Books like 'They Came Like Swallows'
Readers who enjoyed They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical 20th century historical-fiction classics literary-fiction epidemy family drama ww1 coming-of-age
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The Fortress by Meša Selimović
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA novel on 18th century Sarajevo under Ottoman rule, featuring a soldier returned from the wars. A Muslim, he marries a Christian girl who supports him while he dabbles in politics, eventually leading a raid to rescue a friend from jail... -
![Pather Panchali: Song of the Road by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay]()
Pather Panchali: Song of the Road by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsPather Panchali deals with the life of the Roy family, consisting of Harihar, Sarbajaya, Apu and Durga, both in their ancestral village Nishchindipur in rural Bengal and later when they move to Varanasi in search of a better life, as well as the anguish and loss they face during their travels... -
![The Secrets of the Tea Garden by Janet MacLeod Trotter]()
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... -
![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 . -
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![With a Kiss and a Prayer by Ellie Dean]()
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 Velvet Ribbon by Nadine Dorries]()
The Velvet Ribbon by Nadine Dorries
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn this wonderful third Tarabeg novel, Mary Kate Malone finds that a secret life in the shadows with her great love, Dr Nicholas, brings heartache and sorrows. When disaster strikes unexpectedly, she turns to the only people she can trust, in the only place she feels safe – her Irish family and friends in the west coast village of Tarabeg. But back in Ireland, everything has changed... -
![Secrets of the Shipyard Girls by Nancy Revell]()
Secrets of the Shipyard Girls by Nancy Revell
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSunderland 1941: As the war drags on, the shipyard girls find themselves facing their own battles.Gloria is over the moon with her bundle of joy, but Hope’s first weeks are bittersweet. Gloria’s love, Jack, is still missing at sea, and with their future as a family so uncertain, Gloria must lean on her girls to get her through... -
![Shipyard Girls in Love by Nancy Revell]()
Shipyard Girls in Love by Nancy Revell
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 12 ratings'the author is one to watch' Sun'A riveting read is just what this is in more ways than one.' The Northern Echo'I enjoyed The Shipyard Girls very much indeed . . -
![The Mothers of Lovely Lane by Nadine Dorries]()
The Mothers of Lovely Lane by Nadine Dorries
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Angels of Lovely Lane, The Four Streets and Ruby Flynn. Noleen Delaney is one of an army of night cleaners at St Angelus hospital in Liverpool. Since her husband was injured in the war, she has supported her five children. With help from her eldest, Bryan – a porter's lad – the family just about gets by... -
![The Orphan's Mother by Marion Kummerow]()
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... -
![Shipyard Girls at War by Nancy Revell]()
Shipyard Girls at War by Nancy Revell
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratings1941: It takes strength to work on the docks, but the war demands all hands on deck and the women are doing their best to fill the gap. Rosie is flourishing in her role as head-welder while still keeping her double life a secret. But a dashing detective is forcing Rosie to choose between love and her duty... -
![Żelazny kaganek by Димитър Талев]()
Żelazny kaganek by Димитър Талев
Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsPowieść przedstawia losy macedońskiego rodu Głauszewów. Akcja powieści rozpoczyna się w połowie lat 30. XIX w. Stojan Głauszew, zabiwszy psa, który należał do lokalnego wielmoży tureckiego, w obawie przed jego gniewem decyduje się na ucieczkę ze wsi. Osiada w pobliskim mieście Prespa, gdzie poznaje Sułtanę, kobietę zaradną, silną i energiczną...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book -
![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... -
![The Nightingale Sisters by Donna Douglas]()
The Nightingale Sisters by Donna Douglas
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTo the student nurses at The Nightingale hospital, the ward sisters are heartless and frightening, with impossibly high standards. But the sisters have troubles of their own...VioletThe new night sister is not all that she seems. Who is she and what dark secret is she hiding? As the mystery deepens, Sister Wren is determined to find out the truth... -
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![A Valley Wedding by Anna Jacobs]()
A Valley Wedding by Anna Jacobs
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe third novel in the brand new Backshaw Moss series by beloved million-copy bestselling author Anna JacobsLancashire, 1936. With her son Gabriel finally married, and her youngest following his dreams of becoming a doctor, Gwynneth Harte finds herself with an empty nest - until a fire forces her to move in with Gabriel and his wife Maisie at their home on Daisy Street... -
![Short Stories by Anton Chekhov]()
Short Stories by Anton Chekhov
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe thirty-four stories in this volume span Chekhov's creative career. They present a wide spectrum of comic and serious themes and a variety of techniques. (His short novels, available in another Norton volume, Seven Short Novels by Chekhov, have been omitted... -
