Books like 'Great Circle'
Readers who enjoyed Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical action / adventure 20th century military, war & conflict historical-fiction literary-fiction lgbtq ww2 war family
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The Emerald Horizon by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBerlin, 1944. Ariella Bannon is being hunted. Someone is determined to betray her as a Jew, but she has survived against incredible odds, and the end is in sight. She will be reunited with her precious children, no matter what it takes.Meanwhile, Liesl and Erich have found a home in Ireland, away from the chaos of war-ravaged Europe... -
We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsIt is the spring of 1939 and three generations of the Kurc family are doing their best to live normal lives, even as the shadow of war grows closer. The talk around the family Seder table is of new babies and budding romance, not of the increasing hardships threatening Jews in their hometown of Radom, Poland... -
Sea of Memories by Fiona Valpy
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWhen Kendra first visits her ailing grandmother, Ella has only one request: that Kendra write her story down, before she forgets…In 1937, seventeen-year-old Ella’s life changes forever when she is sent to spend the summer on the beautiful Île de Ré and meets the charismatic, creative Christophe... -
Broken Angels by Gemma Liviero
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA Nazi doctor. A Jewish rebel. A little girl. Each one will fight for freedom—or die trying. Imprisoned in the Lodz Ghetto, Elsi discovers her mother’s desperate attempt to end her pregnancy and comes face-to-face with the impossibility of their situation. Risking her own life, Elsi joins a resistance group to sabotage the regime...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
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Stormy Days On Mulberry Lane by Rosie Clarke
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsLondon 1950Peggy Ronoscki is happily settling into life running her guesthouse on Mulberry Lane, surrounded by close friends and family. Life just seems too good…But then disaster strikes.Pip, her beloved son is left in a coma following a devastating car crash and a young girl collapses in the market leaving Peggy no option but to nurse her back to health... -
Nellie's Heartbreak: A compelling saga from the bestselling author the Mulberry Lane and Harpers Emporium series by Rosie Clarke
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA new stand-alone saga set in Yorkshire around out the outbreak of the second world war and the unlikely relationship between a master and servant.As a small child, Nellie Peace was always dreaming but sensed her mother’s rejection... -
Return to Robinswood by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsOne Irish house, two very different families, and a war that changed everything. Robinswood Estate, County Waterford, Ireland. 1946.Years of neglect and abandonment have left the family seat of the Keneficks almost derelict, but the new Lord Kenefick and his charming young wife Kate, are determined to breathe life into the old house once more... -
Triumph of the Shipyard Girls by Nancy Revell
Rated: 4.70 of 5 stars · 10 ratings***ORDER YOUR COPY NOW*** THE EIGHTH NOVEL IN THE BESTSELLING SHIPYARD GIRLS SERIES! ‘Emotional and gripping’ Take a Break______________________________Sunderland, 1943: With the future of Britain so uncertain, the women are trying to keep their lives at home on an even keel.Head-welder Rosie is just about managing to keep her double life hidden from little sister Charlotte’s prying eyes... -
Eagles Over Britain by Lee Jackson
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe German Luftwaffe attacks Britain from the skies.With no allies, she stands alone.Her fate hangs in the balance.As the first Axis aircraft streak across English Channel airspace, so begins a battle for the ages; one that will determine the trajectory of the war... -
The Cypress Maze by Fiona Valpy
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn this haunting tale from the bestselling author of The Storyteller of Casablanca, Beatrice kept a wartime secret to protect the innocent. Now, could telling it set her free?Tuscany, 1943. Stranded in war-ravaged Italy, Beatrice’s dream of an escapist year teaching English is shattered... -
The Ops Room Girls: An uplifting and romantic WW2 saga by Vicki Beeby
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Evie’s dreams come crashing down, she’s determined to still make something of herself in these trying times…It is 1939 and working class Evie Bishop has received a scholarship to study mathematics at Oxford when tragedy turns her life upside down... -
The Girl From the Island by Lorna Cook
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA world at war.One woman will risk everything.Another will uncover her story.1940: When the island of Guernsey is invaded by the Nazis, two sisters are determined to rebel in any way they can. But when forced to take in a German soldier, they are shocked to find a familiar face on their doorstep – a childhood friend who has now become their enemy... -
The Secrets We Left Behind by Soraya M. Lane
