Books like 'Sag Harbor'
Readers who enjoyed Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical 20th century coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction season-summer poc-mc realistic humor family
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The Secrets of the Tea Garden by Janet MacLeod Trotter
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsShe’s gone in search of happy memories. But was her idyllic childhood in India an illusion? After the Second World War, Libby Robson leaves chilly England for India, and the childhood home where she left her heart—and her beloved father, James—fourteen years ago. At first Libby is intoxicated by India’s vibrant beauty: the bustle of Calcutta, the lush tea gardens of Assam... -
With a Kiss and a Prayer by Ellie Dean
Rated: 4.70 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCliffehaven, May 1944 Peggy Reilly is enjoying a rare moment alone in the garden of her Beach View Boarding House. Against the now familiar backdrop of squadrons roaring overhead and the wireless humming, it seems both impossible that war continues, and yet inconceivable that it will ever come to an end... -
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... -
The Orphan's Mother by Marion Kummerow
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratings1945, the German-Polish border: With Nazis on one side and Soviet forces approaching on the other, a mother and her little boy are torn apart, and so begins an unforgettable tale of courage, heartbreak and motherhood in wartime.“If you ever get lost, Jacob, you need to stay where you are and wait, because I’ll come looking for you. And I’ll always find you... -
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The Children Of Lovely Lane by Nadine Dorries
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe second book in the Lovely Lane series from Nadine Dorries. Lily hates the sound of children playing - the ceaseless shouting and laughter and kicking of balls to and fro in the street outside the rough Liverpool tenement where she lives... -
The Colours of Love by Rita Bradshaw
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCan love survive when all is lost? England is at war, but nothing can dim land girl Esther Wynford's happiness at marrying the love of her life - fighter pilot Monty Grant. Their short honeymoon results in a baby, but on the birth of her daughter, Joy, Esther's world falls apart... -
The Spitfire Girl: Over and Out by Fenella J. Miller
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAll's fair in love and war for First Officer Ellie as she takes to the skies yet again in the final instalment of Fenella Miller's Spitfire Girl series. 1943, White Waltham. As Italy surrenders and victory looms on the horizon, Ellie's doing what she does best – flying. And this time, she's rising to the sky in four-engined Halifaxes... -
Wedding Bells for Nurse Connie by Jean Fullerton
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEast End saga queen Jean Fullerton returns with a delightful new novel in the Nurse Connie series It's 1948 and the nurses of the East End of London are making the most of life post-war. For Connie in particular, things are looking rosy as she looks forward to planning a future with her sweetheart, Malcolm... -
Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone by James Baldwin
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAt the height of his theatrical career, the actor Leo Proudhammer is nearly felled by a heart attack. As he hovers between life and death, Baldwin shows the choices that have made him enviably famous and terrifyingly vulnerable. For between Leo's childhood on the streets of Harlem and his arrival into the intoxicating world of the theater lies a wilderness of desire and loss, shame and rage...Categorized as:
black-mc coming-of-age family historical-fiction humor literary-fiction poc-mc 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 epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century book -
Run with the Horsemen by Ferrol Sams
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsPorter Osborne Jr. is a precocious, sensitive, and rambunctious boy trying to make it through adolescence during the depression years. On a red-clay farm in Georgia he learns all there is to know about cotton chopping, hog killing, watermelon thumping, and mule handling. School provides a quick course in practical joking, schoolboy crushes, athletic glory, and clandestine sex...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction humor literary-fiction 20th-century animals anthologies -
This I Know by Eldonna Edwards
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsSet in a small Midwest town in the late 1960s and helmed by an unforgettable young protagonist—compassionate, uncannily wise Grace—This I Know is a luminous coming-of-age story from an astonishing new voice. Eleven-year-old Grace Carter has a talent for hiding things...Categorized as:
coming-of-age epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic 20th-century audiobook -
A Daughter's Sorrow by Cathy Sharp
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHeartache and hardship in London’s East End, from the bestselling author of The Orphans of Halfpenny StreetBridget has always been the one to take on the responsibility for looking after her family... -
We'll Meet Again by Rosie Archer
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsGosport, 1941. The Bluebird Girls - Rainey Bird, Bea Herron and Ivy Sparrow - are on their way to stardom. From working mens' clubs to the glamour of the Savoy Hotel, fame and fortune beckon as the south coast's favourite singing trio work to charm their way into the hearts of the nation.But the war rages on, and reaching the top of their game will not be easy... -
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The Street of Broken Dreams by Tania Crosse
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA poignant story which will tear at your heart strings. Perfect for the fans of Elaine Everest and Daisy Styles. Summer 1945. The nation rejoices as the Second World War comes to an end but Banbury Street matriarch, Eva Parker, foresees trouble ahead... -
