Books like 'Betty'
Readers who enjoyed Betty by Tiffany McDaniel also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery historical-fiction literary-fiction coming-of-age family indigenous-mc rural drama realistic
-
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsWhile the Titanic and Lusitania are both well-documented disasters, the single greatest tragedy in maritime history is the little-known January 30, 1945 sinking in the Baltic Sea by a Soviet submarine of the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German cruise liner that was supposed to ferry wartime personnel and refugees to safety from the advancing Red Army... -
Last Port of Call by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsQueenstown, County Cork, IrelandApril 1912Twelve-year-old Harp Delaney is an unusual child, quiet and intelligent far beyond her years. She would rather spend her days in the library of the grand Georgian house that she sees as her home than playing on the streets with other children.Her mother, Rose, is the reserved and ladylike housekeeper at the Cliff House...Categorized as:
coming-of-age epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book -
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 historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic action-adventure adult audiobook -
An Unexpected Frost by David Johnson
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the second installment of the gripping Tucker’s Way series, Tucker faces the biggest crisis of her life.Tucker has finally overcome a lifelong fear of trusting others and let her kind neighbor, Ella, into her heart... -
-
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsIn their remote mountain village, Li-yan and her family align their lives around the seasons and the farming of tea. For the Akha people, ensconced in ritual and routine, life goes on as it has for generations—until a stranger appears at the village gate in a jeep, the first automobile any of the villagers has ever seen...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction poc-mc realistic -
This Was a Man by Jeffrey Archer, Susanna Tuomi-Giddings
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn Whitehall, Giles Barrington discovers the truth about his wife Karin from the Cabinet Secretary. Is she a spy or a pawn in a larger game? Harry Clifton sets out to write his magnum opus, while his wife Emma completes her ten years as Chairman of the Bristol Royal Infirmary, and receives an unexpected call from Margaret Thatcher offering her a job... -
The Orphan Keeper by Camron Wright
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBased on a remarkable true story of Taj Rowland. Seven-year-old Chellamuthu's life is forever changed when he is kidnapped from his village in India, sold to a Christian orphanage, and then adopted by an unsuspecting couple in the United States. It takes months before the boy can speak enough English to tell his parents that he already has a family back in India...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction realistic action-adventure audiobook book -
The Dressmaker's Gift by Fiona Valpy
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsA Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestseller. From the bestselling author of The Beekeeper’s Promise comes a gripping story of three young women faced with impossible choices. How will history – and their families – judge them? Paris, 1940. With the city occupied by the Nazis, three young seamstresses go about their normal lives as best they can. But all three are hiding secrets...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult -
Centennial by James A. Michener
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 31 ratings"Michener is America's best writer, and he proves it once again in CENTENNIAL."THE PITTSBURGH PRESSA stunning panorama of the West, CENTENNIAL is an enthralling celebration of our country, brimming with the glory and the greatness of the American past that only bestselling author James Michener could bring to stunning life...Categorized as:
drama epic family historical-fiction indigenous-mc literary-fiction poc-mc 20th-century -
Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn 1836, when she was nine years old, Cynthia Ann Parker was kidnapped by Comanche Indians. This is the story of how she grew up with them, mastered their ways, married one of their leaders, and became, in every way, a Comanche woman. It is also the story of a proud and innocent people whose lives pulsed with the very heartbeat of the land. It is the story of a way of life that is gone forever... -
The Incredible Winston Browne by Sean Dietrich
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBeloved writer Sean Dietrich—also known as Sean of the South—will warm your heart with this rich and nostalgic tale of a small-town sheriff, a mysterious little girl, and a good-hearted community pulling together to help her.Folks in Moab live for ice cream socials, baseball, and the local paper’s weekly gossip column... -
The Story Keeper by Lisa Wingate
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen successful New York editor Jen Gibbs discovers a decaying slush-pile manuscript on her desk, she has no idea that the story of Sarra, a young mixed-race woman trapped in Appalachia at the turn of the twentieth century, will both take her on a journey and change her forever...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic rural action-adventure adult -
