Books like 'The Dearly Beloved'
Readers who enjoyed The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical 20th century historical-fiction literary-fiction religion family christian friendship realistic spirituality
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The Little Liar by Mitch Albom
Rated: 4.59 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsBeloved bestselling author Mitch Albom returns with a powerful novel that moves from a coastal Greek city during the Holocaust, to America, where the intertwined lives of three survivors are forever changed by the perils of deception and the grace of redemption. Eleven-year-old Nico Krispis never told a lie...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family literary-fiction coming-of-age christian friendship spirituality fiction -
The Hard Way Home by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDublin 1950Liesl Bannon has never felt like she was truly at home anywhere, not since her mother placed her and her brother Erich on the last Kindertransport out of Berlin in 1939. She’d been so much more fortunate than most Jews, saved from the horrors of the Nazi regime...Categorized as:
christian drama family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality -
The Sky Beneath Us by Fiona Valpy
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAn inspiring, uplifting story of love and loss, courage and adventure, from the bestselling author of The Skylark’s Secret.1927. Violet Mackenzie-Grant is embarking on her dream of studying at the Edinburgh School of Gardening for Women...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family friendship religion grief literary-fiction female-mc spirituality -
Last Port of Call by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsQueenstown, County Cork, IrelandApril 1912Twelve-year-old Harp Delaney is an unusual child, quiet and intelligent far beyond her years. She would rather spend her days in the library of the grand Georgian house that she sees as her home than playing on the streets with other children.Her mother, Rose, is the reserved and ladylike housekeeper at the Cliff House...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult -
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The Mersey Mothers by Sheila Riley
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLiverpool 1953January sees the dawn of the Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation year as the mothers of Reckoners Row unite in preparation for the celebration of the new Queen.Meanwhile Evie Kilgaren is dreaming of her summer wedding to Danny Harris, but trouble looms for Skinner & Sons with a new rival trying to put them out of business, but no-one knows why...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family female-mc friendship historical-fiction religion spirituality urban -
Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNow available in trade paper with an eye-catching new cover from the bestselling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis: Megs Devonshire sets out to fulfill her younger brother George’s last wish by uncovering the truth behind his favorite story. The answer provides hope and healing and a magical journey for anyone whose life has ever been changed by a book... -
The Spoon Stealer by Lesley Crewe
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBorn into a basket of clean sheets—ruining a perfectly good load of laundry—Emmeline never quite fit in on her family's rural Nova Scotian farm. After suffering multiple losses in the First World War, her family became so heavy with grief, toxicity, and mental illness that Emmeline felt their weight smothering her. And so, she fled across the Atlantic and built her life in England...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family literary-fiction realistic female-mc friendship fiction historical -
The Queen of Beauty by Petra Durst-Benning, Edwin Miles
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPetra Durst-Benning’s captivating historical novel pays homage to the trailblazing women of the early twentieth century—like Elizabeth Arden and Estée Lauder—who shaped culture, shattered convention, and strived to make the world around them more beautiful...Categorized as:
drama family friendship historical-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century action-adventure -
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... -
Her Mother's Hope by Francine Rivers
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 26 ratings2011 Retailers Choice Award winner!The first in an epic two-book saga by beloved author Francine Rivers, this sweeping story explores the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters over several generations. Near the turn of the 20th century, fiery Marta leaves Switzerland determined to find life on her own terms...Categorized as:
christian coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction realistic religion spirituality -
In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis extraordinarily sensitive and insightful portrait of religious life centers on Philippa Talbot, a highly successful professional woman who leaves her life among the London elite to join a cloistered Benedictine community...Categorized as:
christian historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic religion spirituality 20th-century adult -
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 drama family female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century -
Pastel Orphans by Gemma Liviero
