Books like 'The Flowering Thorn'
Readers who enjoyed The Flowering Thorn by Margery Sharp also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical romance 20th century historical-fiction humor classics rural family
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The Devil to Pay in the Backlands by João Guimarães Rosa
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLively reminiscences of bandit warfare in the sertao, the still primitive Brazilian back country, told by a wise, retired outlaw chief. ~Worldcat.orgGrande Sertão: Veredas (Portuguese for "Great Backlands: Tracks"; English translation: The Devil to Pay in the Backlands) is a novel published in 1956 by the Brazilian writer João Guimarães Rosa... -
![The Harp and the Rose by Jean Grainger]()
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![O Continente - Volume I by Erico Verissimo]()
O Continente - Volume I by Erico Verissimo
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA vast sprawling period novel of the minor wars that wracked Brazil from the days when its European masters gambled with their colonists' affairs to the Civil Wars which turned family against family and set Republicans and Federalists at each others throats. Backgrounded by these wars, the story follows the history of the Terra-Cambaras, during 150 years, in the southern part of Brazil. The men . -
![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...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction 20th-century adult book fiction historical violent-conflict -
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![Betsy Was a Junior & Betsy and Joe by Vera Neville]()
Betsy Was a Junior & Betsy and Joe by Vera Neville
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBetsy Was a Junior: It's the best school year ever, especially now that charming, funny Tib Muller is back in Deep Valley. But when her crowd gets into trouble, Betsy's best year could turn out to be her worst...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction humor 20th-century book children coming-of-age female-author -
![The Children Of Lovely Lane by Nadine Dorries]()
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... -
![Betsy's Wedding by Maud Hart Lovelace]()
Betsy's Wedding by Maud Hart Lovelace
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBetsy returns from Europe to marry Joe Willard—and soon learns that beloved friend Tacy is expecting a baby! It's wartime in America, but Betsy, Joe, and their wonderful circle of friends brave their hardships together... -
![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...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction 20th-century adult book fiction historical violent-conflict -
![Pygmalion / My Fair Lady by George Bernard Shaw, Alan Jay Lerner]()
Pygmalion / My Fair Lady by George Bernard Shaw, Alan Jay Lerner
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe ancient Greeks tell the legend of the sculptor Pygmalion, who created a statue of a woman of such surpassing beauty that he fell in love with his own creation. Then, Aphrodite, taking pity on this man whose love could not reach beyond the barrier of stone, brought the statue to life and gave her to Pygmalion as his bride... -
![Our Polly by Anna Jacobs]()
Our Polly by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLittle Billy is the light of Polly's life -- it's for her son's sake that she puts up with an unkind mother-in-law and an isolated farm. Then Billy is knocked down by a car, his father killed attempting to save his life, and Polly, cast off by her husband's family, is left with a child who may never walk or talk again... -
![Elm Tree Road by Anna Jacobs]()
Elm Tree Road by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAfter being driven from home by their brutal father, the Willitt sisters, Mattie, Nell and Renie, find themselves facing greater heartache in the wider world. Nell has left home to be with her lover, Cliff, fearing what reprisals might come from marrying against her father’s wishes.After parting ways with Mattie the couple take youngest sister Renie and head for Lancashire... -
![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... -
![Millie by AnneMarie Brear]()
Millie by AnneMarie Brear
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA brand new series from the author of the Kitty McKenzie series and The Slum Angel. The Great War is over, and Millie is ready to leave her loving family home and be a wife to Jeremy who is everything she had hoped for. Until… Not long after their wedding, Millie discovers Jeremy is affected by shell shock and moving into his late father’s cold dark estate escalates the problem... -
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![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... -
![Pushin' Up Daisies by Carolyn Brown]()
Pushin' Up Daisies by Carolyn Brown
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCatherine O'Shea is the oldest and most responsible of the three O'Shea sisters. She has just buried her mother, one of the last victims of the flu epidemic of 1918. Her father had been one of the first to succumb to the flu and her fiance was killed in the war. And now there is a detective living at her hotel, the Black Swan, looking into the disappearance of her abusive brother-in-law... -
![Out of the Ashes by Tracie Peterson, Kimberley Woodhouse]()
Out of the Ashes by Tracie Peterson, Kimberley Woodhouse
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA chance at reconciliation for two exes who reunite by chance in a 1920s Alaskan hotel is challenged by painful losses, wartime trauma, a violent first marriage and questions about their faith. (religious fiction). Simultaneous... -
![The Enchanted Barn by Grace Livingston Hill]()
The Enchanted Barn by Grace Livingston Hill
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Hollisters, a bright, spirited, wholesome family, are compelled to move into the country. After many efforts to secure a home, Shirley, eldest of the Hollisters, contrives a way out by renting a magnificent old stone barn at a ridiculously low price, transforming it into a house...Categorized as:
classics family historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children -
![The Girls from See Saw Lane by Sandy Taylor]()
The Girls from See Saw Lane by Sandy Taylor
