Books like 'The Secret Chord'
Readers who enjoyed The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical military, war & conflict historical-fiction religion literary-fiction christian war myths ancient-civilization family
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The Little Liar by Mitch Albom
Rated: 4.59 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsBeloved bestselling author Mitch Albom returns with a powerful novel that moves from a coastal Greek city during the Holocaust, to America, where the intertwined lives of three survivors are forever changed by the perils of deception and the grace of redemption. Eleven-year-old Nico Krispis never told a lie...Categorized as:
historical-fiction war family literary-fiction coming-of-age christian friendship spirituality -
The Medallion by Cathy Gohlke
Rated: 4.80 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor fans of bestselling World War II fiction like Sarah’s Key and The Nightingale comes an illuminating tale of courage, sacrifice, and survival, about two couples whose lives are ravaged by Hitler’s mad war yet eventually redeemed through the fate of one little girl...Categorized as:
christian war historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century historical -
The Hard Way Home by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDublin 1950Liesl Bannon has never felt like she was truly at home anywhere, not since her mother placed her and her brother Erich on the last Kindertransport out of Berlin in 1939. She’d been so much more fortunate than most Jews, saved from the horrors of the Nazi regime...Categorized as:
christian family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality war -
Boy Underground by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsDuring WWII, a teenage boy finds his voice, the courage of his convictions, and friends for life in an emotional and uplifting novel by the New York Times and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author.1941. Steven Katz is the son of prosperous landowners in rural California. Although his parents don’t approve, he’s found true friends in Nick, Suki, and Ollie, sons of field workers...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family friendship historical-fiction lgbtq literary-fiction war 20th-century -
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Song of Redemption by Lynn Austin, Suzanne Toren
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe second book in the Chronicles of the Kings series, Song of Redemption is a retelling of the life of Hezekiah, King of Judah from 716 to 687 BC After years of idolatry, Judah's temple has been cleansed and Hezekiah has brought God's law back to his people. But when he incurs the wrath of the barbaric Assyrians, he will need help from a surprising source...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization christian historical-fiction religion spirituality war adult audiobook -
Home Sweet Home: by Lizzie Lane
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWill they meet again? Frances Sweet can’t really remember her real parents. Brought up by her uncle, her cousins Ruby and Mary have always treated her like their little sister.As the war continues to keep her cousins separated from the men they love – Frances is growing up fast enough to catch the eye of dashing American soldier Declan... -
The Source by James A. Michener
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsIn the grand storytelling style that is his signature, James Michener sweeps us back through time to the very beginnings of the Jewish faith, thousands of years ago...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization christian epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction politics religion -
New Recruits at Goodwill House by Fenella J. Miller
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMay 1940There are new residents at Goodwill House – WAAF drivers Camilla ‘Millie’ Cunningham and Diane Forsyth, both eager to do their bit for the war effort and excited to be helping the brave boys who fly.And when Millie meets dashing and heroic Spitfire pilot Ted Thorrington, they strike up an instant connection... -
I'll Be Seeing You: A spellbinding and emotional wartime novel of love and secrets by Margaret Mayhew
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Juliet Porter's mother dies, she leaves Juliet some old letters and a photograph which shatter all her previously-held beliefs. They show that her real father was an American bomber pilot in the second world war, some forty years before, and that he had met her mother while serving in England... -
The Scot's Deception by Keira Montclair
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThey must trust each other—or bear the consequences.Chrissa Grant isn’t the sort of lass who enjoys sitting at home. With a pivotal battle looming between Robert the Bruce and the English, she knows exactly where she wishes to be: fighting with her older cousins, the group known as the Highland Swords...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization epic historical-fiction literary-fiction war adult book fiction -
Mahabharata by William Buck
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFew works in world literature have inspired so vast an audience, in nations with radically different languages and cultures, as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, two Sanskrit verse epics written some 2,000 years ago...Categorized as:
epic historical-fiction literary-fiction myths politics religion retellings spirituality -
Trinity by Leon Uris
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsLeon Uris’s beloved Irish classic, available in Avon mass market. From the acclaimed author who enthralled the world with Exodus, Battle Cry, QB VII, Topaz, and other beloved classics of twentieth-century fiction comes a sweeping and powerful epic adventure that captures the "terrible beauty" of Ireland during its long and bloody struggle for freedom... -
