Books like 'If You Come Softly'
Readers who enjoyed If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary romance 20th century new-york-state realistic high-school coming-of-age poc-mc family retellings
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My Sweet Orange Tree by José Mauro de Vasconcelos
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsFifty years after its first publication, the multimillion-copy international bestseller is available again in English, sharing the heartbreaking tale of a gifted, mischievous, direly misunderstood boy growing up in Rio de Janeiro.When the precocious Zeze grows up, he wants to be a poet in a bow tie... -
![100 Love Sonnets by Pablo Neruda]()
100 Love Sonnets by Pablo Neruda
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAgainst the backdrop of Isla Negra - the sea and wind, the white sand with its scattering of delicate wild flowers, the hot sun and salty smells of the Pacific - the poet sets the poems in celebration of his love. The subject of that love is Matilde Urrutia de Neruda, the poet's 'beloved wife'... -
![Captains of the Sands by Jorge Amado]()
Captains of the Sands by Jorge Amado
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsLiving by their wits in the steamy slums of Bahia, a gang of orphans and runaways, led by fifteen-year-old "Bullet," spend their time stealing from Brazil's rich and privileged until public outcry demands their capture... -
![A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks]()
A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 49 ratingsA high school rebel and a minister's daughter find strength in each other in this star-crossed tale of "young but everlasting love" (Chicago Sun-Times).There was a time when the world was sweeter....when the women in Beaufort, North Carolina, wore dresses, and the men donned hats...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age drama family friendship high-school historical-fiction literary-fiction -
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![The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy]()
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsPAT CONROY has created a huge, brash thunderstorm of a novel, stinging with honesty and resounding with drama. Spanning forty years, this is the story of turbulent Tom Wingo, his gifted and troubled twin sister Savannah, and their struggle to triumph over the dark and tragic legacy of the extraordinary family into which they were born...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic urban -
![Second Sunday by Michele Andrea Bowen]()
Second Sunday by Michele Andrea Bowen
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSt. Louis, 1975. Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church's pastor has gone on to see the King... -
![A Light in the Window by Jan Karon]()
A Light in the Window by Jan Karon
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratings- Readers will enjoy a story from the popular series-packaged bestseller!- Includes new Reader's Guide for group discussion or personal...Categorized as:
drama family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century adult -
![The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks]()
The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsIra Levinson is in trouble. At ninety-one years old, in poor health and alone in the world, he finds himself stranded on an isolated embankment after a car crash. Suffering multiple injuries, he struggles to retain consciousness until a blurry image materializes and comes into focus beside him: his beloved wife Ruth, who passed away nine years ago...Categorized as:
classics drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic sad 20th-century -
![The Prisoner by Marcel Proust]()
The Prisoner by Marcel Proust
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe long-awaited fifth volume — representing "the very summit of Proust's art" (Slate) — in the acclaimed Penguin translation of "the greatest literary work of the twentieth century" (The New York Times)Carol Clark's acclaimed translation of The Prisoner introduces a new generation of American readers to the literary riches of Marcel Proust...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction lgbtq literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies audiobook -
![Barren Lives by Graciliano Ramos]()
Barren Lives by Graciliano Ramos
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA vivid chronicle of the solitary life of a peasant family in a harsh and unforgiving land, austerely told by a classic Brazilian writer... -
![What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver]()
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsAlternate-cover edition can be found here In his second collection, Carver establishes his reputation as one of the most celebrated and beloved short-story writers in American literature—a haunting meditation on love, loss, and companionship, and finding one’s way through the dark...Categorized as:
classics drama high-school literary-fiction realistic 20th-century adult anthologies -
![Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry]()
Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsAn Oscar-winning story of a memorable mother and her feisty daughter who find the courage and humor to live through life's hazards and to love each other as never before. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lonesome Dove created two characters who won the hearts of readers and moviegoers everywhere--Aurora Greenway and her daughter Emma...Categorized as:
classics drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure -
![Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher]()
Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsHer captivating bestseller of loss and the healing power of love now re-issued with a stunning new jacket look. Elfrida Phipps loves her new life in the pretty Hampshire village. She has a tiny cottage, her faithful dog Horace and the friendship of the neighbouring Blundells - particularly Oscar - to ensure that her days include companionship as well as independence...Categorized as:
classics drama family friendship grief historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic -
![The Truce by Mario Benedetti]()
The Truce by Mario Benedetti
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratings'Perhaps that moment had been exceptional, but still, I felt alive. That pressure on my chest means being alive.' Forty-nine, with a kind face, no serious ailments (apart from varicose veins on his ankles), a good salary, and three moody children, widowed accountant Martín Santomé is about to retire. He assumes he'll take up gardening, or the guitar, or whatever retired people generally do...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age drama literary-fiction poc-mc 20th-century action-adventure adult -
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![Welcome to Leo's by Rochelle Alers, Brenda Jackson]()
Welcome to Leo's by Rochelle Alers, Brenda Jackson
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWelcome to Leo's--Where Anything Can Happen A proper lady lets loose on Open Mike Night--and opens her heart to a different kind of man... A Texas RAnger and a candy shop owner have a blind date--with a deliciously unexplected outcome... A widowed party planner meets a handsome doctor, but fears losing her heart for the second time.. -
![At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon]()
At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsEnter the world of Mitford, and you won't want to leave.It's easy to feel at home in Mitford. In these high, green hills, the air is pure, the village is charming, and the people are generally lovable.Yet, Father Tim, the bachelor rector, wants something more. Enter a dog the size of a sofa who moves in and won't go away. Add an attractive neighbor who begins wearing a path through the hedge...Categorized as:
classics drama family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century -
![Beaches by Iris Rainer Dart]()
Beaches by Iris Rainer Dart
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsLoudmouthed, redheaded Cee Cee Bloom has her sights set on Hollywood. Bertie White, quiet and conservative, dreams of getting married and having children. In 1951, their childhood worlds collide in Atlantic City. Keeping in touch as pen pals, they reunite over the years ... always near the ocean...Categorized as:
classics drama family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century -
![The Bad Girl by Mario Vargas Llosa]()
The Bad Girl by Mario Vargas Llosa
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsRicardo Somocurcio is in love with a bad girl. He loves her as a teenager known as 'Lily' in Llama in 1950, when she arrives one summer out of the blue, claiming to be from Chile but vanishing the moment her claim is exposed as fiction...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction literary-fiction poc-mc 20th-century 21st-century adult -
![Letter from an Unknown Woman: The Fowler Snared by Stefan Zweig]()
Letter from an Unknown Woman: The Fowler Snared by Stefan Zweig
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThis story of distorted passion and behaviour reveals the unrequited love of a woman for a man who cares so little for her that he fails to recognize her as she obsessively pursues him. Also included is The Fowler Snared, sharing a similar theme, only it is the man whose passion is unrequited...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book -
![The Corsican Woman by Madge Swindells]()
The Corsican Woman by Madge Swindells
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSybilia turned as if sleepwalking and, trance-like, walked down the stone steps to the living room. She shuddered as she took the rifle from the peg on the wall, but after only a moment's hesitation, she loaded it and went outside. Sybilia Rocca is beautiful, gentle and intelligent... -
![Teresa Batista, Cansada de Guerra by Jorge Amado]()
Teresa Batista, Cansada de Guerra by Jorge Amado
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAt thirteen Tereza is sold by her aunt to a ranch owner who treats her like a piece of property, and sexually abuses her. When caught in bed with her lover she defends herself against the ranch owner’s violence with a knife and ends up in jail. Freed by a long-time admirer, she eventually ends up in a brothel...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book contemporary -
![The Cinnamon Peeler: Selected Poems by Michael Ondaatje]()
The Cinnamon Peeler: Selected Poems by Michael Ondaatje
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMichael Ondaatje’s new selected poems, The Cinnamon Peeler, brings together poems written between 1963 and 1990, including work from his most recent collection, Secular Love. These poems bear witness to the extraordinary gifts that have won high praise for this truly original poet and novelist... -
![Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman]()
Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 77 ratingsA New York Times BestsellerA USA Today BestsellerA Los Angeles Times BestsellerA Vulture Book Club PickAn Instant Classic and One of the Great Love Stories of Our TimeAndré Aciman's Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliff-side mansion on the Italian Riviera...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction lgbtq literary-fiction -
![Shadowed Paths by Ivan Bunin]()
Shadowed Paths by Ivan Bunin
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe collection consists of the best of his early works - Sukhodol, The Last Rendezvous, Apple Fragrance, The Gentleman from San Francisco - and stories written in his last years - Leka, Sunstroke, Shadowed Paths, and others. They may be called stories about love and about the unforgettable Russian landscape. For here, Bunin writes about himself, in the hushed stillness of the fields..Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies contemporary fiction -
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![The Front Runner by Patricia Nell Warren]()
The Front Runner by Patricia Nell Warren
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFirst published in 1974, The Front Runner raced to international acclaim - the first novel about gay love to become popular with mainstream. In 1975, coach Harlan Brown is hiding from his past at an obscure New York college, after he was fired from Penn State University on suspicion of being gay. A tough, lonely ex-Marine of 39, Harlan has never allowed himself to love another man... -
