Books like 'Leaving Cold Sassy: A Novel'
Readers who enjoyed Leaving Cold Sassy: A Novel by Olive Ann Burns also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical small town historical-fiction classics coming-of-age family humor literary-fiction
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Secrets at the Last House Before the Sea: A gripping and emotional page-turner by Liz Eeles
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the attic of Driftwood House there are stunning views of the deep green sea and sapphire sky... -
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsIt's first the story of two women in the 1980s, of gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode telling her life story to Evelyn, who is in the sad slump of middle age...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction humor literary-fiction 20th-century adult -
Last Summer Boys by Bill Rivers
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn this rapturous coming-of-age debut, a naive-yet-determined Appalachian boy will go to any length to save his family over the course of one life-changing summer.“If you’re famous, you don’t have to go to war.”Summer 1968. When thirteen-year-old Jack Elliot overhears the barbershop men grousing, he devises a secret plan to keep his oldest brother, Pete, from the draft...Categorized as:
historical-fiction coming-of-age family literary-fiction fiction young-adult historical drama -
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 92 ratingsThis heartwarming story has beckoned generations of readers into the special world of Green Gables, an old-fashioned farm outside a town called Avonlea. Anne Shirley, an eleven-year-old orphan, has arrived in this verdant corner of Prince Edward Island only to discover that the Cuthberts—elderly Matthew and his stern sister, Marilla—want to adopt a boy, not a feisty redheaded girl... -
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Come High Water by Carolyn Brown
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBridget O'Shea had sworn she'd never fall in love again. She had a hotel, The Black Swan, to operate alone, since her sisters - Catherine and Alice - had both married the previous year. And then there was Ella, her lovely baby daughter. The hotel and Ella took up all her time and energy... -
Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratings"This is a book about Heaven," says Jayber Crow, "but I must say too that . . . I have wondered sometimes if it would not finally turn out to be a book about Hell." It is 1932 and he has returned to his native Port William to become the town's barber...Categorized as:
classics family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book -
Choices by Carolyn Brown
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDouglass Esmeralda Sullivan has just discovered that all men are gutter rats, all except for her six half-Irish, half-Mexican brothers, and sometimes she's not so sure about them. She's sitting in the middle of a dusty road on a hot Texas day, fuming because she's made a horrible mistake concerning Raymond Pierce, a despicable Yankee, one who has led her down the daisy path to destruction...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction action-adventure adult book fiction historical industrial-era -
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 81 ratingsFrom The New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white.The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century 21st-century abuse audiobook -
Belle of the Back Streets by Glenda Young
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA dramatically powerful and romantic saga of tragedy and triumph, perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin... -
The Incredible Winston Browne by Sean Dietrich
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBeloved writer Sean Dietrich—also known as Sean of the South—will warm your heart with this rich and nostalgic tale of a small-town sheriff, a mysterious little girl, and a good-hearted community pulling together to help her.Folks in Moab live for ice cream socials, baseball, and the local paper’s weekly gossip column... -
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... -
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 87 ratingsA remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.“Treat yourself to this book, please - I can’t recommend it highly enough.” (Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love)“I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers... -
Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo comes a story of discovering who you are — and deciding who you want to be.When Louisiana Elefante’s granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately, Louisiana isn’t overly worried. After all, Granny has many middle-of-the-night ideas...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction humor action-adventure animals audiobook book -
Evening Star by Carolyn Brown
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAddison Carter was hired by Magnolia Oil to work as their company doctor in Healdton, Oklahoma. In 1917, oil companies didn't hire women to work for them, so that alone was quite a miracle... -
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Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 73 ratingsAt sixteen, Anne is grown up...almost. Her gray eyes shine like evening stars, but her red hair is still as peppery as her temper. In the years since she arrived at Green Gables as a freckle-faced orphan, she has earned the love of the people of Avonlea and a reputation for getting into scrapes. But when Anne begins her job as the new schoolteacher, the real test of her character begins... -
Heaven to Betsy by Maud Hart Lovelace
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHigh School is Heaven! It's Betsy Ray's freshman year at Deep Valley High School, and she and her best childhood chum, Tacy Kelly, are loving every minute...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction 20th-century book children female-author -
Drawing Mr. Darcy: Sketching His Character by Melanie Rachel
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen Thomas Bennet's childless aunt and uncle ask that one of his five daughters come to stay with them, he knows just which girl to send. Bright, energetic, and endlessly inquisitive, his little Lizzy is poised to become the apple of her father’s eye and the target of her mother’s fears. Neither will promote family harmony... -
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:
family historical-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book christian fiction -
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... -