Pastel Orphans by Gemma Liviero
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn 1930s Berlin, young Henrik, the son of a Jewish father and Aryan mother, watches the world around him crumbling: people are rioting in the streets, a strange yellow star begins appearing in shop windows, and friends are forced to move—or they simply disappear.After his father becomes gravely ill, Henrik and his little sister, Greta, are taken by their mother to Poland for safety...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality war 20th-century -
Welcome to Weaver Street by Chrissie Walsh
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIf you love Nadine Dorries and Katie Flynn, you'll love Chrissie Walsh's WWI story of love, loss and triumph!Kitty and Tom Conlon arrive in Liverpool in July 1916 to claim the house Tom’s great-uncle has bequeathed him in his will. The move to England couldn’t have come at a better time. Dublin is in turmoil following the Easter Uprising and Kitty’s brother is now in prison... -
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A Wartime Wife by Lizzie Lane
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsStruggling to make ends meet, Mary Anne Randall is offered no help by her drunk and abusive husband. A pawnbroking business run from the wash house at the back of her home is the only way she can hope to keep her three kids fed and clothed... -
Island of the World by Michael D. O'Brien
Rated: 4.71 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIsland of the World is the story of a child born in 1933 into the turbulent world of the Balkans and tracing his life into the third millennium. The central character is Josip Lasta, the son of an impoverished school teacher in a remote village high in the mountains of the Bosnian interior...Categorized as:
historical-fiction christian religion war literary-fiction spirituality fiction philosophy -
Of Windmills and War by Diane Moody
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe rumblings of war in distant countries mattered little to Danny McClain. Growing up in Chicago, his world revolved around after-school jobs, a rescued beagle, his pen pal in Holland, and the Cubs' chance to go to the World Series. Then, in December of 1941, news of the attack on Pearl Harbor hit much too close to home...Categorized as:
christian coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality war 20th-century -
The Wood's Edge by Lori Benton
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAt the wood's edge cultures collide. Can two families survive the impact?The 1757 New York frontier is home to the Oneida tribe and to British colonists, yet their feet rarely walk the same paths.On the day Fort William Henry falls, Major Reginald Aubrey is beside himself with grief. His son, born that day, has died in the arms of his sleeping wife...Categorized as:
christian family historical-fiction literary-fiction spirituality war audiobook book -
Set the Stars Alight by Amanda Dykes, Shiromi Arserio
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsReeling from the loss of her parents, Lucie Clairmont discovers an artifact under the floorboards of their London flat, leading her to an old seaside estate. Aided by her childhood friend Dashel, a renowned forensic astronomer, they start to unravel a history of heartbreak, sacrifice, and love begun 200 years prior--one that may offer the healing each seeks...Categorized as:
christian family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality war -
Tabitha by Vikki Kestell
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTabitha : Girls from the Mountain | Book 1 Available November 2, 2015. From the author of the groundbreaking series, A Prairie Heritage , comes the compelling story of fiery-haired, fiery-tempered Tabitha Hale. Rescued from a life of depravity, Tabitha gives her heart to God and her life to nursing... -
Bluebirds: An uplifting and heart-warming wartime saga, full of friendship, courage and determination by Margaret Mayhew
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratings1939 - Officer Felicity Newman and a ragtag group of young women arrive at RAF Colston. They are the first of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force: brave female pilots ready to do their bit.But Station Commander, David Palmer, doesn't want them. They're a nuisance, unable to do the work of men, and they would undoubtedly fall apart if the station was bombed... -
The Runaway Children by Sandy Taylor, Alison Campbell
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAn unforgettable journey of two evacuee sisters during the Second World War – and their determination to stay together, no matter what. London, 1942: Thirteen-year-old Nell and five-year-old Olive are being sent away from home to escape the devastation of the East End during the Blitz. Leaving behind their beloved mother and brothers, they don’t know if they will ever see them again... -
The Sisters of St Croix by Diney Costeloe
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOriginal title Death's Dark ValeA gripping story of love, death and danger in Nazi-occupied France from the bestselling author of The Throwaway Children. When Adelaide Anson-Gravetty finds out her father is not the man who raised her, she is both shocked and intrigued...Categorized as:
christian family friendship historical-fiction religion spirituality war 20th-century -
The Lifeline by Deborah Swift
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom the heart of Norway to Shetland in Scotland, one couple fight to overthrow the Nazis…1942, Nazi-occupied NorwaySchoolteacher Astrid Dahl has always kept out of trouble. But when she is told to teach the fascist Nazi curriculum, she refuses and starts a teacher’s rebellion, persuading eight thousand teachers to go on strike... -
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The Book of Fate by Parinoush Saniee
