Books like 'Swim Back to Me'
Readers who enjoyed Swim Back to Me by Ann Packer also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary psychological coming-of-age literary-fiction family drama realistic breakup domestic-drama female-mc
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Francesca by Gillian Y. Godden
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSingle mother Francesca is struggling to get by when an act of desperation leads to her owing a debt to notorious gangland boss, Tony Lambrianu. Tony has his own troubles – a change of image from playboy to respectable married man is needed to further his criminal career. He has women falling at his feet, but none he wants to make his wife... -
![One Moment by Linda Green]()
One Moment by Linda Green
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFinn and Kaz are about to meet for the first time. Ten-year-old Finn, a quirky, sensitive boy who talks a lot and only eats at cafes with a 5-star hygiene rating, is having a tough time at school and home. Outspoken Kaz, 59, who has an acerbic sense of humour and a heart of gold, is working at the café when Finn and his mum come in...Categorized as:
breakup coming-of-age domestic-drama family female-mc literary-fiction adult audiobook -
![A Million Dreams by Dani Atkins]()
A Million Dreams by Dani Atkins
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBeth Brandon always dreamed of owning a florist, but today the bouquets of peonies and bright spring flowers are failing to calm her nerves. Because today, Beth has a life-changing decision to share with her husband.Izzy Vaughan thought she and her husband would stay together forever, but sometime last year, their love began to fade... -
![Next to Normal by Brian Yorkey, Tom Kitt]()
Next to Normal by Brian Yorkey, Tom Kitt
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"A brave and breathtaking musical... -
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![An Unusual Boy by Fiona Higgins]()
An Unusual Boy by Fiona Higgins
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMeet Jackson - a very unusual boy in a world that prefers 'normal'...Julia Curtis is a busy mother of three, with a husband often away for work, an ever-present mother-in-law, a career, and a house that needs doing up. Her fourteen-year-old daughter, Milla, has fallen in love for the first time, and her youngest, Ruby, is a nine-year-old fashionista who can out-negotiate anyone... -
![No Wedding Like Nantucket by Grace Palmer]()
No Wedding Like Nantucket by Grace Palmer
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe wedding of the year versus the storm of the century. Who will win?Things are finally looking up for the Benson family. After a year of tough choices and big leaps of faith, it seems like love, success, and happiness are right in their grasp. But with a wedding on the horizon and a successful new restaurant growing faster than anyone ever expected, everyone certainly has their hands full... -
![GUIDE STAR a gripping and emotional rollercoaster of a novel about love, life and not giving up by Joy Ellis]()
GUIDE STAR a gripping and emotional rollercoaster of a novel about love, life and not giving up by Joy Ellis
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDo you love emotional and gripping fiction full of twists about people fighting back against what life throws at them? Then try this book by a #1 best-selling author now. You won't want to put it down. WHO DO YOU TURN TO WHEN LIFE GOES WRONG? WHO IS YOUR GUIDE STAR? What readers are saying about GUIDE STAR “ Loved this book... -
![No Beach Like Nantucket by Grace Palmer]()
No Beach Like Nantucket by Grace Palmer
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Benson family needs a fresh start. Can they find peace and happiness on the beaches of Nantucket?Last summer, a storm blew the Benson family’s lives to bits.It’s been almost a year since that fateful day.Since they learned that life at the beach isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.They’re doing their best to pick up the pieces.Mae is running the Sweet Island Inn... -
![My Husband's Daughter by Emma Robinson]()
My Husband's Daughter by Emma Robinson
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsCara took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘She’s not just my daughter,’ she said as she turned in her seat to face Jack. This man she had once loved, but who she hadn’t seen for nearly five years. ‘Sophie is your daughter too.’It is past ten o’clock on a cold Friday night when Rebecca and her husband Jack’s doorbell rings... -
![Where Women Are Kings by Christie Watson]()
Where Women Are Kings by Christie Watson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsElijah, seven years old, has a history of disruptive behaviour. His adoptive mother Nikki believes that she and her husband Obi are strong enough to accept his difficulties – and that her being white will not affect her ability to raise a black son... -
