Books like 'Diary of the Fall'
Readers who enjoyed Diary of the Fall by Michel Laub & Margaret Jull Costa also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical romance 20th century ww2 literary-fiction historical-fiction coming-of-age family
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An Ordinary Life by Amanda Prowse
Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Girl in the Corner comes a tale of love, loss—and one last extraordinary dance.Christmas Eve, 2019. Ninety-four-year-old Molly lies in her hospital bed. A stroke and a fall may have broken her body—but her mind is alive with memories.London, 1940s. Molly is a bright young woman, determined to help the war effort and keep her head up despite it all... -
![The Memory Box by Kathryn Hughes]()
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... -
![Under the Light of the Italian Moon: Inspired by a true story of love and women's resilience during the rise of fascism and WWII by Jennifer Anton]()
Under the Light of the Italian Moon: Inspired by a true story of love and women's resilience during the rise of fascism and WWII by Jennifer Anton
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA promise keeps them apart until WW2 threatens to destroy their love foreverFonzaso Italy, between two warsNina Argenta doesn’t want the traditional life of a rural Italian woman. The daughter of a strong-willed midwife, she is determined to define her own destiny. But when her brother emigrates to America, she promises her mother to never leave... -
![The Harp and the Rose by Jean Grainger]()
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![Perfectly Ordinary People by Nick Alexander]()
Perfectly Ordinary People by Nick Alexander
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn occupied France, two people sacrificed everything. Now their granddaughter has come looking for the truth…Ruth’s childhood was a happy one, and her family—on her mother’s side—large and loving. But her father’s French origins have always remained a mystery. Now, with aged relatives beginning to die, Ruth decides to research her father’s family before it’s too late... -
![Boy Underground by Catherine Ryan Hyde]()
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 historical-fiction literary-fiction ww2 20th-century audiobook book -
![A Ration Book Wedding by Jean Fullerton]()
A Ration Book Wedding by Jean Fullerton
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt's February 1942 and the American's have finally joined Britain and its allies. Meanwhile, twenty-three-year-old Francesca Fabrino, like thousands of other women, is doing her bit for the war effort in a factory in East London... -
![The Star and the Shamrock by Jean Grainger]()
The Star and the Shamrock by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAriella Bannon has no choice: she must put her precious children, Liesl and Erich, on that train or allow them to become prey for the Nazis. Berlin 1939... -
![The Girl with the Diary by Shari J. Ryan]()
The Girl with the Diary by Shari J. Ryan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“What if you never come back?” I asked.“I will find you, Amelia. I promise I will find you.”“What if you die trying?”Nazi-occupied Prague, 1942: Amelia is hiding in her closet when flashlights blind her and she’s captured by the SS. Out on the cobblestone street, she is shoved onto a freight train with hundreds of others. Hours pass as they travel in darkness... -
![The Berlin Sisters by Soraya M. Lane]()
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... -
![The Edelweiss Sisters by Kate Hewitt]()
The Edelweiss Sisters by Kate Hewitt
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratings1938, Salzburg. A powerful story of hope, forbidden love, and incredible courage, about three sisters who will risk everything—even their own lives—as part of the resistance movement in Nazi-occupied Austria.Johanna, Birgit and Lotte Eder have always lived quiet lives, working in their father’s clockmaking shop and helping their mother in the house... -
![Biodlarens löfte by Fiona Valpy]()
Biodlarens löfte by Fiona Valpy
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsHeartbroken and hoping for a new start, Abi Howes takes a summer job in rural France at the Château Bellevue. The old château echoes with voices from the past, and soon Abi finds herself drawn to one remarkable woman's story, a story that could change the course of her summer - and her life.In 1938, Eliane Martin tends beehives in the garden of the beautiful Château Bellevue...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction ww2 20th-century adult audiobook -
![When We Danced at the End of the Pier by Sandy Taylor]()
When We Danced at the End of the Pier by Sandy Taylor
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBrighton 1930: Maureen O’Connell is a carefree girl, but her family is on the brink of tragedy, war is looming and life will never be the same again. Jack and Nelson have always been dear friends to Maureen. Despite their different backgrounds, they’ve seen each other through thick and thin... -
![The Lost Letters of Aisling: A Novel by Cynthia Ellingsen]()
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... -
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![The Girls in Blue by Fenella J. Miller]()
The Girls in Blue by Fenella J. Miller
