Books like 'Secret Son'
Readers who enjoyed Secret Son by Laila Lalami also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary psychological literary-fiction journey islam coming-of-age religion family historical-fiction spirituality
-
Fireflies & Family Ties by Rachel Hanna
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen Meg shows up at her mother's door, she has no idea how to break the news to her. She's come home from France, pregnant. At just nineteen years old, this wasn't where she saw her life going.Now, trying to hide her growing belly and figure out her next decision, she moves in with her mother, sister and aunt on Seabreeze Island... -
![Blue Twilight by Tess Thompson]()
Blue Twilight by Tess Thompson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDeath came between them in high school. Will solving a painful cold case bring them together at last?Carlie Webster remains haunted by the past. After a messy failed marriage sends her packing for her small hometown, she relives the memories of her sister’s thirty-year-old unsolved murder...Categorized as:
spirituality religion family literary-fiction fiction contemporary small-town psychological -
![The Desert Flowers - Lily by Judith Keim]()
The Desert Flowers - Lily by Judith Keim
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThree talented women are brought together by a man they all love, becoming his Desert Flowers, who work together to save his hotel from being ruined by the company buying it…When Lily Weaver is asked to help Alec Thurston, the one man she’s ever truly loved, and to come to Palm Desert, California, she doesn’t hesitate...Categorized as:
religion literary-fiction family spirituality fiction womens-fiction psychological sad -
![I Hid My Voice by Parinoush Saniee]()
I Hid My Voice by Parinoush Saniee
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis is the story, based on fact, of a boy who couldn’t speak until the age of seven. Now twenty, he describes the events of his life.Four-year-old Shahaab has not started talking. The family doctor believes there is no cause for concern; nevertheless, Shahaab is ridiculed by others who call him "dumb... -
-
![A Thousand Tomorrows & Just Beyond The Clouds Omnibus by Karen Kingsbury]()
A Thousand Tomorrows & Just Beyond The Clouds Omnibus by Karen Kingsbury
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn A Thousand Tomorrows, Cody Gunner, a talented but angry cowboy, meets Ali Daniels, a lovely and mysterious barrel-racer. The two are national champions, top of their game, alone and intent on staying that way. Cody has rejected everything about his past, and only has room for his little brother, Carl Joseph, born with Down Syndrome...Categorized as:
literary-fiction spirituality adult book christian contemporary fiction psychological -
![The Pet Doctor by Tess Thompson]()
The Pet Doctor by Tess Thompson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHe’s a small-town veterinarian with a love for animals and naps. Haunted by a childhood trauma, she’s terrified of men. Can the truth about her past bring them closer together or tear them apart forever?Breck Stokes is back where he belongs. After years at university, he’s returned to Emerson Pass and taken over his mother’s veterinarian practice... -
![A Time to Forgive by Kay Correll]()
A Time to Forgive by Kay Correll
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSometimes is very, very hard to forget or forgive… Bree Stuart wants nothing more than to pack up her parents’ cabin on Lone Elk Lake and get it ready to sell. One less reminder of her past. Jason Cassidy is thrilled to see his friend, Bree, back in Sweet River Falls after twenty years. He offers to help her get the cabin ready to put on the market... -
![The Desert Flowers - Willow by Judith Keim]()
The Desert Flowers - Willow by Judith Keim
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe power of love and the strength of women working together are proved once again.When Willow Sanchez is asked to help Alec Thurston, the man for whom her parents work and who’s always treated her as the daughter he once lost, she doesn’t hesitate to leave Boston and come back home to Palm Desert, California...Categorized as:
religion literary-fiction family spirituality womens-fiction contemporary small-town slow-burn -
![The Desert Flowers - Rose by Judith Keim]()
The Desert Flowers - Rose by Judith Keim
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThree talented women brought together by a man’s love…When Rose Macklin is asked to help Alec Thurston, the one man she’s ever truly loved, by coming to Palm Desert, California, she doesn’t hesitate. He’s dying of cancer and needs her help overseeing the sale of his hotel, the Desert Sage Inn, to another hotel group...Categorized as:
religion literary-fiction family spirituality womens-fiction psychological sad contemporary -
![A Summer of Secrets by Kay Correll]()
A Summer of Secrets by Kay Correll
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA woman with a secret. A man who will never forgive her. Cece Stuart hadn’t planned on ever finding love and she’s made her peace with that. Really, she has… Zach is over women and their secrets. Really, he is… But fate laughed at them, as it often does, and threw them together finishing up a new wedding venue at Sweet River Lodge... -