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBrighton 1963. Mary Pickles and I walked along the street with our arms linked, looking in shop windows. We were best friends and together we were invincible.Dottie and Mary forged a friendship over a bag of penny sweets when they were eight years old... -
![The Angels of Lovely Lane by Nadine Dorries]()
The Angels of Lovely Lane by Nadine Dorries
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt is 1953 and five very different girls are arriving at the nurses' home in Lovely Lane, Liverpool, to start their training at St Angelus Hospital. Dana has escaped from her family farm on the west coast of Ireland. Victoria is running away from a debt-ridden aristocratic background. Beth is an army brat and throws in her lot with bitchy Celia Forsyth... -
![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... -
![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 family romance historical 20th-century literary-fiction fiction epic -
![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... -
![Five Windows by D.E. Stevenson]()
Five Windows by D.E. Stevenson
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhere does David belong? David Kirke’s childhood is sheltered, his nature is gentle and peaceable; he is no hero of romance but a human being with faults and failings which lead him into trouble when he adventures into the world to seek his fortune... -
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![The Coal Miner's Daughter by Maggie Hope]()
The Coal Miner's Daughter by Maggie Hope
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA wealthy landlord’s son and a coal miner’s daughter . . . Growing up in poverty, one of six siblings, Hannah Armstrong never thought she’d know anything other than her little mining town. But then she falls for Timothy Durkin, a wealthy Oxford student. Following her heart, Hannah sacrifices everything she holds dear and follows her new husband to Oxford...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family romance historical 20th-century fiction industrial-era victorian -
![Symphony of the Dead by Abbas Maroufi, عباس معروفی]()
Symphony of the Dead by Abbas Maroufi, عباس معروفی
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThis novel traces the fate of the Urkhani family in the Iranian town of Ardabil before & after the Second World War through the trials & ghostly recollections of its very individual members, who include: Ideen, the frustrated poet; Urhan, his greedy & talentless younger brother; & Yousef, whose childhood antics left him paralysed... -
![Niccolò Rising by Dorothy Dunnett]()
Niccolò Rising by Dorothy Dunnett
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsWith the bravura storytelling and pungent authenticity of detail she brought to her acclaimed Lymond Chronicles, Dorothy Dunnett, grande dame of the historical novel, presents The House of Niccolò series. The time is the 15th century, when intrepid merchants became the new knighthood of Europe...Categorized as:
classics family historical-fiction humor 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![The First Emma by Camille Di Maio]()
The First Emma by Camille Di Maio
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCamille Di Maio's fifth novel THE FIRST EMMA is the true story of Emma Koehler, whose tycoon husband Otto was killed in a crime-of-the-century murder by one of his two mistresses—both also named Emma—and her unlikely rise as CEO of a brewing empire during Prohibition. When a chance to tell her story to a young teetotaler arises, a tale unfolds of love, war, beer, and the power of women... -
![Katherine Wentworth by D.E. Stevenson]()
Katherine Wentworth by D.E. Stevenson
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA pretty, courageous young widow, faced with the task of bringing up three children and making her way alone in the world, is the appealing heroine of this touching love story executed with D.E. Stevenson's characteristic freshness and charm... -
![Katherine's Marriage by D.E. Stevenson]()
Katherine's Marriage by D.E. Stevenson
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsReaders who discovered Katherine Wentworth and Alec MacLaren in Katherine Wentworth will be delighted to learn more about this lively pair. Those who are meeting them for the first time will find that this romantic story stands independently and beautifully on its own. The story opens with the honeymoon of Katherine and Alec at Ardfalloch in the idyllic Scottish Highlands... -
![The Silver Ladies of London by Lesley Eames]()
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... -
![Aurélien by Louis Aragon]()
Aurélien by Louis Aragon
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDans cette chronique parisienne de l'entre-deux guerres, Aragon décrit la toute nouvelle société surréaliste. Aurélien, jeune homme sensible et oisif, fréquente les salons parisiens d'avant-garde, y côtoie les poètes, les actrices, les peintres qui ne sont autres que Picabia ou Cocteau... -
![My Fair Lady by Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe]()
My Fair Lady by Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe ancient Greeks tell the legend of the sculptor Pygmalion, who created a statue of a woman of such surpassing beauty that he fell in love with his own creation. Then, Aphrodite, taking pity on this man whose love could not reach beyond the barrier of stone, brought the statue to life and gave her to Pygmalion as his bride... -
![Testimony of Two Men by Taylor Caldwell]()
Testimony of Two Men by Taylor Caldwell
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSomeday the town of Hambledon might forget the lies they told about their brilliant young doctor. But they could never forgive the truths he told about them... -
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![Down Lambeth Way by Mary Jane Staples]()
Down Lambeth Way by Mary Jane Staples
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe beginning of a wonderful saga telling the story of a Cockney family in peace and war from multi-million copy seller Mary Jane Staples. Perfect for fans of Kitty Neale, Maggie Ford and Katie Flynn... -
![The Winter Rose by Katie Flynn]()
The Winter Rose by Katie Flynn
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe heatwarming festive follow-up to The Rose Queen , from beloved Sunday Times bestselling author Katie Flynn._____________________________________________Liverpool, 1941: After German bombs shatter the life Cadi has built for herself in Liverpool, she is more determined than ever to sign up and do her bit... -
