Books like 'Heartwood'
Readers who enjoyed Heartwood by Belva Plain also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical romance historical-fiction family secrets epic friendship female-mc
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The Memory Box by Kathryn Hughes
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA heartbreakingly beautiful novel, The Memory Box unlocks an unforgettable epic story of love and war, from the million-copy-selling author of The Letter, Kathryn Hughes. Some love stories can't be forgotten... Jenny Tanner opens the box she has cherished for decades... -
The Trouble With Secrets: The Kilteegan Bridge Story by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsKilteegan Bridge, County Cork 1958For eighteen year old Lena Mullery, life is predictable and dull. A future of hard work, marriage to a local boy, and a family of her own one day is all she has to look forward to. People from her background know not to expect too much, but Lena yearns for something different.Malachy Berger was different, for him, the world is at his feet... -
The Slum Angel by AnneMarie Brear
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPerfect for the fans of Anna Jacobs and Dilly Court. Orphan, Victoria Carlton is brought up by her uncle, a banker, to be a lady and make a good marriage. Yet, she is drawn to help the poor families in the slums, much to her family’s disgust. When her uncle dies suddenly, her cousins blame Victoria, and she is thrown out of the house with nothing... -
The Berlin Sisters by Soraya M. Lane
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Secret Midwife comes a story of bravery, sacrifice and resilience in war-torn Berlin―and two sisters who will risk it all to make a difference. Berlin, 1943: Ava Müller is a proud supporter of the German war effort, working for Joseph Goebbels alongside her father, a high-ranking official in the Reich... -
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Tangled in Ivy: True Love and Family Dysfunction that Spans Decades by Ashley Farley
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of Sweet Tea Tuesdays comes a story of true love that spans decades.Lillian Alexander's father is dying of cancer. When he rambles on in a morphine-delirium, Lillian can't ignore the feeling he's trying to tell her something... -
The Gracelin O'Malley Trilogy: Gracelin O'Malley, Leaving Ireland, and 'Til Morning Light by Ann Moore
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis “elegantly written” trilogy follows an unforgettable Irish heroine from the potato famine through immigrating to America (Eileen Goudge)... -
Come Tomorrow by Tess Thompson
Rated: 4.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOne chance meeting. A single act of kindness. Can young soulmates find each other in adulthood, or will hidden truths tear them apart?1904. Twelve-year-old Luci Quick never forgot the boy who saved her life that fateful Christmas Eve. But when he disappeared without a word after bringing her food, she was forced to focus on raising her baby sister when her mother suddenly died... -
Love and Marriage at Harpers by Rosie Clarke
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsLondon 1913The shop girls of Harpers Emporium on Oxford Street arehappy in their work and their lives are moving on at quite a pace.United by the suffragette cause and now living under oneroof, some will find love and marriage whilst others experience heartache andtears.Harpers is the bond that holds them together, bringingstrength through hardship and pain and friendship and love... -
Fires of Change by Sarah Lark, Kate Northrop
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSarah Lark, author of The Fire Blossom, continues her epic family saga as a defiant new generation of women comes of age amid social unrest and precarious love in colonial New Zealand.It’s 1863, nearly twenty years since Ida Lange came to New Zealand to change her life and realize a dream... -
The Lost Letters of Aisling: A Novel by Cynthia Ellingsen
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA woman faces the past she fled in a heart-stirring novel about unforgettable love and indomitable courage by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Lighthouse Keeper.Rainey’s grandmother makes a startling Take me home. To Ireland, the country she fled post–World War II. Though they’re inseparably close, Rainey knows few of her grandmother’s secrets... -
Guarding Danger by Wendy Vella
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom USA Today Bestseller Wendy Vella comes an exciting Regency series about legend, love and destiny, with a hint of magic … Two things happen to Harry Sinclair the day his ship docks in London: he saves a woman in distress, and meets his long- lost family. Until now Harry has lived his life without betraying the vow he made to his father - never trust a Sinclair... -
A Daughter's Journey: Birch End Series Book 1 by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJo Melling has arrived in Birch End from Australia, still grieving her father's recent death. She's not intending to stay long, but after tracking down her distant family, Jo becomes more involved in village life than she could ever have imagined - and suddenly in danger too.Jo also finds herself drawn to Nick, a handsome newcomer to the village... -
The Color of a Christmas Miracle: A Standalone Holiday Novel by Julianne MacLean
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom USA Today bestselling author Julianne MacLean comes a special holiday novel in her popular Color of Heaven Series, where people are affected by real life magic and miracles that change everything they once believed about life and love... -