The Liverpool Girls: A heartbreaking family saga with a tragic romance by Pam Howes
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWill tragedy tear them apart – once and for all? It’s 1966 and in Liverpool two sisters are about to have their lives turned upside down… Sisters Carol and Jackie haven’t had the easiest of childhoods, but as they grow up and begin their own lives both hope for happier times ahead... -
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:
humor historical-fiction epic family literary-fiction romance historical 20th-century -
The Length of a String by Elissa Brent Weissman
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsImani is adopted, and she's ready to search for her birthparents. But when she discovers the diary her Jewish great-grandmother wrote chronicling her escape from Holocaust-era Europe, Imani begins to see family in a new way.Imani knows exactly what she wants as her big bat mitzvah gift: to meet her birthparents...Categorized as:
historical-fiction realistic family poc-mc literary-fiction bildungsroman black-mc middle-grade -
Small Country by Gaël Faye
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratings‘A luminous and poignant novel about childhood, war, exile and identity…this is literature at its most powerful’ Le Parisien Magazine Burundi, 1992. For ten-year-old Gabriel, life in his comfortable expat neighbourhood of Bujumbura with his French father, Rwandan mother and little sister, Ana, is something close to paradise... -
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... -
Blackpool Lass by Maggie Mason
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe perfect read for fans of Mary Wood, Kitty Neale, Val Wood and Nadine Dorries Orphaned and destitute, will Grace find her own way in the world? When Grace's Ma passes away and her Da's ship sinks with all hands, Grace is utterly alone in the world. She's sent to an orphanage in Blackpool, but the master has an eye for a pretty young lass... -
Christmas with the Bobby Girls: Book Three in a gritty, uplifting WW1 series about the first ever female police officers by Johanna Bell
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratings1915. Patrolling is the last thing on the minds of Women's Police Service recruits Annie, Maggie and Poppy right now, because Annie and her fiancé Richard are about to get married. She's been waiting for this day her whole life, but when it finally comes it brings only heartache and Annie doesn't know if she can go on... -
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 epic romance historical 20th-century fiction -
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 . -
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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... -
Christmas to Come by Carol Rivers
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author of A Wartime Christmas! Previously published with the title of Bella of Bow Street, this inspirational tour de force set in the 1940’s - 60’s brings London’s East End alive and will have you on the edge of your seat as you read Bella’s brave story... -
The Forces' Sweethearts by Rosie Archer
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratings1942, and singing group the Bluebird Girls have swapped the theatres of southern England for army tents in the Libyan desert. Their mission is to boost the morale of the brave British troops fighting under the hot sun, where there is no end yet in sight to the war... -
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... -
Speedwell by Alex Martin
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSpeedwell Living in the fast lane tests everyone's limits Katy and Jem enter the 1920's with their future in the balance. How can they possibly make their new enterprise work? They must risk everything, including disaster, and trust their gamble will pay off... -
The Spitfire Girl in the Skies: A heartwarming and romantic WW2 saga by Fenella J. Miller
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWith the men on the front line, courageous Ellie must do her bit for the war effort. It's 1939 and the threat of war hangs over the country... Flying instructor Ellie Simpson has grown up a tomboy. She's never had an interest in the latest fashions or finding a husband, her only passion is flying her beloved Tiger Moth... -
A Child Of Jarrow by Janet MacLeod Trotter
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTo escape her possessive and drunken step-father, Kate is sent away from teaming Jarrow to work on the Ravensworth Estate. Swapping a life of hardship for this rural idyll, she is soon attracting the attention of charming, headstrong Alexander, a distant cousin of the Earl... -
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 historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book female-mc fiction -
Peace Lily by Alex Martin
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsPeace Lily is the sequel to DAFFODILS and book two of the 'Katherine Wheel' series. After the appalling losses suffered during World War One, three of its survivors long for peace, unaware that its aftermath will bring different, but still daunting, challenges. Katy trained as a mechanic during the war and cannot bear to return to the life of drudgery she left behind... -
The Silver Ladies of London by Lesley Eames
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratings1920's London. Featuring four attractive heroines, a scandal, a secret and a silver Rolls Royce. This is a heart-warming story of friendship, loyalty, courage and love. Perfect for the fans of Elaine Everest and Daisy Styles... -
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Wartime Girls by Anne Baker
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSet in Liverpool during the Depression and the Blitz of the Second World War, Anne Baker's dramatic saga brings a close-knit community vividly to life. It is the day of the Grand National, 1933, when Susie Ingram's fiance, Danny, is killed in a tragic accident... -