The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the multi-award-winning and internationally bestselling author Donal Ryan, a searing, jubilant story about four generations of women and fierce love The Aylward women of Nenagh, Tipperary, are mad about each other, but you wouldn't always think it... -
Winter Cottage by Mary Ellen Taylor
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA gripping novel about family secrets…and coming home for the first time. Still grieving the loss of her wandering, free-spirited mother, Lucy Kincaid leaves Nashville for the faded town of Cape Hudson, Virginia. She goes to see the house she’s inherited—one she never knew existed, bequeathed to her by a woman she’s never even met... -
Secondhand Bride by Linda Lael Miller
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTo win his father's ranch, a hard-living cowboy settles down and takes a wife--another man's wife! The youngest McKettrick brother, Jeb, is the wild one who never could stay out of trouble. And trouble is what he gets when he proposes to Chloe Wakefield... -
Time of the Child by Niall Williams
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the author of This Is Happiness, a compassionate, life-affirming novel about the Christmas season that transforms the small Irish town of Faha.Doctor Jack Troy was born and raised in Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean he has always been set apart from the town...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family europe british-isles ireland fiction historical -
Betsy in Spite of Herself by Maud Hart Lovelace
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBetsy Ray is now a sophomore, and she and her Crowd are in the thick of things at Deep Valley High. Whether she's carrying out her duties as class secretary, trying to charm the exasperating Joe Willard, or juggling the demands of rhetoricals, football games, parties, and exams, Betsy's got her hands full. She should be happy... but she is dissatisfied...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction 20th-century book children christian -
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The Caretaker by Ron Rash
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTold against the backdrop of the Korean War as a small Appalachian town sends its sons to battle, The Caretaker by award-winning author Ron Rash ("One of the great American authors at work today" --The New York Times) is a breathtaking love story and a searing examination of the acts we seek to justify in the name of duty, family, honor, and love.It's 1951 in Blowing Rock, North Carolina...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family north-america usa north-carolina fiction war -
The Duke's Refuge by Lorri Dudley
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen love comes in a tempest, who knew it would wear pink? Georgia Lennox has traded in her boyish ways for pink gowns and a coy smile to capture the eye of the Earl of Claremont. However, on the day she's convinced the earl will propose, Georgia is shipped off to the Leeward Islands to care for her ailing father...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction adult book christian fiction historical industrial-era -
Pretending to be a Debutante by Annabelle Anders
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat happens when a spinster teacher pretends to be a debutante?Miss Priscilla Fellowes is no stranger to disappointing loved ones. So when her employer, Miss Primm needs her to impersonate troublesome student—Allison Meadowbrook—to protect the school’s reputation, Priscilla cannot refuse...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction adult blackmail book early-modern fiction historical -
Seth by Kit Morgan
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhat happens when three English ladies are shipped off halfway across the world as mail order brides? EVERYTHING! Three sisters, Penelope, Constance and Eloise go from a posh lifestyle outside of London to Clear Creek, a nothing of a town full of quirky characters, crazy live-stock, and bumbling villains! Penelope is the first to wed, (August, Prairie Grooms, Book One) and learns her prim and... -
Mail-Order Bride Ink: Dear Mr. Comfort by Kit Morgan
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDear Mrs. Pettigrew, My name is Major Comfort and I am writing to you to clear up a matter of great importance. It seems a grave mistake has been made. A woman by the name of Lucretia Lynch arrived in town claiming to be my mail-order bride. The trouble is, I didn’t send for one! My guess is my father is behind this... -
Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsAnne Shirley has come a long way since her days as a mischievous orphan living in the house at Green Gables. She is now eighteen and headed to faraway Redmond College in Kingsport. Anne's college years are sure to be full of fun, but they will also be a time for soul–searching and big decisions...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction humor literary-fiction 20th-century audiobook -
A Lady of True Distinction by Grace Burrowes
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHawthorne Dorning either finds a way to turn his family’s vast botanical resources into a successful commercial venture, or the estate the Dornings have called home for centuries could be broken up. He loves the land and he’s never shied away from hard work, but he knows nothing about creating perfumes or fragrances... -
The All-American by Susie Finkbeiner
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratings2024 Michigan Notable BookIt is 1952, and nearly all the girls 16-year-old Bertha Harding knows dream of getting married, keeping house, and raising children in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. Bertha dreams of baseball...Categorized as:
historical-fiction coming-of-age family christian fiction historical sports young-adult -
A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsMary Alice remembers childhood summers packed with drama. At fifteen, she faces a whole long year with Grandma Dowdel, well known for shaking up her neighbors-and everyone else. All Mary Alice can know for certain is this: when trying to predict how life with Grandma might turn out . . . better not...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction humor action-adventure audiobook book -
Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsSunburn is an astute and tender portrayal of first love, adolescent anxiety and the realities of growing up in a small town where tradition holds people tightly in its grasp...Categorized as:
literary-fiction historical-fiction coming-of-age family europe british-isles ireland romance -
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Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsFrom award-winning author Alan Bradley comes the next cozy British mystery starring intrepid young sleuth Flavia de Luce, hailed by USA Today as “one of the most remarkable creations in recent literature... -