![Sweet Liar by Jude Deveraux]()
Sweet Liar by Jude Deveraux
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt was her father's dying wish that Samantha Elliot search for her grandmother, who'd disappeared from Louisville when she was a baby. So here she was, in big, dirty New York City...her parents were dead, her divorce was final, and she was all alone.... Michael Taggert was Samantha's landlord, and he was easily the most beautiful man she'd ever seen...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook -
![Leota's Garden by Francine Rivers]()
Leota's Garden by Francine Rivers
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsOnce Leota’s garden was a place of beauty—where flowers bloomed and hope thrived. It was her refuge from the deep wounds inflicted by a devastating war, her sanctuary where she knelt before a loving God and prayed for the children who couldn’t understand her silent sacrifices.At eighty-four, Leota is alone, her beloved garden in ruins... -
![Ask the Dust by John Fante]()
Ask the Dust by John Fante
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsAsk the Dust is the story of Arturo Bandini, a young Italian-American writer in 1930s Los Angeles who falls hard for the elusive, mocking, unstable Camilla Lopez, a Mexican waitress. Struggling to survive, he perseveres until, at last, his first novel is published. But the bright light of success is extinguished when Camilla has a nervous breakdown and disappears . .Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age drama historical-fiction literary-fiction urban 20th-century book -
![Clover's Child by Amanda Prowse]()
Clover's Child by Amanda Prowse
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the million-copy bestseller Amanda Prowse, the queen of heartbreak fiction. Amanda Prowse is the author of The Coordinates Of Loss and the no.1 bestsellers Perfect Daughter, My Husband's Wife and What Have I Done? When eighteen-year-old Dot meets Sol, she feels that love has arrived at last... -
![The Butterfly Garden by Rachel Burton]()
The Butterfly Garden by Rachel Burton
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA gripping and beautiful tale of love, loss and secrets. 1963: When Clara Samuels buys Butterfly Cottage, she knows the scandal she’ll cause. A single woman buying property is not the ‘done thing’, especially not in a village like Carybrook. But Clara has been in love with Butterfly Cottage, and its garden, since she used to play there before the War... -
![Los árboles mueren de pie by Alejandro Casona]()
Los árboles mueren de pie by Alejandro Casona
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsAlejandro Casona plays with fantasy and reality in his plays. Here we are in play within the play, not in the Pirandellian way but as orchestrating elements of the vaudeville. This work offers a world of fantasy and characters who exemplify a moral idea. They intended to show the viewer the good, beautiful life in its most genuine, kind and wonderful expression... -
![Annie On My Mind by Nancy Garden]()
Annie On My Mind by Nancy Garden
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 33 ratings"If you don't put that ring on this minute, I'm going to take it back," Annie whispered in my ear. She leaned back, looking at me, her hands still on my shoulders, her eyes shining softly at me and snow falling, melting, on her nose. "Buon Natale," she whispered, "amore mio.""Merry Christmas, my love," I answered...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age drama friendship high-school historical-fiction lgbtq literary-fiction -
![Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts]()
Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsTalk about unlucky sevens. An hour ago, seventeen-year-old, seven months pregnant Novalee Nation was heading for California with her boyfriend. Now she finds herself stranded at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, with just $7.77 in change...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age drama family friendship high-school historical-fiction literary-fiction -
![Beautiful Thing (Modern Classics) by Jonathan Harvey]()
Beautiful Thing (Modern Classics) by Jonathan Harvey
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBeautiful Thing explores pre-teenage homo-erotic sensuality and the frictions and intimacies of living cheek by jowl on a Thamesmead housing estate... -
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![Mel by Liz Berry]()
Mel by Liz Berry
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen her mother is hospitalized after suffering a mental breakdown, seventeen-year-old Mel redecorates the house, initiates a neighborhood clean-up, and becomes involved with a rock star... -
![1982: Maneater by Cambria Hebert, Crystal Bryant]()
1982: Maneater by Cambria Hebert, Crystal Bryant
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom three-time UTOPiA Award-winning author Cambria Hebert. Watch out, girls. Here she comes.There's always that girl. She's popular, beautiful, and has everything together. The one with the perfectly teased hair, arms full of colorful (but coordinated) bangles, and expertly painted bright-pink lips.A teacher's pet. Daddy's girl.Everyone loves her.Because everyone is afraid to challenge her...Categorized as:
friendship high-school historical-fiction 20th-century anthologies contemporary fiction humor -
![Putting on the Ritz by Joe Keenan]()
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![Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney]()
Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDoomed loves, failed families, nixed dreamssomeone else's leftovers are heaped on our plates the day we come into this world. Big Macs and pop tunes mask the emptiness as Madeline watches her mom drink away their welfare checks. Until the day Tad, a quirky McDonald's counter boy, asks Madeline out for a date, and she gets her first taste of normal... -
![Harold and Maude by Colin Higgins]()
Harold and Maude by Colin Higgins