The Memory Tree by Linda Gillard
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCan the power of love overcome life’s darkest memories and deepest losses? When her favourite beech tree is felled in a storm, Ann feels as if someone has died. But when long-hidden seed packets are found inside the trunk, Ann realises there are more memories than her own lurking within the ancient tree . . -
This Bitter Earth by Bernice L. McFadden
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn This Bitter Earth, Sugar Lacey is on her way out of Bigelow, Arkansas, where she’d come to break with the past. With her worn leopard-print suitcase and her head held high, she walks past the prying eyes of its small-minded, cruel-hearted townsfolk, praying for the strength to keep going. She doesn’t stop until she arrives at her childhood home in Short Junction... -
-
Into Temptation by Penny Vincenzi
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsInto Temptation, the third book of the Lytton family trilogy, shifts the focus to New York City and Barty Miller. Rescued from the slums as a baby by Celia Lytton and now living in New York, Barty heads more than half of the Lytton publishing house. Falling on bad times, the family is worried that Barty will make a business decision that would be devastating to them... -
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 literary-fiction poc-mc action-adventure adult -
A Valley Secret by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe second book in the brand new Backshaw Moss series from million-copy bestseller Anna JacobsLancashire, 1930s. When her mother dies, leaving her an old sewing box and a clue to her father's identity, 22-year-old Maisie Bassett is determined to make a fresh start.Changing her name and moving to the small town of Rivenshaw, she finds a respectable job in a grocery store... -
The Missing Sister by Lucinda Riley
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe six D’Aplièse sisters have each been on their own incredible journey to discover their heritage, but they still have one question left unanswered: who and where is the seventh sister? They only have one clue – an image of a star-shaped emerald ring...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century audiobook book -
The Moonshiner's Daughter by Donna Everhart
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPublisher's Weekly STARRED REVIEWBooklist STARRED REVIEWSouthern Literary Review January 2020 Book of the MonthGoodreads Most Popular Releases for December 2019MaryJane'sFarm Book Club PickSheReads Most Anticipated Women's Fiction 2020Southern Lady Book Club Pick for FebruarySet in North Carolina in 1960 and brimming with authenticity and grit, The Moonshiner's Daughter evokes the singular life...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family grief historical-fiction literary-fiction rural action-adventure -
Sooley by John Grisham
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author John Grisham takes you to a different kind of court in his first basketball novel. Samuel "Sooley" Sooleymon is a raw, young talent with big hoop dreams...and even bigger challenges off the court...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic sad action-adventure -
Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsSome bodies won't stay buried.Some stories need to be told. When seventeen-year-old Rowan Chase finds a skeleton on her family's property, she has no idea that investigating the brutal century-old murder will lead to a summer of painful discoveries about the present and the past...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction indigenous-mc literary-fiction poc-mc realistic -
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn 1958, a small Minnesota town is rocked by the murder of its most powerful citizen, pouring fresh fuel on old grievances in this dazzling standalone novel from the New York Times bestselling author of This Tender Land...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction rural indigenous-mc poc-mc mystery fiction historical -
Margot's Secret by Roberta Kagan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAmid the chaos of Hitler's conquest of Europe, a family teeters on the edge of utter destruction.Trudy is still obsessed with her sister's husband, Max. But Max is torn between his loyalty to his wife, Margot, and giving in to Trudy, who might turn him in for the murder of her husband, the SS officer Rudolph...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family literary-fiction ww2 mystery historical fiction 20th-century -
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Long Bright River, an immersive, propulsive novel about a missing child whose disappearance sends equal shockwaves through three very different worlds—an opulent Adirondack summer estate, the rustic teen summer camp that operates in its shadow, and the blue-collar community that serves them both... -
-
The Butterfly Room by Lucinda Riley
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsPosy Montague is approaching her seventieth birthday. Still living in her beautiful family home, Admiral House, set in the glorious Suffolk countryside where she spent her own idyllic childhood catching butterflies with her beloved father, and raised her own children, Posy knows she must make an agonising decision... -
Rich Man, Poor Man by Irwin Shaw
