Books like 'True Believers'
Readers who enjoyed True Believers by Kurt Andersen & Vanessa Hart also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
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The Letter by Ruth Saberton
Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Letter is a beautiful novel set in England between the First World War and the present day. Perfect for fans of Downton Abbey, it is the story of an aristocratic family, a forbidden love affair and the darkest of secrets kept for over one hundred years. On the eve of the First World War aspiring poet Kit Rivers looks forward to a bright future... -
Last Port of Call by Jean Grainger
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsQueenstown, County Cork, IrelandApril 1912Twelve-year-old Harp Delaney is an unusual child, quiet and intelligent far beyond her years. She would rather spend her days in the library of the grand Georgian house that she sees as her home than playing on the streets with other children.Her mother, Rose, is the reserved and ladylike housekeeper at the Cliff House...Categorized as:
coming-of-age female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book -
The Girl From the Island by Lorna Cook
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA world at war.One woman will risk everything.Another will uncover her story.1940: When the island of Guernsey is invaded by the Nazis, two sisters are determined to rebel in any way they can. But when forced to take in a German soldier, they are shocked to find a familiar face on their doorstep – a childhood friend who has now become their enemy...Categorized as:
coming-of-age female-mc friendship historical-fiction suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult -
The Mersey Mothers by Sheila Riley
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLiverpool 1953January sees the dawn of the Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation year as the mothers of Reckoners Row unite in preparation for the celebration of the new Queen.Meanwhile Evie Kilgaren is dreaming of her summer wedding to Danny Harris, but trouble looms for Skinner & Sons with a new rival trying to put them out of business, but no-one knows why... -
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When We Were Innocent by Kate Hewitt
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratings“Dad, you have to tell me the truth. Are you who they say you are? Because I know you can’t be. I know you can’t possibly have done what they’re saying…”Libby Trent has worked hard to make a good life for herself. She has a happy, messy home in Virginia, full of family and laughter... -
The Dressmaker's Gift by Fiona Valpy
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 37 ratingsA Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestseller. From the bestselling author of The Beekeeper’s Promise comes a gripping story of three young women faced with impossible choices. How will history – and their families – judge them? Paris, 1940. With the city occupied by the Nazis, three young seamstresses go about their normal lives as best they can. But all three are hiding secrets...Categorized as:
coming-of-age female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook -
The Whisper Sister by Jennifer S. Brown
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe author of Modern Girls delivers an atmospheric coming-of-age story set in Prohibition-era New York, tracing one immigrant family’s fortunes and a young girl’s journey from the schoolyard to the speakeasy.The streets of New York in 1920 are most certainly not paved with gold, as Minnie Soffer learns when she arrives at Ellis Island...Categorized as:
historical-fiction coming-of-age female-mc suspense fiction audiobook historical sci-fi -
The Secretary by Catherine Hokin
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsThe Tower House. Down a secluded path, hidden by overgrown vines, the crumbling villa echoes with memories. Of the family who laughed and sang there, until the Nazis tore them from their home. And of the next woman to walk its empty rooms, whose courage in the face of evil could alter the course of history…Germany 1940...Categorized as:
female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book fiction -
The Promise by Michelle Vernal
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA wonderfully heartwarming, touching and romantic story - Tammy Robinson Author of Differently Normal Two women from different generations brought together by another’s wrongdoing. When British backpacker, Isabel Stark happens across a car accident on a lonely stretch of road in the South Island of New Zealand her life changes forever...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction romance historical 20th-century fiction mystery -
The Last Secret of Lily Adams by Sara Blaydes
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe death of a legendary actress reveals a wealth of Hollywood secrets in a breathtaking novel about betrayal, rivalry, and the punishing brutality of fame.One of the brightest stars of Hollywood’s golden age was Lily Adams, the beloved picture of all-American innocence. Why she suddenly vanished from the spotlight was a mystery even to those closest to her...Categorized as:
historical-fiction friendship female-mc fiction mystery historical audiobook mental-illness -
The Last Restaurant in Paris by Lily Graham
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsParis 1944. To save her people, she served the enemy.In enemy-occupied Paris, as the locals go to bed starving and defeated by the war, music and laughter spills through the door of a little restaurant, crowded with German soldiers. The owner Marianne moves on weary feet between its packed tables, carrying plates of steaming, wholesome food for the enemy officers...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure book fiction historical -
The Stationmaster's Cottage by Phillipa Nefri Clark
