Books like 'Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families'
Readers who enjoyed Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families by J. Anthony Lukas also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical 20th century politics social-commentary journalism urban justice historical-fiction
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A Man by Oriana Fallaci
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"What's the point anyway — Of suffering, dying? It teaches us to live, boy. A man who does not struggle does not live, he survives." (quote from the book)The book is a pseudo-biography about Alexandros Panagoulis written in the form of a novel. Fallaci had an intense romantic relationship with Panagoulis... -
![The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris by Daisy Wood]()
The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris by Daisy Wood
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom an exciting new voice in WWII historical fiction—and the author of The Clockmaker’s Wife—comes a tale of love and a betrayal that echoes through generations…Paris, 1940: War is closing in on the city of love. With his wife forced into hiding, Jacques must stand by and watch as the Nazis take away everything he holds dear...Categorized as:
historical-fiction politics urban 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book -
![A Mind at Peace by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar]()
A Mind at Peace by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLibrarian note: Alternate cover edition of: 9780976395096Set on the eve of World War II, A Mind at Peace captures the anxieties of a Turkish family facing the difficult reality entrenched in the early republic, founded on the ashes of the Ottoman Empire in 1923... -
![A Foreign Woman by Sergei Dovlatov, Antonina W. Bouis]()
A Foreign Woman by Sergei Dovlatov, Antonina W. Bouis
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAfter leaving the Soviet Union following a series of unsatisfying relationships, Marusya Tatarovich quickly becomes the center of the Russian community in Queens, New York, but finds that it mirrors in many ways the community she left... -
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![The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer, Joseph Papp]()
The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer, Joseph Papp
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsTHE NORMAL HEART is the explosive drama about our most terrifying and troubling medical crisis today: the AIDS epidemic. It tells the story of very private lives caught up in the heartrendering ordeal of suffering and doom - an ordeal that was largely ignored for reasons of politics and majority morality...Categorized as:
historical-fiction politics social-commentary urban 20th-century adult book classics -
![Missing Soluch by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi]()
Missing Soluch by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPerhaps the most important work in modern Iranian literature, this starkly beautiful novel examines the trials of an impoverished woman and her children living in a remote village in Iran, after the unexplained disappearance of her husband, Soluch.Lyrical yet unsparing, the novel examines her life as she contends with the political corruption, authoritarianism, and poverty of the village... -
![شرق المتوسط by عبد الرحمن منيف]()
شرق المتوسط by عبد الرحمن منيف
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsهل يمكن أن ترمم إرادة انسان لم تعد تربطه بالحياة رابطة؟ أنا ذاك الإنسان. لا لست انساناً، السجن في أيامه الولى حاول أن يقتل جسدي. لم أكن أتصور أني أحتمل كل ما فعلوه، لكن احتملت. كانت إرادتي هي وحدها التي تتلقى الضربات، وتردها نظرات غاضبة وصمتاً. وظللت كذلك. لم أرهب، لم أتراجع: الماء البارد، ليكن. التعليق لمدة سبعة أيام، ليكن. التهديد بالقتل والرصاص حولي تناثر، ليكن. كانت ارادتي هي التي تقاوم... -
![Almonds and Raisins by Maisie Mosco]()
Almonds and Raisins by Maisie Mosco
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe first in a trilogy about a Jewish family who flee Eastern Europe in the early 20th century and settle in Manchester, England. In the cold world of Manchester in 1905 the family Sandberg found the good things of life scarce and the hardships bitter as the chill northern winds. Sarah, the mother. A born survivor stranded in a land of strangers by the vicious tides of persecution... -
![The Women of the Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell]()
The Women of the Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn July 1913, twenty-five-year-old Annie Clements had seen enough of the world to know that it was unfair. She’s spent her whole life in the copper-mining town of Calumet, Michigan where men risk their lives for meager salaries—and had barely enough to put food on the table and clothes on their backs... -
![News from the Empire by Fernando del Paso]()
News from the Empire by Fernando del Paso
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOne of the acknowledged masterpieces of Mexican literature, Fernando del Paso's News from the Empire is a powerful and encyclopedic novel of the tragic lives of Maximilian and his wife, Carlota, the short-lived Emperor and Empress of Mexico...Categorized as:
historical-fiction politics fiction historical 20th-century literary-fiction book adult -
![Letters from Thailand by Botan]()
Letters from Thailand by Botan
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen the original Thai version of Letters from Thailand appeared in Bangkok in 1969, it was promptly awarded the SEATO Prize for Thai Literature. This new English translation reveals it as one of Thailand's most entertaining and enduring modern novels, and one of the few portrayals of the immigrant Chinese experience in urban Thailand...Categorized as:
historical-fiction journalism 20th-century adult book female-author fiction historical -
![The Last Hurrah by Edwin O'Connor]()
The Last Hurrah by Edwin O'Connor
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsO'Connor's 1956 account of big-city politics, inspired by the career of longtime Boston Mayor James M. Curley, portrays its Irish-American political boss as a demagogue and a rogue who nonetheless deeply understands his constituents. The book was later made into a John Ford film staring Spencer Tracy... -
![Cuckoo in the Nest by Michelle Magorian]()
Cuckoo in the Nest by Michelle Magorian
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs an evacuee, Ralph received a good education, but after the war Ralph's working-class father resents his education and his ambition to be an actor, and is furious when Ralph is sacked from the paper mill. The story traces Ralph's struggle to reconcile the disparate strands of his life...Categorized as:
historical-fiction politics social-commentary young-adult fiction historical children-books ww2 -
![The Clockmaker’s Wife by Daisy Wood]()
The Clockmaker’s Wife by Daisy Wood
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe world is at war. And time is running out…London, 1940. Britain is gripped by the terror of the Blitz, forcing Nell Spelman to flee the capital with her young daughter – leaving behind her husband, Arthur, the clockmaker who keeps Big Ben chiming. When Arthur disappears, Nell is desperate to find him...Categorized as:
historical-fiction politics social-commentary urban 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
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![Zayni Barakat by Gamal al-Ghitani, جمال الغيطاني]()
Zayni Barakat by Gamal al-Ghitani, جمال الغيطاني
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"In the course of my long travels I have never seen a city so devastated. After a long time I ventured out into the streets. Death, cold and heavy, hung in the air. Walls have no value here, doors have been eliminated. No one is certain that they will see another day...Categorized as:
historical-fiction politics 20th-century adult book fiction historical literary-fiction -
![The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright]()
The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA major literary event: an explosive, previously unpublished novel from the 1940s by the legendary author of Native Son and Black Boy. Fred Daniels, a black man, is picked up randomly by the police after a brutal murder in a Chicago neighborhood and taken to the local precinct where he is tortured until he confesses to a crime he didn't commit...Categorized as:
historical-fiction social-commentary politics urban fiction classics literary-fiction audiobook -
![Petersburg by Andrei Bely, Olga Matich]()
Petersburg by Andrei Bely, Olga Matich
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTaking place over a short, turbulent period in 1905, 'Petersburg' is a colourful evocation of Russia's capital—a kaleidoscope of images and impressions, an eastern window on the west, a symbol of the ambiguities and paradoxes of the Russian character...Categorized as:
historical-fiction urban politics fiction classics 20th-century literary-fiction magical-realism -
![Empire by Gore Vidal]()
Empire by Gore Vidal
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn this extraordinarily powerful epic Gore Vidal recreates America's Gilded Age—a period of promise and possibility, of empire-building and fierce political rivalries... -
![The Last Man in Europe by Dennis Glover]()
The Last Man in Europe by Dennis Glover
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsApril, 1947. In a run-down farmhouse on a remote Scottish island, George Orwell begins his last and greatest work: Nineteen Eighty-Four...Categorized as:
historical-fiction politics fiction historical literary-fiction 20th-century 21st-century book -
![The Air-Conditioned Nightmare by Henry Miller]()
The Air-Conditioned Nightmare by Henry Miller
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn 1939, after ten years as an expatriate, Henry Miller returned to the United States with a keen desire to see what his native land was really like—to get to the roots of the American nature and experience. He set out on a journey that was to last three years, visiting many sections of the country and making friends of all descriptions. The Air-Conditioned Nightmare is the result of that odyssey...Categorized as:
historical-fiction journalism politics 20th-century adult anthologies classics existentialism -
![1876 by Gore Vidal]()
1876 by Gore Vidal