![A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin]()
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom acclaimed novelist Mark Helprin, a lush, literary epic about love, beauty, and the world at war.Alessandro Giuliani, the young son of a prosperous Roman lawyer, enjoys an idyllic life full of privilege: he races horses across the country to the sea, he climbs mountains in the Alps, and, while a student of painting at the ancient university in Bologna, he falls in love... -
![The Angry Tide by Winston Graham]()
The Angry Tide by Winston Graham
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Angry Tide is the seventh novel in Winston Graham's classic Poldark saga, the major TV series from Masterpiece on PBS.Cornwall, towards the end of the 18th century. Ross Poldark sits for the borough of Truro as Member of Parliament - his time divided between London and Cornwall, his heart divided about his wife, Demelza...Categorized as:
classics drama epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Colours of Love by Rita Bradshaw]()
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... -
![Life in the Tomb by Stratis Myrivilis, Στρατής Μυριβήλης]()
Life in the Tomb by Stratis Myrivilis, Στρατής Μυριβήλης
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratings"Life in the Tomb" a war novel written in journal form by a sergeant in the trenches, has been the single most successful and widely read serious work of fiction in Greece since its publication in serial form in 1923-1924, having sold more than 80,000 copies in book form despite its inclusion on the list of censored novels under both the Metaxas regime and the German occupation... -
![Kinfolk by Pearl S. Buck]()
Kinfolk by Pearl S. Buck
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsKinfolk is the story of a Chinese family. Dr. Liang moves to America in search of a better life, but his children long to return to China. Each responds to their new life in China differently, providing rich insight into the struggles between Eastern and Western culture, and the differences between generations...Categorized as:
historical-fiction classics family literary-fiction fiction historical 20th-century politics -
![Wedding Bells for Nurse Connie by Jean Fullerton]()
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... -
![Body and Soul by Frank Conroy]()
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:
classics coming-of-age drama epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century -
![Run with the Horsemen by Ferrol Sams]()
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:
classics coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century animals anthologies -
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![The Settlers by Vilhelm Moberg]()
The Settlers by Vilhelm Moberg
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsConsidered one of Sweden's greatest 20th-century writers, Vilhelm Moberg created Karl Oskar and Kristina Nilsson to portray the joys and tragedies of daily life for early Swedish pioneers in America. His consistently faithful depiction of these humble people's lives is a major strength of the Emigrant Novels...Categorized as:
classics family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book -
![The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman]()
The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsIn the fall of 1918, thirteen-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia’s overcrowded slums and the anti-immigrant sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the U.S. Army. But as her city celebrates the end of war, an even more urgent threat arrives: the Spanish flu... -
![Casting Off by Elizabeth Jane Howard]()
Casting Off by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom Simon & Schuster, Elizabeth Jane Howard's Casting Off is the next chapter in the Cazalet Chronicles perfect for any lovers of historical fiction and one that will not disappoint.In the aftermath of Ve Day in England, the extended Cazalet family endures such difficult events as deaths, weddings, a shattering pregnancy, and divorces...Categorized as:
classics coming-of-age drama epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century -
![A Daughter's Sorrow by Cathy Sharp]()
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]()
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... -
![The Liverpool Girls: A heartbreaking family saga with a tragic romance by Pam Howes]()
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... -
![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... -
![Collected Short Stories: Volume 2 by W. Somerset Maugham]()
Collected Short Stories: Volume 2 by W. Somerset Maugham
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis final classic collection reveals Somerset Maugham's unique talent for exposing and exploring the bitter realities of human relationships in tales of love, infidelity, passion and prejudice. The stories range from "The Lotus Eater" where a man envisions a life of bliss in the Mediterranean, to the astringent tales of "The Outstation" and "The Back of Beyond" in Malaya and South East Asia...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies fiction historical -
![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...Categorized as:
classics epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook -
![An Artificial Light by Petra Durst-Benning, Edwin Miles]()
An Artificial Light by Petra Durst-Benning, Edwin Miles