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn 1930s Berlin, young Henrik, the son of a Jewish father and Aryan mother, watches the world around him crumbling: people are rioting in the streets, a strange yellow star begins appearing in shop windows, and friends are forced to move—or they simply disappear.After his father becomes gravely ill, Henrik and his little sister, Greta, are taken by their mother to Poland for safety...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century -
Welcome to Weaver Street by Chrissie Walsh
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIf you love Nadine Dorries and Katie Flynn, you'll love Chrissie Walsh's WWI story of love, loss and triumph!Kitty and Tom Conlon arrive in Liverpool in July 1916 to claim the house Tom’s great-uncle has bequeathed him in his will. The move to England couldn’t have come at a better time. Dublin is in turmoil following the Easter Uprising and Kitty’s brother is now in prison...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction religion spirituality urban 20th-century -
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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...Categorized as:
family female-mc urban historical-fiction religion friendship coming-of-age spirituality -
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...Categorized as:
christian coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century -
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...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family female-mc friendship historical-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook -
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...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook -
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 christian family literary-fiction spirituality historical high-school ww2 -
Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsThe author of A Bridge Across the Ocean and The Last Year of the War journeys from the present day to World War II England, as two sisters are separated by the chaos of wartime...Current day, Oxford, England...Categorized as:
christian coming-of-age drama family female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic -
Body and Soul by Frank Conroy
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn the dim light of a basement apartment, six-year-old Claude Rawlings sits at an old white piano, picking out the sounds he has heard on the radio and shutting out the reality of his lonely world.The setting is 1940s New York, a city that is "long gone, replaced by another city of the same name...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century book -
The Sisters of St Croix by Diney Costeloe
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOriginal title Death's Dark ValeA gripping story of love, death and danger in Nazi-occupied France from the bestselling author of The Throwaway Children. When Adelaide Anson-Gravetty finds out her father is not the man who raised her, she is both shocked and intrigued...Categorized as:
christian family female-mc friendship historical-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century -
The Dressmaker’s Secret by Lorna Cook
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsParis, 1941: As Coco Chanel’s assistant, Adèle lives side by side with German officers in the splendor of The Ritz hotel. But Adèle has a secret. She is working for the resistance, right under the German’s noses...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century -
Seasons of the Heart/Four Complete Novels in One Book by Janette Oke
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJanette Oke, with over 11 million copies of her books in print, writes with a special feeling about her characters and their time. This heartwarming collection of four novels is a wonderful series of stories about an American family on the prairies of yesterday...Categorized as:
christian family historical-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century audiobook book -
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The Forgotten Family of Liverpool: A gritty postwar family saga novel that will break your heart by Pam Howes
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe war is over – but are their troubles just beginning? It’s 1951 and rationing is finally coming to an end. But while Liverpool is recovering from the ferocity of war, a family is about to be torn apart… Dora Rodgers is adjusting to a new life in Liverpool with her young daughters Carol and Jackie... -
A Letter From Pearl Harbor by Anna Stuart
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNinety-eight-year-old Ginny McAllister’s last wish is for her granddaughter to complete a treasure hunt containing clues to her past. Clues that reveal her life as one of the first female pilots at Pearl Harbor, and a devastating World War Two secret...Categorized as:
female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book fiction -
Return To Jarrow by Janet MacLeod Trotter
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCatherine (Kitty) McMullen, is seventeen, restless and rebellious. Resentful of her mother Kate's new husband, she yearns for stories of the father she never knew and when her gossipy aunt divulges that he was a wealthy gentleman, Catherine's discontent with grimy, impoverished Jarrow grows... -
Under the Midnight Sun by Tracie Peterson, Kimberley Woodhouse
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTayler Hale is ahead of her time as one of the first women naturalists. She has always loved adventure and the great outdoors, and her remote job location also helps keep her away from the clutches of the man to whom she once made a foolish promise. It seems she must keep running, however, and in secret, her boss from Yellowstone arranges for a new job . . . in Alaska...Categorized as:
christian family historical-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century action-adventure adult -
Forever Hidden by Tracie Peterson, Kimberley Woodhouse
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFor Havyn Powell, growing up on her grandfather Chuck Bondrant's dairy outside the 1904 gold-rush boomtown of Nome, Alaska, offered all she needed. She had the love of her mother, two sisters, and grandfather. But now, at 23, Havyn realizes the stability of her life may soon vanish...Categorized as:
christian family female-mc historical-fiction spirituality 20th-century adult audiobook -
The Secret Diary by Anna Stuart
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsTwo women. One house. And a secret that spans decades…The past merges with the present in an unforgettable, poignant story of love, loss and courage in this beautifully written story set between World War Two and the present day.She steps into the room and it’s like going back in time.Catapulting her right into the heart of the 1940s.The spindle of the record player frozen and ready to play...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book -
A History of Loneliness by John Boyne
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsPropelled into the priesthood by a family tragedy, Odran Yates is full of hope and ambition. When he arrives at Clonliffe Seminary in the 1970s, it is a time in Ireland when priests are highly respected, and Odran believes that he is pledging his life to "the good."Forty years later, Odran's devotion is caught in revelations that shatter the Irish people's faith in the Catholic Church...Categorized as:
christian drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic religion spirituality -
The City of Joy by Dominique Lapierre, Elina Klersy Imberciadori
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMade into a movie starring Patrick Swayze, this is the inspiring story of an American doctor who experienced a spiritual rebirth in an impoverished section of Calcutta...Categorized as:
christian drama family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality urban -
King Of Camberwell by Mary Jane Staples
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSammy was the sharp one of the Adams family.Since he was nine-years-old - when he'd charged his mother interest on a loan to make up the rent money - he'd been busy setting up deals and expanding the family business - a china stall in East Street market. But as his mighty empire grew - two shops and a factory in Shoreditch - so did the determination of his assistant, Susie Brown... -
Rose's Choice by Chrissie Bradshaw
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRationing, bombing, disease and pit disasters are part of Rose Kelly’s World War 2 childhood. When the spirited coalminer’s daughter discovers a family secret, she makes a choice that overshadows her teenage years. Rose tries to make the most of post-war opportunities but family tragedy pulls her back to a life in the colliery rows...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family female-mc historical-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century adult -
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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 friendship female-mc fiction historical -
Tilly's Story by June Francis
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCan she leave her troubles behind to find true happiness? In the aftermath of the Great War, many are searching for a new life. But has Tilly missed her only chance for love? Since the end of the First World War, the residents of Victoria Crescent have been slowly rebuilding their lives... -
When the Clouds Go Rolling By by June Francis
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe secrets of the past can never be forgotten An orphaned young woman is overjoyed to find a family she never knew existed, but has to come to terms with their troubled history. Since her parents died Clara O’Toole has lived with her grandmother, Bernie...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century adult book -
The Girl in the Photo by Catherine Hokin
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTheresienstadt Concentration Camp, 1944. ‘I have to go away, my darling. Please, be brave, stay alive, for me.’ Mama’s voice breaks. The little girl tries to stop the forbidden tears from falling, as the train takes her mother, and she is left alone…Berlin, six years later. Hanni Winter glows with pride as she shows her new husband around her first solo photography exhibition...Categorized as:
coming-of-age female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book fiction -
The Doorstep Girls by Valerie Wood
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCan two friends find hope in hard times?Ruby and Grace have grown up in the poorest slums of Hull. Friends since early childhood, they have supported each other in bad times and good. But their families are bound together by more than friendship, and secrets from the past threaten to make their lives even more difficult...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family female-mc friendship historical-fiction urban 20th-century adult -
Step by Step by June Francis