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsRich Man, Poor Man is the story of two brothers whose contrasting natures reflect the turmoil of post-war America. Rudy is the rich man - a romantic who would let no one stand between him and success. Tom is the poor man - the black sheep of the family on the run from his violent past...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century audiobook -
The Drowned Village by Kathleen McGurl
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBeneath the surface lie forgotten secrets… A village destroyed It’s the summer of 1935 and eleven-year-old Stella Walker is preparing to leave her home forever. Forced to evacuate to make way for a new reservoir, the village of Brackendale Green will soon be lost. But before the water has even reached them, a dreadful event threatens to tear Stella’s family apart... -
Country Dark by Chris Offutt, Nick Sullivan
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsChris Offutt is an outstanding literary talent whose work has been called "lean and brilliant" (New York Times Book Review) and compared by reviewers to Tobias Wolff, Ernest Hemingway, and Raymond Carver. He's been awarded the Whiting Writers Award for Fiction/Nonfiction and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Fiction Award, among numerous other honors... -
The Potato Factory by Bryce Courtenay
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIkey Solomon is very successful indeed, in the art of thieving. Ikey's partner in crime is his mistress, the forthright Mary Abacus, until misfortune befalls them. They are parted and each must make the harsh journey from 19th century London to Van Diemens Land. In the backstreets and dives of Hobart Town, Mary learns the art of brewing and builds The Potato Factory, where she plans a new future...Categorized as:
drama epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction action-adventure adult audiobook -
Alaska by James A. Michener
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn this sweeping epic of the northernmost American frontier, James A. Michener guides us through Alaska’s fierce terrain and history, from the long-forgotten past to the bustling present...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction indigenous-mc literary-fiction poc-mc realistic action-adventure -
The Angel Tree by Lucinda Riley
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThirty years have passed since Greta Marchmont left the mansion in which she had once found a home. Now she returns to Marchmont Hall in the snowy mountains of Wales - but she has no memory of her past because, since a tragic accident, she suffers from amnesia... -
Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsFrom the internationally bestselling author of Kane and Abel and A Prisoner of Birth comes Only Time Will Tell, the first in an ambitious new series that tells the story of one family across generations, across oceans, from heartbreak to triumph. The epic tale of Harry Clifton’s life begins in 1920, with the words “I was told that my father was killed in the war...Categorized as:
coming-of-age dark drama epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century -
Lies a River Deep by Vera Jane Cook
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn the summer of 1962, at a high school graduation party, Bessie Day Hardy is brutally raped. Fifty years later, the consequences of that horrific night will transition into unforeseen events that will shatter her serene and uncomplicated life... -
Rachel's Legacy by Julie Thomas
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe much anticipated sequel to The Keeper of Secrets, following the fortunes of the Horowitz family from pre-war Berlin to the present. When Dr Kobi Voight is given a set of old letters by his mother he has no inkling that they will lead him around the world and deep into the tragic past of his family... -
-
The Promise of Rain by Vasundra Tailor
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA treasured necklace that could unlock a family mystery. But why has it been hidden away for sixty years?With her thirtieth birthday on the horizon, Anna Kotze has accepted that there are some family secrets she’ll never know. While her mother’s Zimbabwean roots are woven into her life, all her father will say is that he was adopted...Categorized as:
family coming-of-age historical-fiction epic literary-fiction fiction audiobook mystery -
Clover Blue by Eldonna Edwards
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSet against the backdrop of a 1970s commune in Northern California, Clover Blue is a compelling, beautifully written story of a young boy's search for identity. There are many things twelve-year-old Clover Blue isn't sure of: his exact date of birth, his name before he was adopted into the Saffron Freedom Community, or who his first parents were...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic book california -
The Mercy Seat by Elizabeth Hartley Winthrop
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA breakout novel by “a bitingly intelligent writer” (New York Times Book Review) set during the hours leading up to the scheduled execution of a young black man for the alleged rape of a white woman in a small Louisiana town in 1943.“One of the finest writers of her generation” (Brad Watson), and author of three previously acclaimed novels, Elizabeth H... -
Ruby Flynn by Nadine Dorries