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsOccupied France, 1940. When the staff at a field hospital draw straws to find out who will join the evacuation from Dunkirk, Nurse Cate is left behind. But when the Nazis arrive to claim prisoners of war, she takes her chance and flees into the night, taking one patient with her.Fifty miles away, the surrendering soldiers of the Royal Norfolk Regiment are shot dead by the advancing Germans... -
Always in my Heart by Ellie Dean
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs the Japanese begin their assault on Singapore, Sarah Fuller is forced to leave her parents and fianc�, Philip, behind. The long journey to England is fraught with danger, and Sarah and her sister Jane don't even know if their great-aunt is alive, let alone waiting for them. They arrive in Cliffehaven, on the south coast of England, and here Sarah must find work to support them both...Categorized as:
epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
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So Much Owed: An Irish World War 2 Story by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsIn a turbulent and uncertain world, the birth of two children revitalise a small Irish town and set the stage for a closer look into lives torn asunder by war. When Dr. Richard Buckley returns home to his wife and beloved hometown of Dunderrig, his mind is wearied by the ravages of The Great War... -
Under a Sky of Memories by Soraya M. Lane
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Last Correspondent comes the powerful story of three brave women who go to war—and end up fighting for their lives.Sicily, 1943. Three American women, all nurses in the Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron, are determined to do all they can for their country...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
Christmas with the Ops Room Girls: A festive and feel-good WW2 saga (The Women's Auxiliary Air Force) by Vicki Beeby
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen there’s so much to be afraid of, can May help bring festive cheer to the Ops Room?After failing to help evacuee siblings whom she witnesses being separated, May wishes she’d had the confidence to speak up. When Jess suggests a pantomime to boost morale on the station, May is desperate to help – but is held back by her own insecurities... -
Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAn aspiring photographer follows her dreams and faces her fears in a poignant novel about finding beauty, promise, and love amid the chaos of war-torn Kurdistan.It’s 1979. Olivia Murray, a secretary at a Los Angeles newspaper, is determined to become a photojournalist and make a difference with her work...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama female-mc historical-fiction journey literary-fiction war 20th-century -
Eternal by Lisa Scottoline
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsWhat war destroys, only love can heal.Elisabetta, Marco, and Sandro grow up as the best of friends despite their differences. Elisabetta is a feisty beauty who dreams of becoming a novelist; Marco the brash and athletic son in a family of professional cyclists; and Sandro a Jewish mathematics prodigy, kind-hearted and thoughtful, the son of a lawyer and a doctor...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family female-mc friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction -
New Recruits at Goodwill House by Fenella J. Miller
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMay 1940There are new residents at Goodwill House – WAAF drivers Camilla ‘Millie’ Cunningham and Diane Forsyth, both eager to do their bit for the war effort and excited to be helping the brave boys who fly.And when Millie meets dashing and heroic Spitfire pilot Ted Thorrington, they strike up an instant connection... -
The Skylark's Secret by Fiona Valpy
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsLoch Ewe, 1940. When gamekeeper’s daughter Flora’s remote highland village finds itself the base for the Royal Navy’s Arctic convoys, life in her close-knit community changes forever. In defiance of his disapproving father, the laird’s son falls in love with Flora, and as tensions build in their disrupted home, any chance of their happiness seems doomed... -
Hearts of Resistance by Soraya M. Lane
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAt the height of World War II, three women must come together to fight for freedom, for the men they love—and for each other. When Hazel is given the chance to parachute into Nazi-occupied France, she seizes the opportunity to do more for the British war effort than file paperwork. Alongside her childhood friend, French-born Rose, she quickly rises up the ranks of the freedom fighters... -
The Spitfire Girls by Soraya M. Lane
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThree skilled aviators determined to help win the war. Three brave women who know their place is not at home. At the height of World War II, the British Air Transport Auxiliary need help. A group of young women volunteer for action, but the perils of their new job don’t end on the tarmac. Things are tough in the air, but on the ground their abilities as pilots are constantly questioned... -
The Riviera House by Natasha Lester
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Secret weaves a lush and engrossing novel of World War II inspired by a true story and perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Pam Jenoff. Paris, 1939: The Nazis think Éliane can't understand German. They’re wrong. They think she’s merely cataloging art in a Louvre museum and unaware they’re stealing national treasures for their private collections... -