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA bestselling novel in Iran, despite being banned twice by the government, The Book of Fate follows a teenage girl in pre-revolutionary Iran through five turbulent decades, from before the 1979 revolution, through the Islamic Republic, and up to the present in this powerful story of friendship, passion, and hope...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction politics religion spirituality war -
War Music: An Account of Books 1-4 and 16-19 of Homer's Iliad by Christopher Logue, Homer
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn his brilliant rendering of eight books of Homer's Iliad, Logue here retells some of the most evocative episodes of the war classic, including the death of Patroclus and Achilles's fateful return to battle, that sealed the doom of Troy... -
Love Comes Home by Ann H. Gabhart
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWorld War II is finally over and the people of Rosey Corner are busy welcoming the boys home. The Merritt sisters in particular are looking toward the future. Kate is eager to start a family and live out her dream of happily ever after with Jay. Evangeline wants a beautiful house and encourages Mike to pastor a big-town church... -
Between Two Shores by Jocelyn Green
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe daughter of a Mohawk mother and French father in 1759 Montreal, Catherine Duval finds it is easier to remain neutral in a world that is tearing itself apart. Content to trade with both the French and the British, Catherine is pulled into the fray against her wishes when her British ex- fiance, Samuel Crane, is taken prisoner by her father... -
The War Girls: a heartwarming World War Two saga perfect for fans of Nancy Revell by Rosie James
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCan their friendship survive the darkest days of war?When Abigail arrives for a new start in Bristol in the late 1930s, she knows life won’t be easy – particularly as she is the unmarried mother of three-year-old Emily Grace... -
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...Categorized as:
coming-of-age epic family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction war 20th-century -
Σαλαμίνα by Javier Negrete
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratings480 π.Χ. Η αρχαία Αθήνα της δημοκρατίας και της φιλοσοφίας βρίσκεται αντιμέτωπη με μια τεράστια απειλή. Η γιγαντιαία Περσική Αυτοκρατορία είναι αποφασισμένη να καταστρέψει την πόλη-σύμβολο και να κατακτήσει ολόκληρη την Ελλάδα. Αυτή την κρίσιμη στιγμή, θα εμφανιστεί ένας άνθρωπος, ένας οραματιστής, ο μόνος που φαίνεται ικανός να πάρει την κατάσταση στα χέρια του: ο Θεμιστοκλής...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization historical-fiction war adult book fiction historical violent-conflict -
The Promised Land by Roberta Kagan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Holocaust robbed Zofia Weiss of all she holds dear. The Secret State Police have confiscated her home, killed her friends, and imprisoned the man she loves. After searching through displaced persons camps and finding nothing, Zofia is sure that her lover is dead. With only her life, a dream, and a terrifying secret, Zofia illegally boards The Exodus, bound for Palestine...Categorized as:
christian historical-fiction literary-fiction spirituality war 20th-century adult book -
Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina by Robert Graves
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWith the same brilliance that characterized his classic I, Claudius, Robert Graves continues the tumultuous life of the Roman who became emperor in spite of himself and his handicaps. Claudius the God reveals the splendor, vitality and decadence of the Roman Empire through the eyes of the wry and bemused Claudius who reigns as emperor for thirteen years...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization historical-fiction literary-fiction myths politics religion spirituality war -
The Keys of the Kingdom by A.J. Cronin, Germaine de Tonnac-Villeneuve
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrancis Chisholm is a compassionate and humble priest whose individuality and directness make him unpopular with other clergy. Considered a failure by his superiors, he is sent to China to maintain a mission amid desperate poverty, civil war, plague, and the hostility of his superiors. In the face of this constant danger and hardship, Father Chisholm finds the keys to the kingdom of heaven...Categorized as:
christian historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality war 20th-century adult -
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Freedom or Death by Nikos Kazantzakis
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFreedom or Death by Nikos Kazantzakis is a novel on the heroic or epic scale about the rebellion of the Greek Christians against the Turks on the island of Crete, where Kazantzakis was from...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction politics religion spirituality war 20th-century adult -
Red-Robed Priestess by Elizabeth Cunningham
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter a long, eventful life that has brought her through slavery to the Resurrection garden, through the controversies of the early Church to a hermit cave in southern Gaul, Maeve, the Celtic Magdalen, comes full circle. With her daughter Sarah, Maeve returns to the British Isles to seek her first-born daughter taken from her by the druids more than forty years ago...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization christian historical-fiction myths religion retellings spirituality war -
Heartbreak in the Valleys by Francesca Capaldi