![The Day She Came Back by Amanda Prowse]()
The Day She Came Back by Amanda Prowse
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen her loving, free-spirited grandmother Primrose passes away, Victoria is bereft, yet resilient—she has survived tragedy before. But even her strength is tested when a mysterious woman attends Prim’s funeral and claims to be the mother Victoria thought was dead... -
![Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason]()
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsMartha Friel just turned forty. She used to work at Vogue and was going to write a novel. Now, she creates internet content for no one. She used to live in Paris. Now, she lives in a gated community in Oxford that she hates and can't bear to leave. But she must now that her loving husband Patrick has just left.Because there's something wrong with Martha...Categorized as:
breakup coming-of-age domestic-drama drama family female-mc literary-fiction 21st-century -
![What She Saw by Wendy Clarke]()
What She Saw by Wendy Clarke
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsShe lied to her daughter to save her family. Everyone knows Leona would do anything for her daughter Beth: she moved to Church Langdon to send Beth to the best school, worked hard to build a successful business to support them and found them the perfect little cottage to call home. Leona and Beth hike together, shop together, share their hopes and fears with one another... -
![The Secret Child by Kerry Fisher]()
The Secret Child by Kerry Fisher
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJust for a moment, I was young and invincible again, back before I made the decision that changed the rest of my life… Susie did something that she knows she will always regret: giving her baby son up for adoption, to keep her infidelity secret from her family... -
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![What I Remember Most by Cathy Lamb]()
What I Remember Most by Cathy Lamb
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn a new novel rich in grace, warmth, and courage, acclaimed author Cathy Lamb tells of one woman's journey of reinvention in the wake of deep betrayal.Grenadine Scotch Wild has only vague memories of the parents she last saw when she was six years old. But she's never forgotten their final, panicked words to her, urging Grenadine to run... -
![Let the Light Shine by Nick Alexander, Penelope Rawlins]()
Let the Light Shine by Nick Alexander, Penelope Rawlins
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom Nick Alexander, the number one best-selling author of The Photographer's Wife and The Other Son.Penny and Victoria are about as different as two siblings can be, one with a smart London lifestyle, the other struggling to make ends meet. But they are joined by more than blood, and their shared tragic past is affecting the present more than they realise... -
![Christina by Leanne Davis]()
Christina by Leanne Davis
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMy entire life I’ve lived with shadows lurking behind what otherwise appears like the perfect family. My mother often disappears into her bedroom for days at a time because her life becomes too much to deal with. I never understood it. I know there are family secrets. I hear the whispers and innuendos. But no one wants me to know the truth. The thing is: I’m not a little girl anymore... -
![The Baby by A.J. McDine]()
The Baby by A.J. McDine
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThere’s a baby in your house. It isn’t yours…The day I was told I’d never be able to have a child, my world came crashing down. My husband says he still loves me but I lie awake at night, wishing we could have a family.One morning, my husband’s side of the bed is cold and empty. I hear a noise and head downstairs. In the middle of the rug in my living room is a wooden drawer... -
![Hunger for Life by Andy Marr]()
Hunger for Life by Andy Marr
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOn the day of his graduation, James says goodbye to the future and moves back to his parents’ house in Myreton, the sleepy village of his childhood. He’s not happy, but the thought of continuing his life anywhere else seems unthinkable while his sister, Emma, continues to suffer with the illness that’s plagued her since she was a child...Categorized as:
family coming-of-age literary-fiction drama romance fiction contemporary mental-illness -
![Deserve To Die by Miranda Rijks]()
Deserve To Die by Miranda Rijks
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDom and Stacey have the perfect life. Until they meet Tamara. Brilliant, beautiful, she hides a horrifying secret. One that may destroy them all.Happily married with two wonderful children, Dom and Stacey are living the dream. He runs a successful design agency, she is finding fame as an author of children’s books.Everything is perfect... -