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The Dover Cafe at War: A heartwarming WWII tale by Ginny Bell
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratings'Brilliantly written and researched . . . I loved it.' Rosie GoodwinThe first book in a brand-new World War II saga series. Perfect for readers of Ellie Dean and Annie Groves and for fans of the Home Fires series. Dover, 1939 At the heart of Market Square lies Castle's Café, run by the formidable Nellie Castle and her six children... -
A Wartime Wife by Lizzie Lane
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsStruggling to make ends meet, Mary Anne Randall is offered no help by her drunk and abusive husband. A pawnbroking business run from the wash house at the back of her home is the only way she can hope to keep her three kids fed and clothed... -
The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThere on her forearm, next to a small brown birthmark, were six tattooed numbers. 'Do you remember me now?' he asked, trembling. She looked at him again, as if giving weight and bone to a ghost. 'Lenka, it's me,' he said. 'Josef. Your husband.' During the last moments of calm in prewar Prague, Lenka, a young art student, falls in love with Josef... -
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:
female-mc historical-fiction journey literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
The Photograph by Debbie Rix
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsItaly, 1958: Rachael is a young widow with a small child. After a lifetime of running for survival, of not knowing who to trust and where to call home, she finds herself in a place of safety. On a sun-drenched Italian island for one carefree summer the troubles of her past fade away and she falls in love... -
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng, Тан Тван Энг
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSet in Penang, 1939, this book presents a story of betrayal, barbaric cruelty, steadfast courage and enduring love.The recipient of extraordinary acclaim from critics and the bookselling community, Tan Twan Eng's debut novel casts a powerful spell...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction war -
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...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction war -
Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsCalling Me Home by Julie Kibler is a soaring debut interweaving the story of a heartbreaking, forbidden love in 1930s Kentucky with an unlikely modern-day friendship. Eighty-nine-year-old Isabelle McAllister has a favor to ask her hairdresser Dorrie Curtis. It's a big one...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family female-mc friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction -
While Paris Slept by Ruth Druart
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA family's love is tested when heroes-turned-criminals are forced to make the hardest decisions of their lives in this unforgettably moving story of love, resistance, and the lasting consequences of the Second World War. After. Santa Cruz, California, 1953. Jean-Luc and Charlotte Beauchamps have left their war-torn memories of Paris behind to live a quiet life in America with their son, Sam...Categorized as:
drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
The Oceans Between Us by Gill Thompson
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsInspired by heartrending real events, a mother fights to find her son and a child battles for survival in this riveting debut novel.For readers of Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly, The Letter by Kathryn Hughes, and Remember Me by Lesley Pearse.A woman is found wandering injured in London after an air raid.She remembers nothing of who she is... -
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What Only We Know by Catherine Hokin
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA door slammed and the unmistakable sound of boots came crashing up the hall. Liese held her little daughter’s hand so tightly, the tiny fingers had turned purple. The SS officer’s hand was at Liese’s throat before she saw him move. ‘I can kill you easily, then I can kill your daughter.’ He relaxed his grip a little. ‘Or perhaps I could kill her first?’England, forty years later... -
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 Girls of Pearl Harbor by Soraya M. Lane
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of Wives of War comes a harrowing tale of four brave young nurses whose lives change forever in the wake of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.When Grace, April, and Poppy join the US Army Nurse Corps, they see it as little more than an adventure, one made all the better by their first station: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii... -
What Once Was True: An Irish WW2 Story by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsRobinswood, Co Waterford, 1939. The once grand Irish house is home to two very different families. Despite delusions of grandeur, Lord and Lady Kenefick and their adult children, live a life of decayed opulence as the money needed to keep such a large house and grounds ever dwindles... -
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsSet in Hawai'i more than a century ago, this is the story of Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, who dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction journey literary-fiction season-summer -