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJane Hadley has nothing to lose when she runs away to join the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. Whatever faces her in war-torn London can't be any worse than staying at home with her abusive father...The city is nothing like she could have imagined, but she's soon on the move, travelling from base to base for her top-secret training...Categorized as:
historical-fiction ww2 coming-of-age literary-fiction romance historical fiction war -
![When the World Goes Quiet by Gian Sardar]()
When the World Goes Quiet by Gian Sardar
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn the final days of World War I, an aspiring artist’s courageous journey is just beginning in a powerful novel about love, danger, and survival by the author of Take What You Can Carry.It’s 1918 in German-occupied Bruges, Belgium. With luck, Evelien will make it to the end of the war and be given what she was a prized painting in exchange for safeguarding her employer’s possessions... -
![The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham]()
The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Home for Unwanted Girls meets Orphan Train in this unforgettable novel about a young girl caught in a scheme to rid England’s streets of destitute children, and the lengths she will go to find her way home—based on the true story of the British Home Children...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction ww2 20th-century abuse adult -
![The Lost Valley by Jennifer Scoullar]()
The Lost Valley by Jennifer Scoullar
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTasmania, 1929: Ten-year-old-twins, Tom and Harry Abbott, are orphaned by a tragedy that shocks Hobart society... -
![The Shipyard Girls by Nancy Revell]()
The Shipyard Girls by Nancy Revell
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratings' A real insight into how it was for these women in a Sunderland major ship building yard ... The foundation book of a series. Which I shall be reading as each one is written. Loved it. ' - 5 star real reader review Sunderland, 1940, and the women go to the shipyards to do their bit for the war effort... -
![The Dollmaker's Daughters by Dilly Court]()
The Dollmaker's Daughters by Dilly Court
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTwo sisters, tragically divided by love, jealousy and ambition ... For Ruby and Rosetta Capretti life in the slums of the East End holds little promise. Although very similar in looks they dream of very different futures... -
![Miss You Forever by Josephine Cox]()
Miss You Forever by Josephine Cox
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOne winter's night Rosie finds a woman sheltering in her yard. Kathleen looks like an aged vagabond, carrying all her worldly possessions, including her diaries, in a grubby tapestry bag. When Kathleen entrusts the diaries to Rosie, she reads a heartrending tale of stolen dreams, true love, and loss...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book female-author -
![Bleak Landing by Terrie Todd]()
Bleak Landing by Terrie Todd
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn the dead-end Canadian town of Bleak Landing, twelve-year-old Irish immigrant Bridget O’Sullivan lives in a ramshackle house and dreams of another life, even as the Great Depression rages. Routinely beaten by her father and bullied by schoolmate Victor Harrison, the waifish yet fiery redhead vows to run away and never return... -
![Millions of Pebbles by Roberta Kagan]()
Millions of Pebbles by Roberta Kagan
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIt is the darkest time in the history of mankind, and fate is playing a twisted game.Benjamin Rabinowitz’s world is crashing down on him, a painful reality following the invasion of Poland. He is loath to let his wife and sickly son go but escaping the horrors of the Lodz ghetto seems to be their best chance at survival, albeit slim... -
![The Orphan's Island by Katharine Swartz, Kate Hewitt]()
The Orphan's Island by Katharine Swartz, Kate Hewitt
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratings1904: Ellen Copley is still a child when she leaves behind the sooty rail yards of Glasgow, and crosses the Atlantic Ocean with a heart full of dreams. Yet within weeks of their arrival in America, her father has disappeared—leaving Ellen with resentful relatives, feeling alone and scared for her future...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family ww2 literary-fiction historical high-school christian fiction -
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![Daughter of the Reich by Louise Fein]()
Daughter of the Reich by Louise Fein
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFor fans of The Nightingale and All the Light We Cannot See, a spellbinding story of impossible love set against the backdrop of the Nazi regime. She must choose between loyalty to her country or a love that could be her destruction… As the dutiful daughter of a high-ranking Nazi officer, Hetty Heinrich is keen to play her part in the glorious new Thousand Year Reich... -
![The Secret Letter by Debbie Rix]()
The Secret Letter by Debbie Rix
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFor readers of Orphan Train, The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Book Thief comes an unforgettable novel inspired by a true story about the power of human kindness and bravery in a time of unimaginable heartbreak... -
![The Girl on the Doorstep: from the bestselling author of The Workhouse Children (A Black Country Novel) by Lindsey Hutchinson]()