![To Live by C.G. Cooper]()
To Live by C.G. Cooper
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsElmore Thadeus Nix, it's retirement time. You're sixty-five and ready. Take that final physical and then it's adios to your old life and hello to the new. Not so fast. Sorry, Elmore. Your plan's about to change. It's Elmore's last day of work. As part of his retirement, he heads to the family doctor for the follow-up to a routine physical. That's when the universe shifts on its axis. Cancer...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality adult book contemporary -
![The Key to the Last House Before the Sea by Liz Eeles]()
The Key to the Last House Before the Sea by Liz Eeles
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTears trickling down her cheeks, she recognises her grandmother’s writing scrawled across the manila envelope. Inside is an engraved key that sits heavy in her hand. Will the tumbledown cottage be the start of a new life – or will it tear her life apart?With her back to the sparkling sea, single mum Nessa stands in the doorway of the stone cottage her grandmother left behind...Categorized as:
family literary-fiction religion spirituality adult book contemporary enemies-to-lovers -
![No Wedding Like Nantucket by Grace Palmer]()
No Wedding Like Nantucket by Grace Palmer
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe wedding of the year versus the storm of the century. Who will win?Things are finally looking up for the Benson family. After a year of tough choices and big leaps of faith, it seems like love, success, and happiness are right in their grasp. But with a wedding on the horizon and a successful new restaurant growing faster than anyone ever expected, everyone certainly has their hands full... -
![The Grapes of Wrath/The Moon is Down/Cannery Row/East of Eden/Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck]()
The Grapes of Wrath/The Moon is Down/Cannery Row/East of Eden/Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Grapes of Wrath / The Moon Is Down / Cannery Row / East of Eden / Of Mice and...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies classics contemporary -
-
![Where Women Are Kings by Christie Watson]()
Where Women Are Kings by Christie Watson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsElijah, seven years old, has a history of disruptive behaviour. His adoptive mother Nikki believes that she and her husband Obi are strong enough to accept his difficulties – and that her being white will not affect her ability to raise a black son... -
![Iza's Ballad by Magda Szabó]()
Iza's Ballad by Magda Szabó
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen Ettie's husband dies, her daughter Iza insists that her mother give up the family house in the countryside and move to Budapest. Displaced from her community and her home, Ettie tries to find her place in this new life, but can't seem to get it right...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult aging -
![Tilly's Tuscan Teashop: A gorgeously uplifting summer read by Daisy James]()
Tilly's Tuscan Teashop: A gorgeously uplifting summer read by Daisy James
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWelcome to Tilly's Tuscan Teashop, the first book in a brand new series from the author of the Hummingbird Hotel and the Cornish Confetti Agency series.When photographer Natalie Nicholson’s beach hut studio – and everything she’s spent the last two years working on – is destroyed in a fire, she doesn’t think things can get any worse...Categorized as:
family religion spirituality fiction psychological sad contemporary action-adventure -
![What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies]()
What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsFrancis Cornish was always good at keeping secrets. From the well-hidden family secret of his childhood to his mysterious encounters with a small-town embalmer, an expert art restorer, a Bavarian countess, and various masters of espionage, the events in Francis's life were not always what they seemed...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century adult audiobook -
![Charm Artist by Creston Mapes]()
Charm Artist by Creston Mapes
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAfter the Portland terrorist attack, the kidnapping of his daughter, and the domestic violence case that almost killed him, Portland Police Investigator Wayne Deetz and his wife Joanie escape for a long overdue vacation in Sedona, Arizona, to make some monumental career decisions... -
![The Eye of the Sheep by Sofie Laguna]()
The Eye of the Sheep by Sofie Laguna
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn alternative cover edition for the ISBN can be found here."Ned was beside me, his messages running easily through him, with space between each one, coming through him like water. He was the go-between, going between the animal kingdom and this one. I watched the waves as they rolled and crashed towards us, one after another, never stopping, always changing...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family literary-fiction audiobook book contemporary drama female-author -