Far From Home by Lyn Andrews
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAs daughter of the blacksmith in her tiny Irish village, sixteen-year-old Kitty Doyle knows little of the ways of the world, but she has to grow up fast when her widowed father re-marries and she has no choice but to leave the family home.Luckily there's work to be found over the water in 1920s Liverpool and soon Kitty has a job in a grocer's, where she also catches the eye of the owner... -
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The Champagne Queen by Petra Durst-Benning
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Isabelle took a chance and eloped with Leon Feininger, her true love, she hadn’t stopped to consider what would happen next. Winter on his family’s isolated vineyard proves tougher than she expected, and Isabelle finds herself daydreaming, envisioning the wines she and Leon will make when they have their own land... -
The Memory Tree by Linda Gillard
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCan the power of love overcome life’s darkest memories and deepest losses? When her favourite beech tree is felled in a storm, Ann feels as if someone has died. But when long-hidden seed packets are found inside the trunk, Ann realises there are more memories than her own lurking within the ancient tree . . -
Bitter Winds by Kay Bratt
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe third book of the Tales of the Scavenger’s Daughters series, Bitter Winds continues the saga of Chinese couple Benfu and Calli, and the abandoned young women in their care.Since the night her sister was almost burned alive in a fire and they were taken from their mother, Ivy has been the self-appointed guardian and guide to her blind twin, Lily... -
The Fire Blossom by Sarah Lark
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe bestselling author of the Sea of Freedom Trilogy returns with a sweeping family saga of two women in nineteenth-century New Zealand and their epic journey to survive in a world of their own making. It’s 1837, and immigrating to a small New Zealand fishing village is an opportunity for Ida Lange’s family to build a better future... -
Our Polly by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLittle Billy is the light of Polly's life -- it's for her son's sake that she puts up with an unkind mother-in-law and an isolated farm. Then Billy is knocked down by a car, his father killed attempting to save his life, and Polly, cast off by her husband's family, is left with a child who may never walk or talk again... -
Heart of the Town by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDora Preston has guts but it will take more than that for her to break free from Hedderby and make a life for herself on the stage. Then she meets Gideon - and pursuing her ambitions becomes even harder. Gideon has returned from the fighting in India only to discover that an impostor has stolen his inheritance. He has vowed he will claim his birthright but his enemies are ruthless and desperate... -
The Lady's Forbidden Love by Wendy Vella
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBe swept away by the romance, intrigue, unconventional heroines, and dashing heroes, by USA Today Bestselling Author Wendy Vella’s regency romance series.A lady in disguiseBetrayal is the one sin Daniel will not tolerate, so when sweet Madeline Wright the governess reveals herself to be Lady Madeline Deville sister of an Earl, he vows to never cross her path again... -
Rindu by Tere Liye
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratings"Apalah arti memiliki, ketika diri kami sendiri bukanlah milik kami?Apalah arti kehilangan, ketika kami sebenarnya menemukan banyak saat kehilangan, dan sebaliknya, kehilangan banyak pula saat menemukan?Apalah arti cinta, ketika menangis terluka atas perasaan yg seharusnya indah? Bagaimana mungkin, kami terduduk patah hati atas sesuatu yg seharusnya suci dan tidak menuntut apa pun?Wahai,... -
Catrina's Return by AnneMarie Brear
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Scottish Highlands, 1899. A life altering event led Catrina Davies to hide from her family and society. Alone in The Highlands she exists in a lonely world cared for only by her savior, a kind old gentleman. When she receives a surprise visitor, Travis Millard, the man she used to love, her head and heart are thrown into turmoil... -
The River Maid by Dilly Court
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe first in a stunning new series from Sunday Times bestseller, Dilly Court London, 1854: twenty-year-old Essie Chapman lives with her father in poverty stricken Limehouse, working on the river as a boatman. Her life seems set before her, never to leave this part of London and forever at her father’s beck and call... -
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A Cuckoo in Candle Lane by Kitty Neale
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen Elsie and Bert Jones move with their children, Ann and Arthur, to Candle Lane, a modest street in Battersea, they miss their comfortable house in Wimbledon. But the move is the right thing to do, as it will enable Bert to finance his new removal business. They are a warm-hearted family, and Elsie soon makes friends with her less fortunate neighbour, Ruth and her daughter Sally... -
The Legend of Fire Mountain by Sarah Lark, Kate Northrop