![The Marriage Mender by Linda Green]()
The Marriage Mender by Linda Green
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe only relationship she can't save is her own . . .Alison is a marriage counsellor. Her job is to help couples who fear they have reached the end of the line. But the trouble with spending your time sorting out other people's problems is that you tend to take your eye off your own. Even when her husband's ex Lydia arrives on the doorstep demanding to see her son, Alison thinks she can handle it... -
![The House of Gazes by Daniele Mencarelli]()
The House of Gazes by Daniele Mencarelli
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWinner of the 2019 John Fante First Novel Prize The critically acclaimed novel from the author of Everything Calls for Salvation , adapted into a Netflix Original series, is a powerful coming-of-age story about loss, identity, and rebirth Daniele is a young poet plagued by an unknown darkness, “an invisible disease of the heart, or of the mind...Categorized as:
literary-fiction drama coming-of-age fiction contemporary audiobook psychological book -
![You Need to Know by Nicola Moriarty]()
You Need to Know by Nicola Moriarty
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Ex and Those Other Women comes a thrilling family drama about the secrets we keep, the lies we tell and the truths that won't stay hidden.The holidays are here. The extended family has gathered. The cars are packed and the convoy sets off.The cottage is a few hours' drive - but not everyone will live to see it .. -
![The Art of Hiding by Amanda Prowse]()
The Art of Hiding by Amanda Prowse
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhat would you do if you learned that the life you lived was a lie? Nina McCarrick lives the perfect life, until her husband, Finn, is killed in a car accident and everything Nina thought she could rely on unravels.Alone, bereft and faced with a mountain of debt, Nina quickly loses her life of luxury and she begins to question whether she ever really knew the man she married... -
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![The Things We Do for Love by Kristin Hannah]()
The Things We Do for Love by Kristin Hannah
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThe youngest of three daughters, Angela DeSaria Malone was always “the princess” of the family, a girl who thought she knew how her life would unfold. High School. College. Marriage. Motherhood. That was how it had gone for her sisters, her cousins, her friends. But it didn’t work out that way for Angie... -
![The Rise by Shari King, Shari Low]()
The Rise by Shari King, Shari Low
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen we bury our secrets, they always come back to haunt us...Their rise was meteoric.Only a few years before, they had been three friends from Glasgow, just trying to survive tough lives of danger and dysfunction.But on one Hollywood evening in 1993, they were on the world’s biggest stage, accepting their Oscar in front of the watching world.That night was the beginning of their careers... -
![My Mother's Eyes: A Short Story by Jeremy Ray]()
My Mother's Eyes: A Short Story by Jeremy Ray
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“You’re wrong, Jordie. You’ll see. Draw me just one more time.”No one knows if his mother will come out of her coma, so fourteen-year-old Jordie memorializes her in the only way he knows how: by drawing her. His older brother doesn’t approve of these sketches, but Jordie’s determined to capture the person she used to be... -
![Lark Song by Jane Bailey]()
Lark Song by Jane Bailey
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThey want to move on—but one terrible truth could shatter it all.As a widowed mother of three, new love seems impossible for Freya—until she meets Duncan, and suddenly she feels alive again. But there are secrets afflicting Freya’s family, some more sinister than others, that could destroy their relationship before it has a chance to flourish... -
![Things We Never Say by Caitlin Weaver]()
Things We Never Say by Caitlin Weaver
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThree mothers. Three secrets. One devastating scandal.Anna has always been the quiet one, the soft-spoken mother who kept her head down and her secrets close. But when she's thrown together with Maggie and Rhea on a PTA project, they begin to bond over wine and gossip, and slowly share the truths behind their picture-perfect lives... -
![The Lies We Hide by S.E. Lynes]()
The Lies We Hide by S.E. Lynes
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThirty years ago, Nicola Watson lived with her parents and older brother in a respectable suburb... -
![The Progress of Love by Alice Munro]()
The Progress of Love by Alice Munro