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe centennial of the United States was celebrated with great fanfare—fireworks, exhibitions, pious calls to patriotism, and perhaps the most underhanded political machination in the country's history: the theft of the presidency from Samuel Tilden in favor of Rutherford B. Hayes... -
![White Chapel, Scarlet Tracings by Iain Sinclair]()
White Chapel, Scarlet Tracings by Iain Sinclair
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA novel about London -- its past, its people, its underbelly and its madness."In this extraordinary work Sinclair combines a spiritual inquest into the Whitechapel Ripper murders and the dark side of the late Victorian imagination with a posse of seedy book dealers hot on the trail of obscure rarities of that period... -
![Sex Wars: A Novel of Gilded Age New York by Marge Piercy]()
Sex Wars: A Novel of Gilded Age New York by Marge Piercy
Rated: 3.79 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPost–Civil War New York City is the battleground of the American dream. In this era of free love, emerging rights of women, and brutal sexual repression, Freydeh, a spirited young Jewish immigrant, toils at different jobs to earn passage to America for her family...Categorized as:
historical-fiction politics social-commentary urban 20th-century adult alternate-history book -
![Mother London by Michael Moorcock]()
Mother London by Michael Moorcock
Rated: 3.76 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsThree hospital outpatients all find that they hear voices - the voices of London's past. As they explore the city of their present day, they also explore its recent past and its forgotten people. Through the lives of those on the fringe of society, we learn what it is like - and what it has always been like - to live in the great, sprawling, polyphonic, multicoloured capital...Categorized as:
historical-fiction urban 20th-century adult book fiction historical literary-fiction -
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![City of Hope by Kate Kerrigan]()
City of Hope by Kate Kerrigan
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAn uplifting, inspiring and heartwarming story of a woman truly ahead of her time, City of Hope is the heart-rending but inspiring follow-up to Ellis Island It is the 1930s and when her beloved husband, John, suddenly dies, young Ellie Hogan decides to leave Ireland and return to New York. She hopes that the city's vibrancy will distract her from her grief...Categorized as:
historical-fiction social-commentary urban 20th-century book family female-author fiction -
![The Women's March: A Novel of the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession by Jennifer Chiaverini]()
The Women's March: A Novel of the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession by Jennifer Chiaverini
Rated: 3.56 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsNew York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini returns with The Women’s March, an enthralling historical novel of the woman’s suffrage movement inspired by three courageous women who bravely risked their lives and liberty in the fight to win the vote...Categorized as:
historical-fiction politics social-commentary urban 20th-century adult audiobook book -
![Warmth of Other Suns, The: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson, Robin Miles]()
Warmth of Other Suns, The: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson, Robin Miles
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsIn this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America...Categorized as:
historical-fiction journalism justice politics social-commentary urban 20th-century 21st-century -
![Warmth of Other Suns, The: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson, Robin Miles]()
Warmth of Other Suns, The: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson, Robin Miles
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsIn this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America...Categorized as:
historical-fiction journalism justice politics social-commentary urban 20th-century 21st-century -
![An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin]()
An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Rated: 4.71 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn Unfinished Love A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin, one of America’s most beloved historians, artfully weaves together biography, memoir, and history. She takes you along on the emotional journey she and her husband, Richard (Dick) Goodwin embarked upon in the last years of his life...Categorized as:
politics journalism non-fiction audiobook historical 20th-century friendship philosophical -
![21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality by Bob Joseph]()
21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality by Bob Joseph
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsBased on a viral article, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act is the essential guide to understanding the legal document and its repercussion on generations of Indigenous Peoples, written by a leading cultural sensitivity trainer...Categorized as:
politics social-commentary non-fiction historical indigenous-mc poc-mc audiobook racism
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