Murder in the Churchyard by Catherine Coles
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDownton Abbey crossed with Murder, She Wrote...set in a Yorkshire village!When the body of Isolde Newley's long lost husband is found in the grounds of St Augustus churchyard, suspicion falls on Isolde and everyone close to her - especially her new love interest, the dashing Dr Mainwaring.The mystery is exacerbated by the largest snowfall seen in North Yorkshire for years... -
Sourdough Creek by Caroline Fyffe
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCassie Angel is used to taking care of herself. With a spirit of adventure, and a need to stay safe, she departs a dying Nevada town for the golden opportunities that await in California--along with a new life. When charming Sam Ridgeway shows up, claiming to know her uncle, and offers her protection in her travels, she has no idea there is an ulterior motive involved... -
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams, Shashi Martynova
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAbout This Is HappinessThe most enchanting novel you'll read this year, from the acclaimed author of Man Booker-longlisted History of the RainChange is coming to Faha, a small Irish parish that hasn't changed in a thousand years.For one thing, the rain is stopping. Nobody remembers when it started; rain on the western seaboard is a condition of living... -
High Country Bride by Linda Lael Miller
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOne ranch. Three sons. Only one will inherit...and on one condition. Tired of waiting for his sons to settle down, Arizona-territory rancher Angus McKettrick announces a competition: the first son to marry and produce a grandchild will inherit Triple M ranch. Now, three distinctly different, equally determined cowboys are searching high and low for brides...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction humor action-adventure adult arranged-marriage audiobook book -
The Bell in the Lake by Lars Mytting
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe engrossing epic novel—a #1 bestseller in Norway-of a young woman whose fate plays out against her village’s mystical church bells As long as people could remember, the stave church’s bells had rung over the isolated village of Butangen, Norway. Cast in memory of conjoined twins, the bells are said to ring on their own in times of danger...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction action-adventure adult audiobook book fiction -
...And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA #1 New York Times bestseller--and an American classic--now in trade paperback...A groundbreaking bestseller with two and a half million copies in print, "...And Ladies of the Club" centers on the members of a book club and their struggles to understand themselves, each other, and the tumultuous world they live in...Categorized as:
classics family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book civil-war -
Claw Marks & Card Games by Maz Maddox
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCooper Woodlock is a man who can’t seem to stay out of trouble. Between his gambling debt and being a widowed father, he can never seem to get Lady Luck back on his side. Desperate for a winning hand, Cooper starts hitting saloons and tempting fate in order to keep the bloodthirsty Spades at bay... -
Secrets of Worry Dolls by Amy Impellizzeri
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAccording to Mayan tradition, if you whisper your troubles to the Worry Dolls, they will do the worrying instead of you--therefore, it follows that Worry Dolls are the keepers of a great many secrets . . .On the eve of the end of the world--according to the Mayan calendar--Mari Guarez Roselli's secrets are being unraveled by her daughter, Lu... -
Wyoming Wild by Sarah M. Eden
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHearts collide when a sheriff’s daughter asks a hardened US Marshal to join her fight for justice and rid a small town of her corrupt father. Wyoming Territory, 1876 US Marshal John “Hawk” Hawking is one of the most respected lawmen in the West, so when a telegram arrives from the small town of Sand Creek warning him of a death threat against him, he immediately begins an investigation... -
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Bran by Kit Morgan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsClear Creek was a quaint little place, one most men took one look at, and decided to settle. There was only one problem. There were no women. In fact, the town was so small, when women looked at it, they laughed then whipped their horses into a frenzy to get as far from it as possible. This of course, left a mighty big hole in the hearts of the men who lived there... -
Chase by Kit Morgan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat happens when three more English ladies are shipped off halfway across the world as mail order brides? EVERYTHING! Three sisters, Lena, Fina and Apple go from an even more posh lifestyle than their cousins before them, and arrive in Clear Creek, a nothing of a town full of quirky characters, crazy live-stock, and bumbling villains! Escorted by their strict and very proper distant cousin,... -
Amon by Kit Morgan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEveryone deserves someone, even if that someone is a little … odd. Amon Cotter came to Clear Creek to help build Mr. Van Cleet’s hotel. His craftsmanship with wood was second to none, and when the hotel work was done, he decided to stay on. Nettie Whitman, the daughter of the nefarious Thackary Holmes, was sent from England to Clear Creek to find a husband... -
Newton by Kit Morgan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNewton Whitman had a hunger for adventure and got more than his fair share after coming to Clear Creek, Oregon with his twin sister Nettie. Now that she was married, what was he to do? Fulfill his dream of exploring, what else? But throw his long lost father (a notorious rake) into the mix and now he’s torn... -
His Prairie Duchess by Kit Morgan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPrairie Brides is a series, so you'll want to read the books in order to have the most fun! Enjoy these sweet romances as you get to know the Cooke brothers and the townsfolk of Clear Creek. One of the wackiest little towns in the old west! Duncan Cooke had a problem. A really BIG problem... -
High Tide at Noon by Elisabeth Ogilvie
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe struggles, hardship, and joy of one woman's life on a Maine island are brought to life in this haunting and enduringly popular trilogy, the first three books of the Bennett's Island series...
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