An Ordinary Woman: An utterly captivating and uplifting story of one woman’s strength and determination… by Susan Sallis
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen Rose was four the scandal broke about her head. She was really too young to understand what was happening - only that her mother was in disgrace and that they were leaving Aunt Mabe in America and returning home to England. The following May, Joanna - 'Jon' - was born. Rose and Jon were totally different... -
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsMarcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time is one of the most entertaining reading experiences in any language and arguably the finest novel of the twentieth century. But since its original prewar translation there has been no completely new version in English... -
My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad, Azar Nafisi
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA teenage boy makes the mistake of falling in love with the much-protected daughter of his uncle, mischievously nicknamed after his hero Napoleon Bonaparte, the curmudgeonly self-appointed patriarch of a large and extended Iranian family in 1940s Tehran...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction humor literary-fiction poc-mc satire 20th-century -
The Immigrants by Howard Fast
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn a passionate, multigenerational novel set against the backdrop of San Francisco, the son of an Italian fisherman struggles from the rubble of the great earthquake to build a shipping empire. Reprint... -
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 literary-fiction season-summer fiction audiobook historical -
An Unbreakable Bond by Mary Wood
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAn Unbreakable Bond is the gripping second novel in The Breckton Novels, from bestselling saga author Mary Wood.It is 1913 and for best friends Megan and Hattie, born at the turn of the century and brought up in a convent orphanage in Leeds, the time has come to make their way in the world... -
The Mill Girls of Albion Lane by Jenny Holmes
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOn the cobbled streets of a Yorkshire mill town in 1931, Lily Briggs does all she can to keep trouble at bay for her and her family.She works hard at Calvert Mill to make ends meet and take care of her parents and younger siblings... -
Liverpool Lou by Lyn Andrews
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOne of Lyn Andrews' first eight novels, transferring from the original publisher to Headline; already steady sellers, they will be targeted for a huge increase in sales. Aunt Babsey considered herself a cut above her neighbours on Everton Ridge. For one thing she was 'trade'. She taught her children to be respectable, and she ruled her family with a rod of iron... -
Lexi's War by Rosie James
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA family at breaking point. A nation at war… 1914. Young Lexi doesn’t want much – just her family’s happiness. She’s been working all the hours she can at the local sweet shop to help her mother lift her little brother and sister out of poverty. Maybe one day, if she tries hard enough, they can save enough to leave their tiny, cramped flat – and terrifying landlord, Mr McCann – behind... -
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The Hungry Hills by Janet MacLeod Trotter
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWith the Great War still raw in the memory and life in the 1920s mining village of Whitton Grange hard and dangerous, Louie Kirkup dreams of a better future. But with a sick mother and a large family of pitman brothers and father, the daily burdens fall heavily on her young shoulders... -
The Kudzu Queen by Mimi Herman
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 7 ratings“Funny, sad, and tender… Mimi Herman has written a novel that possesses a true and hard won understanding of the South.” —David Sedaris, author of Happy-Go-Lucky Fifteen-year-old Mattie Lee Watson dreams of men, not boys. So when James T...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction realistic family coming-of-age fiction historical audiobook -
The Tall Stranger by D.E. Stevenson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIs her childhood sweetheart who he seems? Barbie France has known Edward Steyne all her life – indeed they were childhood sweethearts. Charming, spirited, debonair, he is the ideal companion. Everyone, especially Edward, assumes they will marry one day. But Barbie is uneasy. Edward sometimes behaves very oddly... -
The Midwives of Raglan Road by Jenny Holmes
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSummer, 1936. Newly trained midwife Hazel Price returns to the Yorkshire streets of her childhood, only to find that her modern methods and 'stuck-up' ways bring her into conflict with her family and other formidable residents of Raglan Road.Determined Hazel battles on, assisting with home deliveries and supporting the local GP... -
The Lost Daughter of Liverpool by Pam Howes
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCan she save herself, her marriage – and her daughter? It’s 1946 and the war is over. In Liverpool, the blackout blinds may be coming down, but one family is about to face devastating misfortune… Dora Evans is finally marrying the love of her life, Joe Rodgers, and her dreams of opening a dressmaking business look as if they might come true... -
Daddy Was a Number Runner by Louise Meriwether, Nellie Y. McKay
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis modern classic is “a tough, tender, bitter novel of a black girl struggling towards womanhood” in 1930s Harlem—with a foreword by James Baldwin ( Publishers Weekly ). Depression-era Harlem is home for twelve-year-old Francie Coffin and her family, and it’s both a place of refuge and the source of untold dangers for her and her poor, working class family...Categorized as:
historical-fiction coming-of-age literary-fiction family poc-mc realistic bildungsroman black-mc
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