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE 2013A divorced woman returns to her childhood home where she confronts the memory of her parents' confounding yet deep bond. The accidental near-drowning of a child exposes the fragility of the trust between children and parents... -
![Don't Blink by L.G. Davis]()
Don't Blink by L.G. Davis
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratings*This book was previously published under the titles The Girl in the Rain and The Girl in the Storm.* Two years ago, Paige Wilson watched helplessly as her brother Ryan was shot, right on her doorstep. He survived the attack, but never fully recovered from the trauma. Stuck in a wheelchair, Ryan refuses to accept the life of a paraplegic... -
![The Life She Wants by J.M. Hewitt]()
The Life She Wants by J.M. Hewitt
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsPaula wants to save her marriage, and she hopes a romantic cruise vacation will help. But the more she learns about the mysterious Anna, a new woman Paula and her husband meet on the ship, the more Paula realizes that Anna wants to destroy it. But why?Paula worries that her marriage to Tommy is barely hanging on, so when he suggests a getaway for the two of them, she's thrilled...Categorized as:
literary-fiction female-mc crime family breakup domestic-drama psychological fiction -
![Dear Mother by Angela Marsons]()
Dear Mother by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA story about three sisters brought together by the death of their cruel and abusive mother. Alex, the youngest, is a bitter, unforgiving woman who refuses to face the events of her childhood. She hides in a bottle and destroys any chance of happiness that comes her way. Her life is spiralling dangerously out of control but she doesn't have the strength to stop it... -
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![The Halo Effect by Anne D. LeClaire]()
The Halo Effect by Anne D. LeClaire
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn this tour de force, a father, shaken by tragedy, tries to avenge his daughter’s murder—and restore his family’s shattered life. It was supposed to be a typical October evening for renowned portrait artist Will Light... -
![One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf]()
One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsIn her most emotionally charged novel to date, New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf explores the unspoken events that shape a community, the ties between parents and their children and how the fragile normalcy of our everyday life is so easily shattered.In the midst of a sudden spring snowstorm, an unknown man armed with a gun walks into an elementary school classroom... -
![The Night the Lights Went Out by Karen White, Carolyn Cook]()
The Night the Lights Went Out by Karen White, Carolyn Cook
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratings15 hours, 19 minutesFrom the New York Times bestselling author of the Tradd Street series comes a stunning new novel about a young single mother who discovers that the nature of friendship is never what it seems....Recently divorced, Merilee Talbot Dunlap moves with her two children to the Atlanta suburb of Sweet Apple, Georgia... -
![Secrets She Left Behind by Diane Chamberlain]()
Secrets She Left Behind by Diane Chamberlain
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsOne afternoon, single mother Sara Weston says she's going to the store--and never returns. In her absence, she leaves her teenage son alone with his damaged past and a legacy of secrets... -
![The Woman in Our House by Andrew Hart]()
The Woman in Our House by Andrew Hart
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhat happens when you open your home to the perfect stranger?Anna Klein is ready to return to work as a literary agent for the first time since having children. She and her husband, Josh, decide to hire a live-in nanny with some trepidation, but all their misgivings disappear as soon as they meet Oaklynn Durst. She has stellar references, a calm disposition, and a natural way with children... -
![Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman]()
Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSeven Types of Ambiguity is a psychological thriller and a literary adventure of breathtaking scope. Celebrated as a novelist in the tradition of Jonathan Franzen and Philip Roth, Elliot Perlman writes of impulse and paralysis, empty marriages, lovers, gambling, and the stock market; of adult children and their parents; of poetry and prostitution, psychiatry and the law... -
![Faultlines by Barbara Taylor Sissel]()
Faultlines by Barbara Taylor Sissel
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt’s the phone call every parent dreads: in the middle of the night, Sandy Cline learns that her twenty-year-old son, Jordan, has been in a car accident. Her nephew, Travis, was also in the car, along with Travis’s girlfriend. All three are alive—but barely. The car was smashed against a tree along a remote and winding road, beautiful but deadly, in their rural Texas Hill Country town... -