The Girl on the Doorstep: from the bestselling author of The Workhouse Children (A Black Country Novel) by Lindsey Hutchinson
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLeft an orphan, five-year-old Rosie Harris is found and raised by Maria, a Romany gypsy. Life on the road is hard, but the little girl soon feels one of the tribe with the travellers. As she grows older, Rosie realises she has 'second sight' and is able to read people's palms and see into their futures...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family literary-fiction ww2 romance humor historical 20th-century -
![Daughters of Warsaw by Maria Frances]()
Daughters of Warsaw by Maria Frances
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAn emotional World War Two time-slip of one woman’s inspiring, dangerous and courageous undertaking in the Warsaw ghetto. In a world torn apart by war, she’ll risk her life to save them. 1942, Warsaw Young Sofia finds herself leading a double life when she is enlisted to help the fearless Irena Sendler save hundreds of Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto...Categorized as:
historical-fiction ww2 literary-fiction family historical fiction war womens-fiction -
![Every Mother's Son by Lyn Andrews]()
Every Mother's Son by Lyn Andrews
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMolly and Bernie have been friends forever. As young girls they left Ireland seeking new beginnings in Liverpool. Now they are marrying their sweethearts and looking forward to enjoying the lives they've worked so hard to build. But as the Liverpool Blitz begins, it seems as if their dreams are about to be destroyed. Night after night, horrific bombing tears the city apart... -
![Dreams of Silver by Mina Baites, Alison Layland]()
Dreams of Silver by Mina Baites, Alison Layland
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA single treasured keepsake links one unforgettable family across continents in this enthralling saga by Mina Baites, the author of The Silver Music Box. London, 1963. I dream about my sister almost every night. Lilian Morrison has one memento of her beloved sister, Emma: a battered silver music box... -
![War Girl Ursula by Marion Kummerow]()
War Girl Ursula by Marion Kummerow
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBerlin 1943: Compassion is a crime. A prisoner escapes. A guard looks the other way. Why does Ursula Hermann risk her life and brave the Gestapo to save a man she barely knows? Ursula has always lived the law, never broken the rules in her life. That is until the day she finds escapee British airman Tom Westlake and all the right she’s worked so hard to maintain goes wrong..Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction ww2 20th-century action-adventure betrayal book -
![The Paris Secret by Lily Graham]()
The Paris Secret by Lily Graham
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOn the brink of the second world war, a beautiful Parisian bookshop hides a heartbreaking secret that will tear one family apart forever … The last time Valerie was in Paris, she was three-years-old, running from the Nazis, away from the only home she had ever known... -
![A Harvest of Secrets by Roland Merullo]()
A Harvest of Secrets by Roland Merullo
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of From These Broken Streets comes a sweeping novel of love, resistance, and courage set against the backdrop of WWII Italy.Italy, 1943. The seeds of terror planted by Hitler have brought Allied forces to Italian soil. Young lovers separated by war—one near a Tuscan hill town, the other a soldier on the Sicilian front—will meet any challenge to reunite... -
![Walking My Baby Back Home by Joan Jonker]()
Walking My Baby Back Home by Joan Jonker
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEver since Dot Baker lost her husband in the war she's tried to keep his memory alive. But when John Kershaw turns up on her doorstep, she can't blame her kids, Katy and Colin, for wanting another man about the house. John's the boss of a local factory, and a kind and caring man who can't seem to do enough for the Bakers and their friends and neighbours... -
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![The Rose Stone by Teresa Crane]()
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 literary-fiction family romance historical 20th-century fiction epic -
![Be Still the Water by Karen Emilson]()
Be Still the Water by Karen Emilson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFinalist 2019 Canadian Book Club AwardsShortlisted for the 2017 Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction2017 IPPY Silver Medal WinnerSet in 1906 along the unspoiled shores of Lake Manitoba, Be Still the Water brings us into the fold of the Gudmundsson Family—immigrants determined to begin life anew in the Icelandic farming and fishing community of Siglunes...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family coming-of-age fiction historical outdoors survival -
![Birthright by Patricia Dixon]()
Birthright by Patricia Dixon
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA woman's quest to save her family's chateau in France brings danger, rivalry, and romance--and reveals a secret buried since World War II . . .1931, Chateau de Chevalier: Ophélie, La Duchesse de Bombelle, receives a love letter from her admirer Picasso along with a gift: a priceless painting. Nine years later, the Nazis invade France and steal countless works of art, including Ophélie's gift . -
