate of the Sun: Bab Al-Shams by Elias Khoury]()
Gate of the Sun: Bab Al-Shams by Elias Khoury
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDrawing on the stories he gathered from refugee camps over the course of many years, Elias Khoury's epic novel Gate of the Sun has been called the first magnum opus of the Palestinian saga.Yunes, an aging Palestinian freedom fighter, lies in a coma. Keeping vigil at the old man's bedside is his spiritual son, Khalil, who nurses Yunes, refusing to admit that his hero may never regain consciousness...Categorized as:
journey literary-fiction poc-mc politics university 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![The House of Hunger by Dambudzo Marechera]()
The House of Hunger by Dambudzo Marechera
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJoint winner of The Guardian Fiction Prize, this book is a collection of stories about growing up in Rhodesia... -
![The Unknown Errors of Our Lives by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni]()
The Unknown Errors of Our Lives by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA collection of moving stories about family, culture, and the seduction of memory. The tales of journeys and returns, of error, of loss and recovery, all resound with Divakaruni's unique understanding of the human spirit.From acclaimed and beloved author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni comes a new collection of moving stories about family, culture, and the seduction of memory... -
![House of Stone by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma]()
House of Stone by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma
Rated: 3.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the chronic turmoil of Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, Abednego and Agnes Mlambo’s teenage son, Bukhosi, has gone missing. Erudite, enigmatic Zamani, their lodger, seems to be their last, best hope for finding him. In his eagerness to help, Zamani is almost a part of the family— but almost isn’t nearly enough...Categorized as:
literary-fiction journey poc-mc family politics fiction historical-fiction historical -
![The Accordionist's Son by Bernardo Atxaga]()
The Accordionist's Son by Bernardo Atxaga
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA celebrated international author, listed among the "21 top writers for the 21st century" (The Observer, U.K... -
![Mother Ocean Father Nation by Nishant Batsha]()
Mother Ocean Father Nation by Nishant Batsha
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA riveting, tender debut novel, following a brother and sister whose paths diverge--one forced to leave, one left behind--in the wake of a nationalist coup in the South PacificOn a small Pacific island, a brother and sister tune in to a breaking news radio bulletin. It is 1985, and an Indian grocer has just been attacked by nativists aligned with the recent military coup... -
![The Stone Virgins by Yvonne Vera]()
The Stone Virgins by Yvonne Vera
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWinner of the Macmillan Prize for African Adult FictionAn uncompromising novel by one of Africa's premiere writers, detailing the horrors of civil war in luminous, haunting proseIn 1980, after decades of guerilla war against colonial rule, Rhodesia earned its hard-fought-for independence from Britain... -
-
![Pudd'nhead Wilson and Other Tales by Mark Twain]()
Pudd'nhead Wilson and Other Tales by Mark Twain
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsPudd'nhead Wilson (1894), written in a more sombre vein than his other Mississippi writings, was Mark Twain's last serious work of fiction. It reveals the sinister forces that, towards the end of his life, Twain thought to be threatening the American dream...Categorized as:
high-school literary-fiction politics social-commentary university adult animals book -
![Under Fishbone Clouds by Sam Meekings]()
Under Fishbone Clouds by Sam Meekings
Rated: 3.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsUnder Fishbone Clouds is a universal love story, a family saga, and a journey through Chinese history, myth, and culture. Following a young Chinese couple as their love grows, and is tested, during Mao's Cultural Revolution, this elegant debut novel provides a rare and personal glimpse into the birth modern China...Categorized as:
family literary-fiction social-commentary adult book fiction historical historical-fiction -
![Out of This Furnace by Thomas Bell, David P. Demarest]()
Out of This Furnace by Thomas Bell, David P. Demarest
Rated: 3.71 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOut of This Furnace is Thomas Bell’s most compelling achievement. Its story of three generations of an immigrant Slovak family -- the Dobrejcaks -- still stands as a fresh and extraordinary accomplishment. The novel begins in the mid-1880s with the naive blundering career of Djuro Kracha...Categorized as:
social-commentary literary-fiction politics poc-mc university fiction historical-fiction historical -
![Kingdom of No Tomorrow by Fabienne Josaphat]()
Kingdom of No Tomorrow by Fabienne Josaphat
Rated: 3.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt's that pivotal year, 1968, and Nettie Boileau, a young Haitian student in Oakland, gets caught up in the ongoing revolutionary fever. With her friend Clia Brown, she uses her public health skills to help operate the free health clinics created by the people she believes are "true revolutionaries," the Black Panthers...Categorized as:
social-commentary literary-fiction family poc-mc historical-fiction fiction historical audiobook -
![The Wild Duck by Henrik Ibsen, David Eldridge]()
The Wild Duck by Henrik Ibsen, David Eldridge