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe darkest sin casts the longest shadow. . . Ruby Flynn, set in Ireland and Liverpool, is the enthralling story of a family haunted by ancient wrongs. The FitzDeanes are wealthy. They have Ballyford Castle in Ireland and a growing shipping business in Liverpool. But Lady FitzDeane is unable to provide an heir. All of her five boys have died in infancy... -
The Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOxmoon, the rambling old mansion on a sprawling estate in Wales, has been for generations, the dream, the downfall, and the destiny of the wealthy Godwin family... -
Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCamden, NJ, 1948. When 11 year-old Sally Horner steals a notebook from the local Woolworth's, she has no way of knowing that 52 year-old Frank LaSalle, fresh out of prison, is watching her, preparing to make his move. Accosting her outside the store, Frank convinces Sally that he's an FBI agent who can have her arrested in a minute--unless she does as he says... -
The Crooked Branch by Jeanine Cummins
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the national bestselling and highly acclaimed author of The Outside Boy comes the deeply moving story of two mothers—witty, self-deprecating Majella, who is shocked by her entry into motherhood in modern-day New York, and her ancestor, tough and terrified Ginny Doyle, whose battles are more fundamental: she must keep her young family alive during Ireland’s Great Famine... -
The Tie That Binds by Kent Haruf
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of , is a powerfully eloquent tribute to the arduous demands of rural America, and of the tenacity of the human spirit.Colorado, January 1977. Eighty-year-old Edith Goodnough lies in a hospital bed, IV taped to the back of her hand, police officer at her door. She is charged with murder...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama epic family historical-fiction indigenous-mc literary-fiction poc-mc -
In a Field of Blue by Gemma Liviero
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Road Beyond Ruin comes a novel about a family torn apart by grief and secrets, then pulled back together by hope in the wake of World War I.England 1922. It’s been four years since Rudy’s brother Edgar went missing in war-torn France. Still deep in mourning and grappling with unanswered questions, Rudy and his mother struggle to move on... -
Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA haunting novel about identity, love, and loss by the author of Three Day RoadWill Bird is a legendary Cree bush pilot, now lying in a coma in a hospital in his hometown of Moose Factory, Ontario. His niece Annie Bird, beautiful and self-reliant, has returned from her own perilous journey to sit beside his bed...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction indigenous-mc literary-fiction poc-mc 21st-century action-adventure -
-
A Tangled Mercy by Joy Jordan-Lake
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTold in alternating tales at once haunting and redemptive, A Tangled Mercy is a quintessentially American epic rooted in heartbreaking true events examining the harrowing depths of human brutality and betrayal, and our enduring hope for freedom and forgiveness... -
The Pecan Man by Cassie Dandridge Selleck
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe Pecan Man is a work of Southern fiction whose first chapter was the First Place winner of the 2006 CNW/FFWA Florida State Writing Competition in the Unpublished Novel category.In the summer of 1976, recently widowed and childless, Ora Lee Beckworth hires a homeless old black man to mow her lawn... -
The Marriage Portrait: A novel by Maggie O'Farrell
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsREESE’S BOOK CLUB DECEMBER PICK • NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • The author of award-winning Hamnet brings the world of Renaissance Italy to jewel-bright life in this unforgettable fictional portrait of the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de' Medici as she makes her way in a troubled court.“I could not stop reading this incredible true story...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family coming-of-age fiction historical audiobook early-modern -
Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt, Кэрол Рифка Брант
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsIn this striking literary debut, Carol Rifka Brunt unfolds a moving story of love, grief, and renewal as two lonely people become the unlikeliest of friends and find that sometimes you don't know you've lost someone until you've found them. 1987. There's only one person who has ever truly understood fourteen-year-old June Elbus, and that's her uncle, the renowned painter Finn Weiss... -
Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom an unforgettable new voice in Caribbean literature, a sweeping story of two families colliding in 1940s Trinidad--and a chilling mystery that shows how interconnected their lives truly are Trinidad in the 1940s, nearing the end of American occupation and British colonialism... -
Hold on to your Dreams by Beryl Matthews
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLondon 1899. Gertrude Melrose is preparing for a New Year party when her brother enters her room. She knows he wants money from her and refuses at once. She loves her brother but he is in with a disreputable crowd and losing heavily at the gaming tables. He has already gambled away his inheritance and she cannot allow him to do that with hers...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.