![Winter Magic on Railway Lane by Alison Sherlock]()
Winter Magic on Railway Lane by Alison Sherlock
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJoin the residents of Railway Lane for one last magical adventure… Globetrotting Libby Jacobs has lost her job but is looking forward to spending more time in her home village of Cranfield.She dreams of turning her chocolate making hobby into something more permanent. There’s only one problem - Ethan Connolly... -
![Let the Light Shine by Nick Alexander, Penelope Rawlins]()
Let the Light Shine by Nick Alexander, Penelope Rawlins
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom Nick Alexander, the number one best-selling author of The Photographer's Wife and The Other Son.Penny and Victoria are about as different as two siblings can be, one with a smart London lifestyle, the other struggling to make ends meet. But they are joined by more than blood, and their shared tragic past is affecting the present more than they realise... -
![Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi]()
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsYaa Gyasi's stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national best seller Homegoing is a powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama.Gifty is a fifth-year candidate in neuroscience at Stanford School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction religion spirituality 21st-century -
![Christmas at the Cornish Confetti Agency by Daisy James]()
Christmas at the Cornish Confetti Agency by Daisy James
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt's Christmas at The Cornish Confetti Agency!When Lexie Harrington is asked to choreograph Phoebe and Sam’s Christmas-themed wedding, she can’t wait to create the perfect winter wonderland - elegantly dressed fir trees, glossy garlands of holly and mistletoe, baskets of yule logs and pine cones, and the mouth-watering fragrance of gingerbread, cinnamon sticks and warm mulled wine floating... -
-
![Hunger for Life by Andy Marr]()
Hunger for Life by Andy Marr
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOn the day of his graduation, James says goodbye to the future and moves back to his parents’ house in Myreton, the sleepy village of his childhood. He’s not happy, but the thought of continuing his life anywhere else seems unthinkable while his sister, Emma, continues to suffer with the illness that’s plagued her since she was a child...Categorized as:
family coming-of-age literary-fiction romance fiction contemporary mental-illness psychological -
![Cracks in the Sidewalk by Bette Lee Crosby]()
Cracks in the Sidewalk by Bette Lee Crosby
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the Bestselling Author of Spare Change, comes a powerful story that is a heart-wrenching reminder of how fragile relationships can be. Cracks in the Sidewalk is based on a true story. Claire McDermott is a Wife, a Mother, a Grandmother... Her only daughter is gravely ill...Her son-in-law is resentful and angry...Her grandchildren are missing..Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction spirituality book children children-books christian -
![The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki]()
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsAfter the tragic death of his beloved musician father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house - a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament, a piece of wilted lettuce...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family literary-fiction religion spirituality 21st-century audiobook book -
![Silent Signs by Ana Simons]()
Silent Signs by Ana Simons
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings~When life falls apart, what if sharing your secrets with a perfect stranger made it all fall back into place? ~ On the fateful weekend her husband puts an end to their marriage, Sophie Thompson must leave for a two-week work assignment in London. As she juggles her emotions at the airport terminal, Matthew O’Brian observes her, intrigued...Categorized as:
literary-fiction family religion spirituality romance contemporary fiction womens-fiction -
![Born on a Tuesday by Elnathan John]()
Born on a Tuesday by Elnathan John
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom two-time Caine Prize finalist Elnathan John, a dynamic young voice from Nigeria, Born on a Tuesday is a stirring, starkly rendered first novel about a young boy struggling to find his place in a society that is fracturing along religious and political lines.In far northwestern Nigeria, Dantala lives among a gang of street boys who sleep under a kuka tree...Categorized as:
literary-fiction religion coming-of-age islam journey historical-fiction spirituality africa -
![The Knot of Vipers by François Mauriac, David Lodge]()
The Knot of Vipers by François Mauriac, David Lodge
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe masterpiece of one of the greatest modern Catholic writersthe divine grace that remains available to each of us until the very moment of our deaths. It is the unforgettable tale of the battle for one man's soul...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century adult audiobook -