![What It Seems by Emily Bleeker]()
What It Seems by Emily Bleeker
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA page-turning novel of suspense about the perfect family, and the perfect lies, by the bestselling author of When I’m Gone and The Waiting Room.Adopted by her controlling foster mother at the age of eight, twenty-year-old Tara has seen little of the outside world. Lonely, punished for the slightest offense, her only distraction comes from watching the Feely family’s online videos... -
![Clean by Alia Trabucco Zerán, Sophie Hughes]()
Clean by Alia Trabucco Zerán, Sophie Hughes
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsINTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!From a global star and International Booker Prize finalist, a razor-sharp, unforgettable novel about a maid who’s seen too much and a family at a breaking pointA young girl has died and the family’s maid is being interrogated. She must tell the whole story before arriving at the girl’s death... -
![The Happiness In Between: A Novel by Grace Greene]()
The Happiness In Between: A Novel by Grace Greene
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA woman returns home to hide from her past mistakes and discovers one more chance at happiness. Sandra Hurst has left her husband. Again. After dropping out of college to marry Trent, divorcing him, then remarrying him, she’s shown up on her parents’ doorstep nursing her wounds. But her parents refuse to help this time—emotionally or financially... -
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![Valentina by S.E. Lynes]()
Valentina by S.E. Lynes
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Glasgow journalist Shona McGilvery moves with her partner Mikey and their baby to an idyllic cottage in rural Scotland, they believe that all that lies ahead of them is happiness.But with Mikey working offshore, the frightening isolation of the Aberdeenshire countryside begins to drive her insane...That is, until she is rescued by a new friendship with the enchanting Valentina... -
![My Daughter's Secret by Nicole Trope]()
My Daughter's Secret by Nicole Trope
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMy baby girl, I’ll never forget you – your smile, your laugh, the way your hair sparkles in the sun. I cannot comprehend this pain. I cannot breathe through it.In the middle of the night, Claire wakes up to discover that her beloved daughter, Julia, is dead – and life, as she knows it, is over... -
![Behind Closed Doors by Susan Lewis]()
Behind Closed Doors by Susan Lewis
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe powerful new novel about how life can change course in a heartbeat. From the Sunday Times Top Ten bestselling author of Never Say Goodbye. When fourteen-year-old Sophie Monroe suddenly vanishes one night it looks at first as though she's run away from home.Her computer and mobile phone have gone, and she's taken a bag full of clothes... -
![The Stay-at-Home Mother by Nicole Trope]()
The Stay-at-Home Mother by Nicole Trope
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHer chest tightens, her heart speeding up. The kitchen is chaos. She steps on something hard, and looks down. Toy dinosaurs are scattered everywhere. But her son is nowhere – her baby boy is gone.The police arrive. She can’t look at her husband. Instead, she studies the network of lines on her shaking hands.Then her phone beeps with a voice message. ‘Listen to it on speaker,’ says the detective... -
![Good Little Liars by Sarah Clutton]()
Good Little Liars by Sarah Clutton
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEmma held the photo for a long moment before her eyes focused on the girl’s face. She dropped it and let out a muted cry.The girl in the photograph was Tessa.Twenty-five years after losing her friend Tessa in a tragic accident, Emma’s life is happy and settled. She rarely thinks about the day that Tessa fell to her death, or the secret that she made Emma swear to keep just hours before... -
![Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters by Anita Kushwaha]()
Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters by Anita Kushwaha
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor readers of Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s "Secret Daughter" and Nancy Richler’s "The Imposter Bride", a breathtaking novel from Anita Kushwaha about the ties that bind mothers and daughters together and the secrets that tear them apartVeena, Mala and Nandini are three very different women with something in common...Categorized as:
literary-fiction realistic family coming-of-age female-mc fiction contemporary audiobook
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