Books like 'The Journey Home'
Readers who enjoyed The Journey Home by Olaf Olafsson also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery 20th century action / adventure historical-fiction family literary-fiction journey bildungsroman season-winter
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The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsFrom the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Boy In the Striped Pajamas, a sweeping, heartfelt saga about the course of one man's life, beginning and ending in post-war IrelandCyril Avery is not a real Avery -- or at least, that's what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be...Categorized as:
bildungsroman epic family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic 20th-century -
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... -
Shōgun by James Clavell
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsAfter Englishman John Blackthorne is lost at sea, he awakens in a place few Europeans know of and even fewer have seen--Nippon...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult -
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsIn the summer of 1932, on the banks of Minnesota's Gilead River, the Lincoln Indian Training School is a pitiless place where Native American children, forcibly separated from their parents, are sent to be educated. It is also home to Odie O’Banion, a lively orphan boy whose exploits constantly earn him the superintendent’s wrath...Categorized as:
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Daughters of the Dragon: A Comfort Woman's Story by William Andrews
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDuring World War II, the Japanese forced 200,000 young Korean women to be sex slaves or “comfort women” for their soldiers. This is one woman’s riveting story of strength, courage and promises kept.In 1943, the Japanese tear young Jae-hee and her sister from their peaceful family farm to be comfort women for the Imperial Army...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic 20th-century abuse action-adventure -
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsThe Godfather—the epic tale of crime and betrayal that became a global phenomenon.Almost fifty years ago, a classic was born. A searing portrayal of the Mafia underworld, The Godfather introduced readers to the first family of American crime fiction, the Corleones, and their powerful legacy of tradition, blood, and honor...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure adult -
The Godfather by Mario Puzo, Peter Bart
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsThe Godfather—the epic tale of crime and betrayal that became a global phenomenon.Almost fifty years ago, a classic was born. A searing portrayal of the Mafia underworld, The Godfather introduced readers to the first family of American crime fiction, the Corleones, and their powerful legacy of tradition, blood, and honor...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure adult -
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThe bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s AmericaIn June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the work farm where he has just served a year for involuntary manslaughter... -
Memed, My Hawk by Yaşar Kemal
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA tale of high adventure and lyrical celebration, tenderness and violence, generosity and ruthlessness, Memed, My Hawk is the defining achievement of one of the greatest and most beloved of living writers, Yashar Kemal. It is reissued here with a new introduction by the author on the fiftieth anniversary of its first publication...Categorized as:
historical-fiction journey literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book -
Kane & Abel by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsBorn on the same day near the turn of the century on opposite sides of the world, both men are brought together by fate and the quest of a dream. These two men -- ambitious, powerful, ruthless -- are locked in a relentless struggle to build an empire, fuelled by their all-consuming hatred...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure adult -
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... -
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:
family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic 20th-century abuse action-adventure -
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:
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The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsA glorious novel of the controversial Richard III - a monarch betrayed in life by his allies and betrayed in death by history...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure adult -
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Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsKabul, 1978: The daughter of a prominent family, Sitara Zamani lives a privileged life in Afghanistan’s thriving cosmopolitan capital. The 1970s are a time of remarkable promise under the leadership of people like Sardar Daoud, Afghanistan’s progressive president, and Sitara’s beloved father, his right-hand man... -
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:
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The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsAnother strong, satisfying novel, full of rich storytelling, by the author of the favourite THE TEA ROSE.An epic tale of secret love and hidden passions. It is 1900 and the dangerous streets of East London are no place for a well-bred woman. But India Selwyn Jones is headstrong: she has trained as one of a new breed, a woman doctor, and is determined to practice where the need is greatest...Categorized as:
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Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsCan a woman ever really know herself if she doesn’t know her mother? From the author of the smash-hit bestseller Firefly Lane and True Colors comes a powerful, heartbreaking novel that illuminates the intricate mother-daughter bond and explores the enduring links between the present and the past Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can be... -
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:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom acclaimed novelist Mark Helprin, a lush, literary epic about love, beauty, and the world at war.Alessandro Giuliani, the young son of a prosperous Roman lawyer, enjoys an idyllic life full of privilege: he races horses across the country to the sea, he climbs mountains in the Alps, and, while a student of painting at the ancient university in Bologna, he falls in love...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