The War Girls of Goodwill House: The start of a brand new historical saga series by Fenella J. Miller for 2022 by Fenella J Miller
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs war looms, can they keep the home fires burning?Lady Joanna Harcourt and her daughter Sarah discover their life of luxury at Goodwill House is over. Because with Lord Harcourt away fighting, the Harcourt girls are facing financial ruin. Lady Joanna is terrified of losing their home, but for Sarah, this means her dreams of becoming a doctor are over...Categorized as:
coming-of-age epic family female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction war -
Paris at First Light by Amanda Lees
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsParis, 1944: secret agent Juliette is on her most dangerous mission of the war so far. But then her children are kidnapped, and to get them back she may have to commit the ultimate betrayal – that of France itself…Four years ago, when France fell to the Nazis, Juliette made the ultimate sacrifice, leaving behind her two precious children to join the Resistance and defend her country...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Angels of the Resistance by Noelle Salazar
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratings“Angels of the Resistance brings to life a deadly-effective and deeply moving sisterhood.” —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose CodeFrom the bestselling author of The Flight Girls comes a story inspired by true events, about courageous women who risked everything for country, for family, and for each other... -
All the Flowers in Paris: A Novel by Sarah Jio
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTwo women are connected across time by the city of Paris, a mysterious journal, and shocking secrets, sweeping from World War II to the present--for readers of Sarah's Key. When Caroline wakes up in a Paris hospital with no memory of her past, she's confused to learn that she's lived a sad, reclusive life for years in a sprawling apartment on the Seine... -
The Throwaway Children by Diney Costeloe
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsGritty, heartrending and unputdownable – the story of two sisters sent first to an English, then an Australian orphanage in the aftermath of World War 2. Rita and Rosie Stevens are only nine and five years old when their widowed mother marries a violent bully called Jimmy Randall and has a baby boy by him... -
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A New York Secret by Ella Carey
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom top-ten bestseller Ella Carey comes a stunning Second World War novel. The glitter, glamor and danger of 1940s New York collide in this dazzling story about a young woman striving to survive in a world where everything is set against her.War forces her to choose a side…1942, New York... -
Letters Across the Sea by Genevieve Graham
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsInspired by a little-known chapter of World War II history, a young Protestant girl and her Jewish neighbour are caught up in the terrible wave of hate sweeping the globe on the eve of war in this powerful love story that’s perfect for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.If you’re reading this letter, that means I’m dead... -
How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSingapore, 1942. As Japanese troops sweep down Malaysia and into Singapore, a village is ransacked, leaving only two survivors and one tiny child.In a neighboring village, seventeen-year-old Wang Di is strapped into the back of a troop carrier and shipped off to a Japanese military brothel where she is forced into sexual slavery as a "comfort woman... -
When We Were Young & Brave by Hazel Gaynor
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsTheir motto was to be prepared, but nothing could prepare them for war. . .The New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Came Home sets her unforgettable new novel in China during WWII, inspired by true events surrounding the Japanese Army’s internment of teachers and children from a British-run missionary school.China, December 1941...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction war -
The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTwo former female spies, bound together by their past, risk everything to hunt down an infamous Nazi doctor in the aftermath of World War II—an extraordinary novel inspired by true events from the New York Times bestselling author of Lilac GirlsAmerican Josie Anderson and Parisian Arlette LaRue are thrilled to be working in the French resistance, stealing so many Nazi secrets that they become...Categorized as:
family female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction war ww2 20th-century action-adventure -
The Narrowboat Girls: a heartwarming story of friendship, struggle and falling in love by Rosie Archer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen the Second World War takes Britain's men away to fight, it is women who step up to fill the jobs left behind. From farms to factories, no job is too back-breaking, and for many women it offers their first real chance at independence.Two such women from very different backgrounds find themselves working on the narrowboats - piloting freights round southern England's network of canals...
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