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe world was crumbling, but her love stayed strongNovember 1915. For young housemaid, Anwen Rhys, life is hard in the Welsh mining village of Dorcalon, deep in the Rhymney Valley. She cares for her ill mother and beloved younger sister Sara, all while shielding them from her father’s drunken, violent temper...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family war coming-of-age religion spirituality fiction historical -
Two For Three Farthings by Mary Jane Staples
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHorace was ten, Ethel seven, when Jim Cooper, home from the trenches, minus an arm and just about managing on his own, found them huddled in a doorway on a wet night in Walworth. Slightly against his better judgement he took them in, fed them cocoa, and put them to sleep in his bed. A few days later he found that - somehow - he had become the unofficial guardian of Horace and Ethel... -
At the Going Down of the Sun by Elizabeth Darrell
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis family epic, set during World War I, follows the fortunes of three brothers and the women who loved and waited for them. One, heir to the exquisite family home of Tarant Hall in Dorset, will be driven to the Front by accusations of cowardice... -
The Day the Germans Came by Ella Gyland
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsInspired by the incredible true story of how the people of Denmark saved their Jewish neighbours during WW2Helsingør, Denmark, 1943In the midst of the German occupation during World War Two, Inger Bredhal joins the underground resistance and risks her life to save members of Denmark’s Jewish community and help them escape to Sweden...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality war 20th-century -
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAn utterly original celebration of that which binds humanity across battle lines and history.On the island of Sicily amid the Peloponnesian War, the Syracusans have figured out what to do with the surviving Athenians who had the gall to invade their city: they’ve herded the sorry prisoners of war into a rock quarry and left them to rot...Categorized as:
historical-fiction myths ancient-civilization literary-fiction war friendship retellings fiction -
Veiled in Smoke by Jocelyn Green
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMeg and Sylvie Townsend manage the family bookshop and care for their father, Stephen, a veteran still suffering in mind and spirit from his time as a POW during the Civil War. But when the Great Fire sweeps through Chicago's business district, they lose much more than just their store... -
I'll Watch the Moon by Ann Tatlock
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe tender story of a polio victim and her friendship with an Auschwitz survivor who dreams of becoming the first man on the moon. Award-winning novelist Ann Tatlock once again lovingly crafts a story that will touch readers' hearts while illuminating a powerful spiritual truth...Categorized as:
christian coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality war -
The Assyrian by Nicholas Guild
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn ancient Assyria, Tiglath Ashur and Esarhaddon, half-brothers, best friends, and rivals for the throne, share their women, secrets, and dreams as together they seek a destiny that will change the course of the empire...Categorized as:
historical-fiction ancient-civilization epic politics war romance fiction historical -
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Red Branch by Morgan Llywelyn
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn a land ruled by war and love and strange enchantments, Cuchulain -- torn between gentleness and violence, haunted by the croakings of a sinister raven -- fights for his honor and his homeland and discovers too late the trap that the gods have set for him in the fatal beauty of Deirdre and the brutal jealousy of King Conor...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization epic historical-fiction literary-fiction myths retellings war action-adventure -
The Tiger Queens: the Women of Genghis Khan by Stephanie Marie Thornton
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn the late twelfth century, across the sweeping Mongolian grasslands, brilliant, charismatic Temujin ascends to power, declaring himself the Great, or Genghis, Khan. But it is the women who stand beside him who ensure his triumph.... After her mother foretells an ominous future for her, gifted Borte becomes an outsider within her clan...Categorized as:
ancient-civilization christian family friendship historical-fiction myths spirituality war -
The Bogside Boys by Eoin Dempsey
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the Amazon Top Ten Overall Bestselling author of Finding RebeccaThe war will force him to choose between his community, his family, or the woman he loves. The city of Derry, Northern Ireland, 1972The Bogside is an area in open revolt, cordoned off from the rest of the city of Derry, patrolled by masked IRA men atop burnt out barricades... -
Our Last Goodbye by Shirley Dickson, Joan Walker
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA heart-wrenching, poignant and totally unforgettable tale of a young woman who must finally face up to the secret she has hidden for a lifetime. A beautiful World War Two novel for fans of Wives of War, Lisa Wingate and Diney Costeloe, that will have you reaching for the Kleenex... -
Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn a hidden Ireland where fishermen and tenant farmers find solace in their ancient faith, songs, stories, and communal celebrations, young Honora Keeley and Michael Kelly wed and start a family. Because they and their countrymen must sell both their catch and their crops to pay exorbitant rents, potatoes have become their only staple food...Categorized as:
coming-of-age epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality 21st-century -
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...
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