Abigail by Magda Szabó
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAbigail, the story of a headstrong teenager growing up during World War II, is the most beloved of Magda Szabó’s books in her native Hungary. Gina is the only child of a general, a widower who has long been happy to spoil his bright and willful daughter... -
The Promise by Michelle Vernal
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA wonderfully heartwarming, touching and romantic story - Tammy Robinson Author of Differently Normal Two women from different generations brought together by another’s wrongdoing. When British backpacker, Isabel Stark happens across a car accident on a lonely stretch of road in the South Island of New Zealand her life changes forever...Categorized as:
historical-fiction epic literary-fiction romance historical 20th-century fiction mystery -
The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsPhilomena meets Orphan Train in this suspenseful, provocative novel filled with love, secrets, and deceit - the story of a young unwed mother who is forcibly separated from her daughter at birth and the lengths to which they go to find each other.In 1950s Quebec, French and English tolerate each other with precarious civility - much like Maggie Hughes’ parents...Categorized as:
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The Last Restaurant in Paris by Lily Graham
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsParis 1944. To save her people, she served the enemy.In enemy-occupied Paris, as the locals go to bed starving and defeated by the war, music and laughter spills through the door of a little restaurant, crowded with German soldiers. The owner Marianne moves on weary feet between its packed tables, carrying plates of steaming, wholesome food for the enemy officers...Categorized as:
historical-fiction journey literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure book female-mc fiction -
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Rosa's Gold - A Story of Holocaust Echoes by Ray Kingfisher
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsNicole Sutton is a young girl with problems. A tragic car accident has taken away her brother, and ripped her parents' marriage apart. Together with her mother she moves to a new house, a new town, and a life she never wanted. In the dusty cellar of the house she stumbles upon a well-worn notebook – the scribbled war memoirs of Mac, an old soldier...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book fiction -
Nothing More Dangerous by Allen Eskens, Kevin Stillwell
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe summer of 1976 is a turning point for 15-year-old Boady Sanden. He's managed to outrun and outwit the bullying seniors throughout his freshman year at St. Ignatius High; he's working multiple jobs for Wally Schenicker's construction company; and he finally makes a friend his own age--Thomas Elgin, son of the only black family on Boady's side of town... -
The Dressmaker’s Secret by Lorna Cook
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsParis, 1941: As Coco Chanel’s assistant, Adèle lives side by side with German officers in the splendor of The Ritz hotel. But Adèle has a secret. She is working for the resistance, right under the German’s noses...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book -
The Little Ship: A heart-warming, sweeping wartime saga full of heart which will stay with you for ages by Margaret Mayhew
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSet largely on the Essex coast before the war, Matt, Guy, and their young cousin Lizzie meet up for holidays and bum around in an old boat. Guy is the eldest, handsome, skilled at everything, a tad selfish. Matt is quieter and has a crippled right arm... -
The Nurses of Lark Lane: A heartbreaking Liverpool saga by Pam Howes
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCan she follow her dreams – against all the odds? Liverpool, 1955. With her abusive husband drinking all her wages, Alice faces a daily struggle to provide for her family. Her eldest daughter Cathy has always longed to be a nurse, but when the family’s poverty means she’s forced to leave school and get a job – without the qualifications she needs – it looks like her dreams are over... -
Chesapeake by James A. Michener
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsOnce again James A. Michener brings history to life with this 400-year saga of America's great bay and its Eastern Shore. Following Edmund Steed and his remarkable family, who parallel the settling and forming of the nation, CHESAPEAKE sweeps readers from the unspoiled world of the Native Americans to the voyages of Captain John Smith, the Revolutionary War, and right up to modern times...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
I Saw Her That Night by Drago Jančar
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsI Saw Her That Night, a love story in time of war, is a novel about a few years in the life and mysterious disappearance of Veronika Zarnik, a young bourgeois woman from Ljubljana, sucked into the whirlwind of a turbulent period in history... -
Cometh the Hour by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratings"Cometh the Hour" opens with the reading of a suicide note, which has devastating consequences for Harry and Emma Clifton, Giles Barrington and Lady Virginia.Giles must decide if he should withdraw from politics and try to rescue Karin, the woman he loves, from behind the Iron Curtain...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsMaia D’Apliese and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home, “Atlantis”—a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva—having been told that their beloved father, who adopted them all as babies, has died. Each of them is handed a tantalizing clue to her true heritage—a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
Trustee from the Toolroom by Nevil Shute
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA novel tells the story of a man who leads an ordinary, uneventful life, until overnight he becomes the trustee of his 10-year-old niece, and involved in the search for some missing money...Categorized as:
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The Planter's Bride by Janet MacLeod Trotter