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNineteen-year-old Harold Chasen is obsessed with death. He fakes suicides to shock his self-obsessed mother, drives a customized Jaguar hearse, and attends funerals of complete strangers. Seventy-nine-year-old Maude Chardin, on the other hand, adores life...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age drama historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century book -
![Her Lover by Albert Cohen]()
Her Lover by Albert Cohen
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHandsome, worldly, and intelligent, Solal holds a position of enviable power in 1930s Geneva. But as Under-Secretary-General of the League of Nations, he has become bitterly disillusioned by international affairs and the self-serving people who surround him...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book contemporary dark-academia -
![A Streetcar Named Desire and Other Plays by Tennessee Williams]()
A Streetcar Named Desire and Other Plays by Tennessee Williams
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTennessee Williams’s sensuous, atmospheric plays transformed the American stage with their passion, exoticism and vibrant characters who rage against their personal demons and the modern world... -
![São Bernardo by Graciliano Ramos]()
São Bernardo by Graciliano Ramos
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsPaulo Honório is a sometime field hand who has kicked and clawed and schemed his way to prosperity, becoming master of the decrepit estate São Bernardo, where once upon a time he toiled. He is ruthless in his exploitation of his fellow man, but when he makes a match with a fine young woman, he is surprised to discover that this latest acquisition, as he sees it, may be somewhat harder to handle... -
![The Summer of Lost Letters by Hannah Reynolds]()
The Summer of Lost Letters by Hannah Reynolds
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsPerfect for fans of Morgan Matson and Ruta Sepetys, this sweet, summery romance set in Nantucket follows seventeen-year-old Abby Schoenberg as she uncovers a secret about her grandmother's life during WWII.Seventeen-year-old Abby Schoenberg isn't exactly looking forward to the summer before her senior year...Categorized as:
historical-fiction realistic family drama friendship romance young-adult contemporary -
![Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories by Alice Munro]()
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories by Alice Munro
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn the her tenth collection (the title story of which is the basis for the new film Hateship Loveship), Alice Munro achieves new heights, creating narratives that loop and swerve like memory, and conjuring up characters as thorny and contradictory as people we know ourselves.A tough-minded housekeeper jettisons the habits of a lifetime because of a teenager’s practical joke...Categorized as:
classics family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century 21st-century -
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![I'll Be Your Blue Sky by Marisa de los Santos]()
I'll Be Your Blue Sky by Marisa de los Santos
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling author revisits the characters from her beloved novels Love Walked In and Belong to Me in this captivating, beautifully written drama involving family, friendship, secrets, sacrifice, courage, and true love for fans of Jojo Moyes, Elin Hilderbrand, and Nancy ThayerOn the weekend of her wedding, Clare Hobbes meets an elderly woman named Edith Herron...Categorized as:
drama family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century 21st-century -
![Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson]()
Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsWritten on the Body is a secret code only visible in certain lights: the accumulation of a lifetime gather there. In places the palimpsest is so heavily worked that the letters feel like braille. I like to keep my body rolled away from prying eyes, never unfold too much, tell the whole story. I didn't know that Louise would have reading hands. She has translated me into her own book... -
![The Pact by Jodi Picoult]()
The Pact by Jodi Picoult
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsFor eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty—they've grown so close it seems they have always been a part of each other's lives. Parents and children alike have been best friends, so it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship blossoms into something more... -
![Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver]()
Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 53 ratings"Animals dream about the things they do in the day time just like people do. If you want sweet dreams, you've got to live a sweet life." So says Loyd Peregrina, a handsome Apache trainman and latter-day philosopher. But when Codi Noline returns to her hometown, Loyd's advice is painfully out of her reach...Categorized as:
classics drama family high-school historical-fiction literary-fiction poc-mc realistic -
![Swan Song by John Galsworthy]()
Swan Song by John Galsworthy
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratings1928. English novelist, playwright and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932, Galsworthy became known for his portrayal of the British upper middle class and for his social satire. To readers of Galsworthy there is a special significance in this novel for it marks the passing of Soames Forsyte and brings the annals of the Forsyte family to an end...Categorized as:
urban classics historical-fiction literary-fiction family drama europe british-isles -
![The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks]()
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 88 ratingsA man with a faded, well-worn notebook open in his lap. A woman experiencing a morning ritual she doesn't understand. Until he begins to read to her. The Notebook is an achingly tender story about the enduring power of love, a story of miracles that will stay with you forever...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age drama family high-school historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic
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