![The Instructions by Adam Levin]()
The Instructions by Adam Levin
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBeginning with a chance encounter with the beautiful Eliza June Watermark and ending, four days and 900 pages later, with the Events of November 17, this is the story of Gurion Maccabee, age ten: a lover, a fighter, a scholar, and a truly spectacular talker... -
![Three Floors Up by Eshkol Nevo]()
Three Floors Up by Eshkol Nevo
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsSet in an upper-middle-class Tel Aviv apartment building, this best-selling and warmly acclaimed Israeli novel examines the interconnected lives of its residents, whose turmoils, secrets, unreliable confessions, and problematic decisions reveal a society in the midst of an identity crisis... -
![Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult]()
Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThe small town of Paradise, Pennsylvania, is a jewel in Lancaster County - known for its picture-postcard landscapes and bucolic lifestyle. But that peace is shattered by the discovery of a dead infant in the barn of an Amish farmer. A police investigation quickly leads to two startling disclosures: the newborn's mother is an unmarried Amish woman, eighteen-year-old Katie Fisher...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality audiobook book -
![Mama's Boy by David Goudreault]()
Mama's Boy by David Goudreault
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWinner of the 2016 Grand Prix littéraire ArchambaultWritten with gritty humour in the form of a confession, Mama's Boy recounts the family drama of a young man who sets out in search of his mother after a childhood spent shuffling from one foster home to another. A bizarre character with a skewed view of the world, he leads the reader on a quest that is both tender and violent... -
-
![Finding Alice by Melody Carlson]()
Finding Alice by Melody Carlson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSliding into the Rabbit Hole… Would She Ever Return? On the surface, Alice Laxton seems no different from any other college girl: bright, inquisitive, excited about the life ahead of her. But for years, a genetic time bomb has been ticking away. Because of Alice’s near-genius intelligence, teachers and counselors have always made excuses for her “little idiosyncrasies... -
![She Wore Red Trainers by Na'ima B. Robert]()
She Wore Red Trainers by Na'ima B. Robert
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Ali first meets Amirah, he notices everything about her—her hijab, her long eyelashes and her red trainers—in the time it takes to have one look, before lowering his gaze. And, although Ali is still coming to terms with the loss of his mother and exploring his identity as a Muslim, and although Amirah has sworn never to get married, they can't stop thinking about each other...Categorized as:
islam religion family coming-of-age spirituality europe british-isles united-kingdom -
![The Heartbreaker by Susan Howatch]()
The Heartbreaker by Susan Howatch
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDeftly combining the sacred and the profane—the unmistakable hallmark of her fiction over the past decade—Susan Howatch gives us a spellbinding, suspenseful and psychologically intense new novel. The financial heart of London—the City—is an adrenaline-charged square mile deep in recession in the 1990s, a place where sex is just another commodity to be bought and sold in the marketplace...Categorized as:
literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century adult book christian contemporary -
![Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters by Anita Kushwaha]()
Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters by Anita Kushwaha
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor readers of Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s "Secret Daughter" and Nancy Richler’s "The Imposter Bride", a breathtaking novel from Anita Kushwaha about the ties that bind mothers and daughters together and the secrets that tear them apartVeena, Mala and Nandini are three very different women with something in common...Categorized as:
literary-fiction family coming-of-age fiction contemporary realistic audiobook psychological -
![Words Unspoken by Elizabeth Musser]()
Words Unspoken by Elizabeth Musser
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLissa Randall's future was bright with academic promise until the tragic accident that took her mother's life--and brought her own plans to a screeching halt. Eighteen months later Lissa is still unable to get back behind the wheel.Ev McAllistair's driving school looks like Lissa's best hope for getting her life back on the road again...Categorized as:
historical-fiction religion spirituality romance christian fiction contemporary psychological -
![Ten Birthdays by Kerry Wilkinson]()
Ten Birthdays by Kerry Wilkinson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratings*Winner of the Romantic Novelists' Association Young Adult Novel of the Year 2018*"There are going to be so many things I wish I could’ve told you in person, Poppy. I won’t get the chance to do that, so perhaps this is my only way…"It’s Poppy Kinsey’s birthday... -