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsDavid Eldridge's new version of Ibsen's classic, published to tie-in with the production at the Donmar Warehouse, London.Should the truth be pursued whatever the cost? The idealistic son of a wealthy businessman seeks to expose his father's duplicity and to free his childhood friend from the lies on which his happy home life is based... -
![Black Foam by حجي جابر, Haji Jabir]()
Black Foam by حجي جابر, Haji Jabir
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom award-winning Eritrean author Haji Jabir comes a profoundly intimate novel about one man’s tireless attempt to find his place in the world.Dawoud is on the run from his murky past, aiming to discover where he belongs... -
![The Seine Was Red: Paris, October 1961 by Leïla Sebbar]()
The Seine Was Red: Paris, October 1961 by Leïla Sebbar
Rated: 3.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLeïla Sebbar's novel recounts an event in French history that has been hidden for many years. Toward the end of the Algerian war, the FLN, an Algerian nationalist party, organized a demonstration in Paris to oppose a curfew imposed upon Algerians in France. About 30,000 Algerians gathered peacefully, but the protest was brutally suppressed by the Paris police...Categorized as:
politics university literary-fiction poc-mc historical-fiction fiction historical female-author -
![The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies]()
The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies
Rated: 3.64 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSly, funny, intelligent, and artfully structured, The Fortunes recasts American history through the lives of Chinese Americans and reimagines the multigenerational novel through the fractures of immigrant family experience... -
![Max Havelaar, or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company by Multatuli, Eduard Douwes Dekker]()
Max Havelaar, or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company by Multatuli, Eduard Douwes Dekker
Rated: 3.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMax Havelaar - a Dutch civil servant in Java - burns with an insatiable desire to end the ill treatment and oppression inflicted on the native peoples by the colonial administration. Max is an inspirational figure, but he is also a flawed idealist whose vow to protect the Javanese from cruelty ends in his own downfall...Categorized as:
high-school journey literary-fiction politics university action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Changó's Beads and Two-Tone Shoes by William Kennedy]()
Changó's Beads and Two-Tone Shoes by William Kennedy
Rated: 3.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSelected by The New York Times Book Review as a Notable Book of the Year From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ironweed, a dramatic novel of love and revolution from one of America's finest writers...Categorized as:
literary-fiction social-commentary university fiction historical-fiction historical mystery book -
-
![Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza by Mosab Abu Toha]()
Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza by Mosab Abu Toha
Rated: 4.71 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWinner of the 2022 Palestine Book Awards Creative AwardFinalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in PoetryThese poems emerge directly from the experience of growing up and living one’s entire life in Gaza, making a life for one’s family and raising a family in constant lockdown, and often under direct attack... -
![Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga]()
Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn Black and British, award-winning historian and broadcaster David Olusoga offers readers a rich and revealing exploration of the extraordinarily long relationship between the British Isles and the people of Africa...Categorized as:
politics social-commentary poc-mc non-fiction audiobook historical racism poc-author -
![Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines, and the Forgotten History by Suzanne Humphries, Roman Bystrianyk]()
Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines, and the Forgotten History by Suzanne Humphries, Roman Bystrianyk
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNot too long ago, lethal infections were feared in the Western world. Since that time, many countries have undergone a transformation from disease cesspools to much safer, healthier habitats. Starting in the mid-1800s, there was a steady drop in deaths from all infectious diseases, decreasing to relatively minor levels by the early 1900s...Categorized as:
family politics social-commentary non-fiction medical historical conspiracies 21st-century -
![I Have a Dream / Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr.]()
I Have a Dream / Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr.
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn 'Letter from Birmingham Jail,' Martin Luther King Jr. explains why blacks can no longer be victims of inequality...Categorized as:
politics poc-mc university social-commentary non-fiction classics philosophy historical -
![Material World: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel, Paul Kennedy]()
Material World: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel, Paul Kennedy
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn an unprecedented effort, sixteen of the world’s foremost photographers traveled to thirty nations around the globe to live for a week with families that were statistically average for that nation... -
![Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital by Chris Myers Asch, George Derek Musgrove]()
Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital by Chris Myers Asch, George Derek Musgrove
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMonumental in scope and vividly detailed, Chocolate City tells the tumultuous, four-century story of race and democracy in our nation's capital...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