![The Hungry Hills by Janet MacLeod Trotter]()
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... -
![Romance D’A Pedra do Reino e O Príncipe do Sangue do Vai-e-Volta by Ariano Suassuna]()
Romance D’A Pedra do Reino e O Príncipe do Sangue do Vai-e-Volta by Ariano Suassuna
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings'A pedra do reino' é apresentado como um romance autobiográfico narrado por Dom Pedro Dinis Ferreira-Quaderna, o auto-proclamado 'Rei do Quinto Império e do Quinto Naipe, Profeta da Igreja Católico-Serteneja e pretendente ao trono do Império do Brasil'... -
![The Narrowboat Girl by Annie Murray]()
The Narrowboat Girl by Annie Murray
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsYoung Maryann Nelson is devastated at the loss of her beloved father. But worse is to come when her mother, Flo, sees an opportunity to better herself and her family in a marriage to the local undertaker, Norman Griffin. Though on the surface a caring family man, Norman is not at all what he seems, as Maryann and her sister Sal soon discover... -
![Friends Forever by Lyn Andrews]()
Friends Forever by Lyn Andrews
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBest friends Bernie and Molly are just seventeen when they set off from Ireland in 1928, heading for Liverpool. They quickly find jobs and rooms; soon both women are in love with local men. Tragically, though, Bernie is widowed when she's still barely an adult, while Molly has chosen a bad 'un and faces the deepest shame when he deserts her... -
![Yesteryear by Dorothy Garlock]()
Yesteryear by Dorothy Garlock
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAddie Hyde spent four years waiting to see if the high-spirited husband she had married in haste would come back after the South lost the war. Yet Kirby Hyde was never among the Confederates in rags and tatters straggling through Arkansas. Addie always had spunk, but now she also had a young son, two foster children she cherished, and trouble...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction 20th-century book fiction historical industrial-era western -
![The Valley Of Decision by Marcia Davenport]()
The Valley Of Decision by Marcia Davenport
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOn the eve of World War II writer Marcia Davenport, best known for her biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, spent several years in Pittsburgh, her imagination caught by the drama of American industry. In 1942, Charles Scribner’s sons published her Pittsburgh novel, The Valley of Decision... -
![Sarah Morris Remembers (Sarah) by D.E. Stevenson]()
Sarah Morris Remembers (Sarah) by D.E. Stevenson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWith the help of her diary, Sarah Morris tries to make a pattern of the lives of her family and her friends... The result is a brightly woven tapestry of which the main thread, Sarah’s own story, is the love which grows naturally from the innocent affection of a child into the all-absorbing passion of a woman. Sarah tells of her happy childhood at the Vicarage... -
![The Tall Stranger by D.E. Stevenson]()
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... -
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![Love is Just a Word by Johannes Mario Simmel, Йоханес Марио Зимел]()
Love is Just a Word by Johannes Mario Simmel, Йоханес Марио Зимел
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis is the story of Oliver and Verena, who fall in love and risk everything to keep each other.He is the son of a notorious German industrialist. She is the voluptuous, indiscreet wife of a wealthy and ruthless businessman.Apart they have been two lonely people. Half alive. Together, they are radiant... -
![While Love Stirs by Lorna Seilstad]()
While Love Stirs by Lorna Seilstad
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAfter graduating from Fannie Farmer's School of Cookery in 1910, Charlotte Gregory is ready to stir things up. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to travel, lecture, and give cooking demonstrations on the very latest kitchen revolution--the gas stove--and certainly doesn't mind that the gas company has hired the handsome Lewis Mathis to perform at her lectures... -
![The Heart of the Family by Elizabeth Goudge]()
The Heart of the Family by Elizabeth Goudge
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDespite the "crinkled pink petals strewn in the path of those who would have preferred red," four generations of Eliots have survived the War and are moving forward. The family's remarkable matriarch Lucilla is still with them, though she's facing the dark night of the soul. All is turned on its head with the arrival of Sebastian, another survivor of WWII... -
![Long Summer Day by R.F. Delderfield]()
Long Summer Day by R.F. Delderfield
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPaul Craddock is still young when he is invalided out of the army after the Boer War and he discovers the neglected estate of Shallowford in a secluded corner of Devon. It seems remote from the march of progress. But as storm clouds gather over Europe, Paul learns that no part of England, however remote, can escape the challenge of the times...Categorized as:
classics family historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook book -
![Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge]()
Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA haunting love story set in the Channel Islands and New Zealand in the 19th century.William Ozanne, whose hypnotic, masculine presence made two sisters adore him with all their heart... The two beautiful daughters of a wealthy merchant of the Channel Islands fall in love with the same man, are very diferent...Categorized as:
classics family historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book christian -
![Homeland by John Jakes]()
Homeland by John Jakes
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAt the dawn of a new century, from the uncontrolled chaos of Chicago's infamous Pullman Strike, to the birth of the moving picture, and the bloody carnage of the Spanish-American War, the immigrant Crown family raced with the currents of a changing world and their own desires, to claim America as their own...
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