![The Wartime Vet by Ellie Curzon]()
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...Categorized as:
historical-fiction ww2 literary-fiction family fiction female-mc 20th-century romance -
![Liverpool Annie by Maureen Lee]()
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... -
![We'll Meet Again by Lily Baxter]()
We'll Meet Again by Lily Baxter
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt is April 1939 and unaware that the German war machine is advancing towards the Channel Islands, seventeen-year-old Meg Colivet and her sister are enjoying a holiday in Oxford with their aunt. Here Meg meets charismatic German undergraduate Rayner Weiss and the couple fall passionately in love... -
![The Lavender Garden by Lucinda Riley]()
The Lavender Garden by Lucinda Riley
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsAn aristocratic French family, a legendary chteau, and buried secrets with the power to destroy two generations torn between duty and desire. La Cte dAzur, 1998: In the sun-dappled south of France, Emilie de la Martinires, the last of her gilded line, inherits her childhood home, a magnificent chteau and vineyard. With the property comes a mountain of debtand almost as many questions . . -
![Through the Storm by Maureen Lee]()
Through the Storm by Maureen Lee
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe third novel in bestseller Maureen Lee's outstanding Liverpool sequence about family life during World War IITwo years of war have taken a terrible toll on Pearl Street, Liverpool. German bombs have reduced some houses to rubble and most of the inhabitants have lost friends and family... -
![Across the Mersey by Annie Groves]()
Across the Mersey by Annie Groves
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom the author of 'The Grafton Girls' comes the story of one Liverpool family preparing for the onslaught of World War Two, while trying not to fight among themselves. Jean and Vi are twins but couldn't be more different. Jean's proud of her honest, hardworking husband and their children, but there's never a penny to spare... -
![The Fourth Daughter by Lyn Liao Butler]()
The Fourth Daughter by Lyn Liao Butler
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn Taiwan, the bond between grandmother and granddaughter opens up a healing world for them both in an inspiring family saga about the comfort of food, untold histories, and indomitable mother love.Chef Liv Kuo’s star is on the rise…until a traumatic incident leaves her emotionally unable to venture outside her Manhattan apartment...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family literary-fiction romance fiction mystery historical audiobook -
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![Watching Over Her by Jean-Baptiste Andrea]()
Watching Over Her by Jean-Baptiste Andrea
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom French literary talent and Prix Goncourt winner Jean-Baptiste Andrea, a “sprawling fresco and star-crossed love story” (The New York Times) following a dwarf and skilled sculptor as he recounts the moments in his life that inspired his mysteriously powerful masterpiece—perfect for readers of Martyr! and The Covenant of Water.In an Italian monastery, a sculptor named Mimo lays on his deathbed... -
![The Lost Lights of St Kilda by Elisabeth Gifford]()
The Lost Lights of St Kilda by Elisabeth Gifford
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratings1927: When Fred Lawson takes a summer job on St. Kilda, little does he realize that he has joined the last community to ever live on that beautiful, isolated island. Only three years later, St. Kilda will be evacuated, the islanders near dead from starvation. But for Fred, memories of that summer - and the island woman, Chrissie, with whom he falls in love - will never leave him... -
![Women & Children First by Gill Paul]()
Women & Children First by Gill Paul
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsShe was the most magnificent ship ever built, yet on the eve of 14th April the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic, leaving the lucky ones floating in wooden rowing boats, and the rest struggling for their lives in the icy water...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult alternate-history book drama -
![When I Was Yours by Lizzie Page]()
When I Was Yours by Lizzie Page
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWe stand in the back of the hall as the children troop in. Big ones, little ones. Straggly hair, cropped hair, curls… the adults surge forward to choose and soon there is just one child left, a little girl sitting on the floor. She is thin as a string bean and her sleeve is ragged and damp – like she’s been chewing it. 1939... -
![Our Last Goodbye by Shirley Dickson, Joan Walker]()
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... -
![What the Day Owes the Night by Yasmina Khadra]()
What the Day Owes the Night by Yasmina Khadra
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratings'If a woman loves you, Younes, if she truly loves you, and if you have the wisdom to appreciate this great privilege, then there is no god to touch you.'As a young man Younes' life is irrevocably changed when he leaves his broken home for the vibrant, colourful and affluent European district of Río Salado...
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