![The Other Half of Me by Katherine Slee]()
The Other Half of Me by Katherine Slee
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsShe ran from her past, abandoned her dreams. But is it too late to start again?Since the death of her big sister, Beth has felt lost, a shadow of her former self...Categorized as:
family literary-fiction coming-of-age fiction contemporary audiobook young-adult psychological -
![Exposure by Ava Dellaira]()
Exposure by Ava Dellaira
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA life-changing moment encompasses conflicting truths that echo across time, in this powerful, provocative debut.One night, two people, four sides of a story.In 2004, Juliette Marker, a white college freshman, and Noah King, a Black high school senior, are two lonely souls who enter each other’s orbit, forge a connection, and, after a chance meeting, go home together...Categorized as:
literary-fiction family coming-of-age fiction audiobook contemporary season-spring lgbtq -
![Father of the Rain by Lily King]()
Father of the Rain by Lily King
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn her most ambitious novel to date, critically acclaimed author Lily King sets her sharply insightful family drama in an upper-middle-class East Coast suburb where she traces a complex and volatile father-daughter relationship from the 1970s to the present day...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction audiobook book contemporary domestic-drama -
![The Secrets Mothers Keep by Jacquie Underdown]()
The Secrets Mothers Keep by Jacquie Underdown
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn the enchanting landscapes of Tasmania, "The Secrets Mothers Keep" unravels a captivating tale of three generations bound by a shared purpose—to restore the family manor into a charming bed and breakfast. But beneath the surface lies a lifetime of concealed truths that threaten to tear them apart... -
-
![A Perfectly Good Man by Patrick Gale]()
A Perfectly Good Man by Patrick Gale
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen 20-year-old Lenny Barnes, paralysed in a rugby accident, commits suicide in the presence of Barnaby Johnson, the much-loved priest of a West Cornwall parish, the tragedy's reverberations open up the fault-lines between Barnaby and his nearest and dearest... -
![A Severed Wasp by Madeleine L'Engle]()
A Severed Wasp by Madeleine L'Engle
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsKatherine Forrester Vigneras, in a continuation of her story from The Small Rain, returns to New York City from Europe to retire. Now in her seventies, she encounters an old friend from her Greenwich Village days who, it turns out, is the former Bishop of New York. He asks Katherine to give a benefit concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality book children children-books -
![Saving Grace by Lee Smith]()
Saving Grace by Lee Smith
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSurrounded all of her life by zealous religious figures, Florida Grace Shepherd recounts a story that begins with her father's revival meetings and ends at Uncle Slidell's Christian Fun Golf course...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction spirituality audiobook bildungsroman book -
![Sundog by Jim Harrison]()
Sundog by Jim Harrison
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA “feisty, passionate novel” (Newsday) from a writer whose “storytelling instincts are nearly flawless” (The New York Times). The New York Times–bestselling author of thirty-nine books of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry including Legends of the Fall, Dalva, and Returning to Earth, Jim Harrison was one of our most beloved and acclaimed writers, adored by both readers and critics...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction action-adventure adult book classics contemporary -
![Meg's Confession by Sierra Donovan]()
Meg's Confession by Sierra Donovan
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMeg Reilly is a pregnant widow who ducks into a confessional to spill her deepest, darkest secrets. Trouble is, the man on the other side of the booth isn't a priest. Craig Stovall is the owner of a local construction business--he's just there to repair the confessional. But when Meg starts talking, he's too surprised and tongue-tied to stop her until he hears too much... -
![Fig by Sarah Elizabeth Schantz]()
Fig by Sarah Elizabeth Schantz
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAn NPR Best Book of 2015Love and sacrifice intertwine in this brilliant debut of rare beauty about a girl dealing with her mother’s schizophrenia and her own mental illness.Fig’s world lies somewhere between reality and fantasy.But as she watches Mama slowly come undone, it becomes hard to tell what is real and what is not, what is fun and what is frightening...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction family historical-fiction north-america usa arkansas kansas
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