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratings1922: cousins and best friends, Sophie and Tilly, are looking for love and adventure. Sophie, orphaned at six, when her tea planter parents died suddenly of fever in India, has been brought up by a radical aunt in Edinburgh. Tilly meanwhile has lived a sheltered life in Newcastle... -
Sackett by Louis L'Amour
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA drifter by circumstance, William Tell Sackett hungered for a place he couldn’t name but knew he had to find. South of the Tetons, through a keyhole pass, he found it: a lonely yet beautiful valley—with a fortune in gold. Then he found an even greater treasure: Ange Kerry, a courageous and resourceful woman...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book classics -
The Paris Orphan by Natasha Lester
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris Seamstress comes a World War II novel that spans continents and crosses generations as an American soldier and an enterprising Vogue photographer brave war-torn France to help a lost little girl find the one thing she never had: a family...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
On Mother Brown's Doorstep by Mary Jane Staples
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe big event of the Walworth year was to be the wedding of Sammy Adams, King of Camberwell, to Miss Susie Brown. Everyone was looking forward to it, and Susie was particularly overjoyed when her soldier brother suddenly turned up on leave from service in India in time for the approaching 'knees-up'... -
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:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book -
Sackett's Land by Louis L'Amour, John Curless
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAfter discovering six gold Roman coins buried in the mud of the Devil’s Dyke, Barnabas Sackett enthusiastically invests in goods that he will offer for trade in America. But Sackett has a powerful enemy: Rupert Genester, nephew of an earl, wants him dead. A battlefield promise made to Sackett’s father threatens Genester’s inheritance...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book -
The Secret Keeper of Jaipur by Alka Joshi
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIn New York Times bestselling author Alka Joshi’s intriguing new novel, henna artist Lakshmi arranges for her protégé, Malik, to intern at the Jaipur Palace in this tale rich in character, atmosphere, and lavish storytelling.It’s the spring of 1969, and Lakshmi, now married to Dr. Jay Kumar, directs the Healing Garden in Shimla. Malik has finished his private school education...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction journey literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure adult -
The Secrets Between Us by Laura Madeleine
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA gripping mystery with a heart-breaking revelation, The Secrets Between Us is a sublimely satisfying story of lost love, betrayal and the dangers of war. Perfect for fans of Kate Morton's The Lake House and Dinah Jeffries' Before the Rains. High in the mountains in the South of France, eighteen-year-old Ceci Corvin is trying hard to carry on as normal... -
Daughters of Paris by Elisabeth Hobbes
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsParis 1930sColette – daughter of a wealthy Parisian. No-one expects her to amount to anything other than socialite wife. But there’s more to Colette than meets the eye…Fleur – daughter of a maid in Colette’s household... -
The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsRobin was always wandering off (her mother's words) to get away from the confusion she felt inside her. It was not until Robin's father found a permanent job at the McCurdy ranch, after three years as a migrant worker, that Robin had a place to wander to...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure book children -
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Fields of Fire by James Webb
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOriginally published in 1978, Webb's classic novel of the Vietnam War follows three soldiers from different worlds who are plunged into a white-hot murderous realm of jungle warfare as it was fought by one Marine platoon in the An Hoa Basin in 1969.'They each had their reasons for being a soldier. They each had their illusions. Goodrich came from Harvard...Categorized as:
epic historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book -
The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Jennifer Robson
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsOne of the most anticipated reads from InStyle, HelloGiggles, Hypable, Bookbub, and Bookriot!One of Real Simple's Best Historical Fiction novels of the year! “The Gown is marvelous and moving, a vivid portrait of female self-reliance in a world racked by the cost of war... -
The Silver Music Box by Mina Baites
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA captivating cross-generational novel from German author Mina Baites about a Jewish family divided by World War II and an inheritance with the power to bring them back together. 1914. For Paul, with love. Jewish silversmith Johann Blumenthal engraved those words on his most exquisite creation, a singing filigree bird inside a tiny ornamented box...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction journey 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
As the Crow Flies by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsGrowing up in the slums of East End London, Charlie Trumper dreams of someday running his grandfather's fruit and vegetable barrow. That day comes suddenly when his grandfather dies leaving him the floundering business. With the help of Becky Salmon, an enterprising young woman, Charlie sets out to make a name for himself as "The Honest Trader"...Categorized as:
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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:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
Be Careful What You Wish For by Jeffrey Archer, Otakar Brousek ml.
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsBestselling author Jeffrey Archer's Be Careful What You Wish For opens with Harry Clifton and his wife Emma rushing to hospital to learn the fate of their son Sebastian, who has been involved in a fatal car accident. But who died, Sebastian or his best friend Bruno? When Ross Buchanan is forced to resign as chairman of the Barrington Shipping Company, Emma Clifton wants to replace him...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook
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