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBold new paths in life and love are forged in nineteenth-century New Zealand in the stirring final chapter of bestselling author Sarah Lark’s multigenerational Fire Blossom Saga.It’s 1880 in the North Island town of Otaki, where Aroha lives contentedly with her mother, Linda—until a fateful tragedy leaves Aroha traumatized and plagued by a cursed guilt... -
Millie by AnneMarie Brear
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA brand new series from the author of the Kitty McKenzie series and The Slum Angel. The Great War is over, and Millie is ready to leave her loving family home and be a wife to Jeremy who is everything she had hoped for. Until… Not long after their wedding, Millie discovers Jeremy is affected by shell shock and moving into his late father’s cold dark estate escalates the problem... -
The Proud Breed by Celeste De Blasis
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAN UNTAMED WOMAN... A FEARLESS MAN... A MAGNIFICENT LOVE. THE MONUNENTAL ADVENTURE THAT SWEEPS ACROSS A MIGHTY CENTURY OF AMERICAN HISTORY.The first time Gavin Ramsay sees Tessa MacLeod y Amarista -- a violet-eyed beauty swimming naked in a hidden pool--she reacts by attacking him with a knife. Realizing her mistake, she nurses him back to health and into a deep, enduring and courageous love... -
The Secrets She Carried by Barbara Davis
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen a young woman returns to North Carolina after a thirty-year absence, she finds that the once grand tobacco plantation she called home holds more secrets than she ever imagined... -
Spring House by Mary Ellen Taylor
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe lives of two women, generations apart, converge in this enthralling novel of love, mystery, memories, and secrets. Pregnant and still grieving the death of her fiancé, historian Megan Buchanan is forging ahead on a dream project: to restore to its original glory the landmark hunting lodge her own great-great-grandfather built on Virginia’s Eastern Shore... -
The Sunshine Girls by Molly Fader
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"Two friends. A lifetime of secrets. One sparkling story. 1967 Iowa. Nursing school roommates BettyKay and Kitty don't have much in common. BettyKay has risked her family's disapproval to pursue her dreams away from her small town. Cosmopolitan Kitty has always relied on her beauty and smarts to get by and to hide a painful secret...Categorized as:
historical-fiction friendship family female-mc romance fiction historical womens-fiction -
Star of the North: Music Hall Series, Book 2 by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe triumphant follow-up to THE PRIDE OF LANCASHIRE, continuing the story of the Preston family, by saga writer Anna Jacobs.?? Marjorie is the pretty one of the Preston sisters. So pretty that when a performer at her sister's music room breaks her leg, Marjorie is asked to fill in as the assistant to the singer Denby Sinclair... -
Like No Other by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRachel Smedling is not like the other women in her isolated Pennine village: she is taller, stronger and weaves cloth like a man. Without her, the household would fall apart, for her mother is ailing and her vicious drunkard father seems to hate her so much, he would happily offer money to any man who would wed her. When her mother dies, Rachel is at the mercy of her increasingly violent father... -
Sons of Pemberley: A Pride & Prejudice Reimagining by Elizabeth Adams
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat if Lady Anne Darcy was alive to meet Elizabeth Bennet?A sweeping tale of tragedy, devotion, and betrayal—spanning over 25 years and two generations—this family saga explores the life Fitzwilliam Darcy would have had if his mother had not died young.An up-close view of the Darcys' marriage and Fitzwilliam’s childhood... a retelling of the circumstances that shaped the man we have come to love... -
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The Rose Stone by Teresa Crane
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA dazzling jewel holds the key to a prosperous new life… or total ruin The Rose Stone. A diamond, gained through betrayal and blood, upon which the Rosenberg family's fortunes were founded and whose price is yet to be paid. Kiev, 1875: Josef Rosenberg narrowly escapes death from a Cossack raid, rescuing Tanya, the youngest daughter of his old friend Boris Anatov...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family epic romance historical 20th-century literary-fiction fiction -
A Daughter’s Dream by Cathy Sharp
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHeartache and hardship in London’s East End, from the bestselling author of The Orphans of Halfpenny StreetAmy Robinson and her fiance Matthew are struggling to resist the temptations faced by a soon-to-be-wed couple. To avoid these, Matthew throws himself into a new job and she goes to work in an exclusive new dress shop, where she meets Mary Maitland...Categorized as:
historical-fiction female-mc family epic psychological romance 20th-century holidays -
The Wartime Vet by Ellie Curzon
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEngland, 1941. Dedicated local vet Laura cares for the farm animals of the little village of Bramble Heath. But falling bombs aren’t the only danger as the war hits close to home…Despite everyone telling her it’s not a suitable career for a woman, Laura has worked hard to become a successful livestock vet... -
Liverpool Annie by Maureen Lee
