Books like 'Do Not Say We Have Nothing'
Readers who enjoyed Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical 20th century action / adventure military, war & conflict historical-fiction literary-fiction family politics poc-mc journey
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Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars · 72 ratingsGhana, eighteenth century: two half sisters are born into different villages, each unaware of the other. One will marry an Englishman and lead a life of comfort in the palatial rooms of the Cape Coast Castle. The other will be captured in a raid on her village, imprisoned in the very same castle, and sold into slavery...Categorized as:
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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 -
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... -
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsWith a compassionate realism and narrative sweep that recall the work of Charles Dickens, this magnificent novel captures all the cruelty and corruption, dignity and heroism, of India. The time is 1975. The place is an unnamed city by the sea... -
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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 -
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsA masterly, haunting new novel from a writer heralded by The Washington Post Book World as “the 21st-century daughter of Chinua Achebe,” Half of a Yellow Sun re-creates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria in the 1960s, and the chilling violence that followed... -
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...Categorized as:
family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure -
Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA heart-wrenching, powerfully written novel that could do for Palestine what The Kite Runner did for Afghanistan. Forcibly removed from the ancient village of Ein Hod by the newly formed state of Israel in 1948, the Abulhejas are moved into the Jenin refugee camp...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction poc-mc -
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:
communism drama family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics -
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 -
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsAlternate cover edition of ISBN 9781501154850Set on the Korean island of Jeju, The Island of Sea Women follows Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls from very different backgrounds, as they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction poc-mc -
White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the spirit of Lilac Girls, the heartbreaking history of Korea is brought to life in this deeply moving and redemptive debut that follows two sisters separated by World War II.Korea, 1943. Hana has lived her entire life under Japanese occupation. As a haenyeo, a female diver of the sea, she enjoys an independence that few other Koreans can still claim...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction poc-mc politics -
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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 -
The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsHaunted all her life by feelings of terror and emptiness, forty-nine-year-old Urania Cabral returns to her native Dominican Republic - and finds herself reliving the events of 1961, when the capital was still called Trujillo City and one old man terrorized a nation of three million people... -
The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsA portrait of love, silence, and secrets under a Spanish dictatorship.Madrid, 1957. Under the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, Spain is hiding a dark secret. Meanwhile, tourists and foreign businessmen flood into Spain under the welcoming promise of sunshine and wine...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction poc-mc -
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 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 realistic -
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:
coming-of-age communism family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics realistic -
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...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction war 20th-century -
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 poc-mc politics -
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:
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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 -
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 poc-mc -
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... -
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 poc-mc politics -
How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSingapore, 1942. As Japanese troops sweep down Malaysia and into Singapore, a village is ransacked, leaving only two survivors and one tiny child.In a neighboring village, seventeen-year-old Wang Di is strapped into the back of a troop carrier and shipped off to a Japanese military brothel where she is forced into sexual slavery as a "comfort woman... -
The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsAfghan-American Nadia Hashimi's literary debut novel, The Pearl that Broke Its Shell is a searing tale of powerlessness, fate, and the freedom to control one's own fate that combines the cultural flavor and emotional resonance of the works of Khaled Hosseini, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Lisa See...Categorized as:
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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 -
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 poc-mc 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...Categorized as:
drama family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction politics war 20th-century -
Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThis National Book Award nominee from two-time finalist Patricia McCormick is the unforgettable story of Arn Chorn-Pond, who defied the odds to survive the Cambodian genocide of 1975-1979 and the labor camps of the Khmer Rouge... -
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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 -
They Were Counted by Miklós Bánffy, Patrick Leigh Fermor
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPainting an unrivalled portrait of the vanished world of pre-1914 Hungary, this story is told through the eyes of two young Transylvanian cousins, Count Balint Abady and Count Laszlo Gyeroffy...Categorized as:
historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Bosnian Chronicle by Ivo Andrić, Joseph Hitrec
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSet in the town of Travnik, Bosnian Chronicle presents the struggle for supremacy in a region that stubbornly refuses to submit to any outsider. The era is Napoleanic and the novel, both in its historical scope and psychological subtley, Tolstoyan. In its portray of conflict and fierce ethnic loyalties, the story is also eerily relevant...Categorized as:
historical-fiction journey literary-fiction politics war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
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... -
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 -
China by Edward Rutherfurd
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe internationally bestselling author of Paris and New York takes on an exhilarating new world with his trademark epic style in China: The Novel Edward Rutherfurd has enthralled millions of readers with his grand, sweeping historical sagas that tell the history of a famous place over multiple generations... -
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 poc-mc -
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsA brilliant debut novel that brings to life an abandoned hospital where a tough-minded doctor decides to harbor a hunted young girl, with powerful consequences.In the final days of December 2004, in a small rural village in Chechnya, eight-year-old Havaa hides in the woods when her father is abducted by Russian forces... -
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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 -
The Sins of the Father by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsOn the heels of the international bestseller Only Time Will Tell, Jeffrey Archer picks up the sweeping story of the Clifton Chronicles.Only days before Britain declares war on Germany, Harry Clifton, hoping to escape the consequences of long-buried family secrets, and forced to accept that his desire to marry Emma Barrington will never be fulfilled, has joined the Merchant Navy...Categorized as:
drama family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction politics war 20th-century -
The Island by Victoria Hislop
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsOn the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding longs to find out about her mother's past. But Sofia has never spoken of it. All she admits to is growing up in a small Cretan village before moving to London. When Alexis decides to visit Crete, however, Sofia gives her daughter a letter to take to an old friend, and promises that through her she will learn more...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic -
Springtime in a Broken Mirror by Mario Benedetti
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the tradition of Roberto Bolaño’s Savage Detectives, a celebrated classic and heart-wrenching story of a family torn apart by the forces of history, by one of Latin America’s most celebrated writersSpringtime in a Broken Mirror revolves around Santiago, a political prisoner in Uruguay, who was jailed after a brutal military coup that saw many of his comrades flee elsewhere... -
The Italian Villa by Daniela Sacerdoti
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCallie, a lonely small-town waitress, is still reeling from the discovery that she’s adopted when she arrives in Montevino, Italy in search of answers – the keys to the stunning hillside villa she has just inherited clutched tightly in her hand...Categorized as:
family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure -
The Brothers of Auschwitz by Malka Adler
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMy brother’s tears left a delicate, clean line on his face. I stroked his cheek, whispered, it’s really you …Dov and Yitzhak live in a small village in the mountains of Hungary, isolated both from the world and from the horrors of the war.But one day in 1944, everything changes. The Nazis storm the homes of the Jewish villagers and inform them they have one hour...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction war 20th-century action-adventure
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