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWill their friendship survive against all odds? In the early 1900s two girls see each other through good times and bad. But can their friendship endure when an dreadful act of violence sees their families turn against one another? Hannah Kirk and Alice Moran have been friends since childhood. Growing up in the back streets of Chester, they support each other through hard times... -
The Traveller's Daughter by Michelle Vernal
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsROSA’S PAST IS HER PANDORA’S BOX, AND THE LID IS ABOUT TO BE LIFTED … ‘If you lie down with dogs you’ll rise with fleas’ – Irish Proverb Rosa Sorenson’s conversation was often peppered with sayings from her homeland. It was these conversational clangers that gave her daughter Kitty the only clue as to a childhood her mother refused to speak of...Categorized as:
family female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book fiction -
The Italian Daughter by Soraya M. Lane
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratings“Estee, I bought this ring the day after I saw you on stage, all those years ago. You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved.” Estee wanted to see it so badly, but instead she reached for Felix’s hand and gently closed it over the box. “No,” she whispered. “I want you to propose only when you’re truly free.”Italy, 1946: As Estee bids farewell to Felix her heart breaks...Categorized as:
female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century adult -
I'll Watch the Moon by Ann Tatlock
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe tender story of a polio victim and her friendship with an Auschwitz survivor who dreams of becoming the first man on the moon. Award-winning novelist Ann Tatlock once again lovingly crafts a story that will touch readers' hearts while illuminating a powerful spiritual truth...Categorized as:
christian coming-of-age family female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality -
The Sweetest Thing by Elizabeth Musser
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAnne "Perri" Singleton's world is defined by the security of family, the camaraderie of friends at an exclusive Atlanta girls' school, and an enviable social life. She isn't looking for new friends when Mary Dobbs Dillard arrives from Chicago. Besides, "Dobbs," the passionate and fiercely individualistic daughter of an itinerant minister, is her opposite in every way...Categorized as:
christian coming-of-age drama historical-fiction realistic spirituality 20th-century book -
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Glamorous Powers by Susan Howatch
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJon Darrow, a man with psychic powers, is a man who has played many parts: a shady faith-healer; a naval chaplain, a passionate husband, an awkward father, an Anglo-Catholic monk. In 1940 Darrow returns to the world he once renounced, but faced with many unforeseen temptations he fails to control his psychic, most glamorous powers...Categorized as:
christian historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century adult book -
Fortune's Daughters by Consuelo Saah Baehr, Nicol Zanzarella
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFaith Simpson is born at the dawn of the twentieth century into a dynasty that gives her everything she will ever need—except her parents’ love and attention. Often misunderstood, she trusts few as she grows up on the family’s manicured Long Island estate. Just twenty-nine miles away, on lower Manhattan’s dirty, crowded streets, Hope Lee’s world is one of poverty and desperation...Categorized as:
drama family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook -
More All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the third book of Sydney Taylor's classic children's series, Ella finds a boyfriend and Henny disagrees with Papa over her curfew. Thus continues the tale of a Jewish family of five sisters-Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte and Gertie-and little brother, Charlie, living at the turn of the century in New York's Lower East Side... -
The Third Daughter by Talia Carner
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the author of Jerusalem Maiden comes a remarkable story, inspired by little-known true events, about the thousands of young Jewish women who were trafficked into prostitution at the turn of the 20th century, and whose subjugation helped build Buenos Aires.The turn of the 20th century finds fourteen-year-old Batya in the Russian countryside, fleeing with her family endless pogroms...Categorized as:
drama family female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century -
Where the Rivers Merge by Mary Alice Monroe
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"This is book club fiction at its finest!" —Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author From New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe comes her highly anticipated Where the Rivers Merge, the first of two epic and triumphant novels celebrating one intrepid woman's life across multiple generations in the American South...Categorized as:
historical-fiction coming-of-age family friendship literary-fiction female-mc fiction audiobook -
The Promise by Chaim Potok
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratings“A superb mirror of a place, a time, and a group of people who capture our immediate interest and hold it tightly.” — The Philadelphia InquirerYoung Reuven Malter is unsure of himself and his place in life. An unconventional scholar, he struggles for recognition from his teachers...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic religion
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