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA defiant woman in pre–World War I Germany carves out her own unconventional destiny as the enthralling Photographer’s Saga continues.Germany, 1911. Certain things are expected of a woman. Defiant Mimi Reventlow has chosen to be the woman she wants to be. For now, that’s the resident, if temporary, photographer in Laichingen... -
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![They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple]()
They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratings'They Were Sisters is a compulsively readable but often harrowing novel by one of Persephone's best writers, who always manages to make the ordinary extraordinary,' writes Celia Brayfield. This, the second Dorothy Whipple novel we have republished as a Classic, is, like the others, apparently gentle but it has a very strong theme, in this case domestic violence...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction literary-fiction family fiction historical female-author marriage -
![The Green Gauntlet by R.F. Delderfield]()
The Green Gauntlet by R.F. Delderfield
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsPaul and Claire Craddock have grown older in years - but not in spirit. World War II is over. But for Craddock and his family there are new battles to be fought and won. The new property laws enable speculators to reap huge profits from agricultural lands, and Paul's livelihood is threatened... -
![Kam Sukhun Yusuf by Sabahattin Ali]()
Kam Sukhun Yusuf by Sabahattin Ali
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratings...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book -
![Chesapeake by James A. Michener]()
Chesapeake by James A. Michener
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsOnce again James A. Michener brings history to life with this 400-year saga of America's great bay and its Eastern Shore. Following Edmund Steed and his remarkable family, who parallel the settling and forming of the nation, CHESAPEAKE sweeps readers from the unspoiled world of the Native Americans to the voyages of Captain John Smith, the Revolutionary War, and right up to modern times...Categorized as:
classics drama epic family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure -
![Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky by Patrick Hamilton]()
Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky by Patrick Hamilton
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA timeless classic of sleazy London life in the 1930s, a world of streets full of cruelty and kindness, comedy and pathos, where people emerge from cheap lodgings in Pimlico to pour out their passions, hopes and despair in pubs and bars... -
![To Serve Them All My Days by R.F. Delderfield]()
To Serve Them All My Days by R.F. Delderfield
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsYoung David Powlett-Jones, a Welsh miner's son, is invalided home from France when he suffers severe shell shock on the Western Front... -
![Hatter's Castle by A.J. Cronin]()
Hatter's Castle by A.J. Cronin
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHatter's Castle (1931) is the first novel of author A. J. Cronin. The story is set in 1879, in the fictional town of Levenford, on the Firth of Clyde. The plot revolves around many characters and has many subplots, all of which relate to the life of the hatter, James Brodie, whose narcissism and cruelty gradually destroy his family and life... -
![Tuareg by Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa]()
Tuareg by Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Tuaregs are the true sons of the desert. They can survive in the harshest of conditions like nobody else. The noble inmouchar Gacel Sayah, is the master of a large extension of the desert. One day, two fugitives arrive from the north and Gacel, following his ancient and sacred hospitality laws, gives them shelter...Categorized as:
drama historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book fiction -
![The Citadel by A.J. Cronin]()
The Citadel by A.J. Cronin
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Citadel follows the life of Andrew Manson, a young and idealistic Scottish doctor, as he navigates the challenges of practicing medicine across interwar Wales and England. Based on A.J. Cronin’s own experiences as a physician, this book boldly confronts traditional medical ethics, and has been noted as one of the inspirations for the formation of the National Health Service...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction literary-fiction medical 20th-century adult audiobook -
![The Bobby Girls' Secrets: The Bobby Girls, Book Two by Johanna Bell]()
The Bobby Girls' Secrets: The Bobby Girls, Book Two by Johanna Bell
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratings***Book 2 in the gritty, uplifting Bobby Girls series - more information coming... -
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![The District Nurses Make a Wish by Annie Groves]()
The District Nurses Make a Wish by Annie Groves
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe new heartwarming read in the wartime District Nurses series...For the district nurses of Victory Walk, there's been little time to bask in the triumph of D-day as London is facing a new threat – the buzz bombs. Everyone is terrified, never knowing where the next one will strike. Into this tense atmosphere, new nurse, Iris, must make her mark... -
![Blackpool Lass by Maggie Mason]()
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]()
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]()
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]()
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 . -
![The Wartime Vet by Ellie Curzon]()
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...
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