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAnnie Harrison has a difficult childhood and she eventually goes to live in the Grand Hotel with a rich school friend. Marriage follows and when her husband dies, she throws herself into providing for her children. Starting with a market stall she discovers a talent for designing clothes that develops into a successful business... -
Mr Darcy's Persuasion by Cass Grafton, Cassandra Grafton
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTwo of Jane Austen’s classics collide in this intriguing tale of pride, prejudice and persuasion, set in England’s beautiful West Country.In the aftermath of the Netherfield Ball, Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are determined to find respite—Darcy from the allure of the lady and the feelings she evokes in him, and Elizabeth from the drama unfolding at Longbourn...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family female-mc friendship industrial-era regency fiction historical -
The Mistletoe Seller by Dilly Court
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt’s Christmas Eve. Flurries of snow fall on the cobbled streets of Whitechapel and an abandoned baby, swaddled in a blanket, is found on a doorstep in Angel Lane . . .Named after the street on which she was found, Angel Winter was blessed to be taken from the harsh streets into a loving home... -
In a Kingdom by the Sea: An enchantingly beautiful and heartbreaking historical romance novel by Sara MacDonald
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA sweeping, evocative story of love, secrets and betrayal, set against the stunning backdrops of Karachi and Cornwall. Perfect for readers who love Santa Montefiore, Rosanna Ley and Dinah Jefferies.When Gabby’s husband accepts a transfer to Pakistan, she discovers a new world of heat and colour, of exotic bazaars and trips to the breath-taking Kashmiri mountains... -
A Durable Fire by Stephanie Keating
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the first years of Kenyan independence, three young women return to the East African highlands where they shared a carefree childhood. Hannah is struggling to preserve her heritage at Langani Farm, where a series of unexplained and violent attacks threaten her security and recent marriage... -
The Langley Sisters Trilogy Boxed Set by Wendy Vella
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Eldest Langley - Lady In Disguise. To save her family from ruin, Miss Olivia Langley is forced into a dangerous charade – pulling on a disguise, she takes to the road as a highwayman. Disaster strikes when she robs the one man she had hoped never to see again. Five years ago Lord William Ryder broke Livvy's heart... -
To Experiment with Desire by Emma V. Leech
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGirls who dare – Inside every wallflower is the beating heart of a lioness, a passionate individual willing to risk all for their dream, if only they can find the courage to begin. When these overlooked girls make a pact to change their lives, anything can happen. Ten girls – Ten dares in a hat. Who will dare to risk it all? To Experiment with Desire... -
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Cinderella Sister by Dilly Court
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsLily Larkin is the youngest of six and the least important member of her talented, argumentative, temperamental family. With their father dead and their mother a stranger to them, she must stay at home and keep house whilst her elder siblings go out to work. As she goes about her daily chores, and minds her ailing grandfather, her head is full of dreams... -
Blood Sisters by Barbara Keating, Stephanie Keating
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsKenya 1957. During their childhood years in the Kenya Highlands three girls from vastly different backgrounds become blood sisters, promising that nothing will ever destroy the bond between them. But the legacy of the Mau Mau rebellion, and the tensions and upheavals of newly independent Kenya, tear their childhood dreams apart... -
The Forgotten Secret by Kathleen McGurl
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCan she unlock the mysteries of the past? A country at war It’s the summer of 1919 and Ellen O’Brien has her whole life ahead of her. Young, in love and leaving home for her first job, the future seems full of shining possibility. But war is brewing and before long, Ellen and everyone around her are swept up by it... -
Toward the Sea of Freedom by Sarah Lark
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn mid-nineteenth-century Ireland, charming Kathleen and dashing Michael harbor secrets and dreams. Imagining a life beyond the kitchen and fields of the wealthy family they both work for, they plot to leave their homeland, marry, and raise the child Kathleen is secretly carrying. The luck of the Irish, however, is not on their side... -
The Garment Maker's Daughter by Hillary Adrienne Stern
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Garment Maker’s Daughter is a multigenerational saga of immigrant dreams and sweatshop realities, labor strikes and women’s rights... -
The Irish Boarding House by Sandy Taylor
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratings24 Merrion Square. The house stands empty, the old stone steps overgrown with thorny rose bushes. But Mary Kate feels a deep connection to the neglected, silent rooms. Could this be the place to help her heal?Dublin 1952. When Mary Kate Ryan receives a surprise inheritance from the woman who abandoned her as a tiny baby, she’s stunned...
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