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsChristie is happy in her life... or so she tells herself. Despite the tragedy in her childhood, she has a satisfying career, a city apartment, and a long-term relationship. But deep down she yearns for a simpler life. Family. A garden. And a place to heal her heart.The decision to attend a funeral in a town she's never heard of throws her safe world into disarray, exposing the holes in her life... -
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...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction suspense 20th-century audiobook book drama -
The Dressmaker’s Secret by Lorna Cook
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsParis, 1941: As Coco Chanel’s assistant, Adèle lives side by side with German officers in the splendor of The Ritz hotel. But Adèle has a secret. She is working for the resistance, right under the German’s noses...Categorized as:
female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book -
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Beyond This Broken Sky by Siobhan Curham
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratings1940, London: An unforgettable novel about the strength of the human spirit in the face of war and the remarkable women who put themselves in danger on the front lines during the Battle of Britain.As a volunteer for the ambulance service, Ruby has the dangerous task of driving along pitch-dark roads during the blackout...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction female-mc friendship ww2 historical mystery fiction -
Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn all failed relationships there is a point that passes unnoticed at the time, which can later be identified as the beginning of the decline. For Helen it was the weekend that the Hidden Man came to Westbury Park.Croydon, 1964. Helen Hansford is in her thirties and an art therapist in a psychiatric hospital where she has been having a long love affair with a charismatic, married doctor...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction female-mc coming-of-age friendship romance fiction historical -
Cometh the Hour by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 28 ratings"Cometh the Hour" opens with the reading of a suicide note, which has devastating consequences for Harry and Emma Clifton, Giles Barrington and Lady Virginia.Giles must decide if he should withdraw from politics and try to rescue Karin, the woman he loves, from behind the Iron Curtain...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction politics suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
Conspiracy of Lies by Kathryn Gauci
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the author of The Embroiderer comes a powerful account of one woman's struggle to balance her duty to her country and a love she knows will ultimately end in tragedy. 1940. With the Germans about to enter Paris, Claire Bouchard flees France for England. Two years later she is recruited by the Special Operations Executive and sent back into occupied France to work alongside the Resistance...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction suspense 20th-century adult book espionage fiction -
On the Wings of Hope by Ella Zeiss, Helen MacCormac
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAs World War II draws to a close, can two young people find love, hope—and freedom?February 1942: Terrifying reports of the Wehrmacht’s advance across the Soviet Union spread like wildfire, striking new fear into the already oppressed German families living there.Harri Pfeiffer, now sixteen, is summoned to the forced labour camp in Chelyabinsk... -
Honeysuckle Season by Mary Ellen Taylor
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom bestselling author Mary Ellen Taylor comes a story about profound loss, hard truths, and an overgrown greenhouse full of old secrets.Adrift in the wake of her father’s death, a failed marriage, and multiple miscarriages, Libby McKenzie feels truly alone. Though her new life as a wedding photographer provides a semblance of purpose, it’s also a distraction from her profound pain...Categorized as:
female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book -
A Life for a Life: A Mystery Novel by Lynda McDaniel
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen a young woman is found dead in a wilderness area of the North Carolina mountains, the county sheriff says suicide. Della Kincaid disagrees. As a former reporter in Washington, D.C., she knows how to hunt down the real story. But she's living in Laurel Falls, N.C., trying to create a new life for herself...Categorized as:
female-mc suspense historical-fiction coming-of-age friendship romance christian historical -
The Lightkeeper's Daughters by Jean E. Pendziwol
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsThough her mind is still sharp, Elizabeth's eyes have failed. No longer able to linger over her beloved books or gaze at the paintings that move her spirit, she fills the void with music and memories of her family—a past that suddenly becomes all too present when her late father's journals are found amid the ruins of an old shipwreck...Categorized as:
friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction suspense 20th-century audiobook book death -
The Fourth Daughter by Lyn Liao Butler
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn Taiwan, the bond between grandmother and granddaughter opens up a healing world for them both in an inspiring family saga about the comfort of food, untold histories, and indomitable mother love.Chef Liv Kuo’s star is on the rise…until a traumatic incident leaves her emotionally unable to venture outside her Manhattan apartment...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction female-mc romance fiction mystery historical family -
The Bootlegger's Daughter by Nadine Nettmann
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn Prohibition-era Los Angeles, two women on opposite sides of the law must take control of their lives, make their marks, and try to survive. Even if it means crossing the line. It’s 1927. Letty Hart’s father is long gone, but his old winery provides a meager wage and a legal livelihood for selling sacramental wine... -
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Beyond the Shadow of Night by Ray Kingfisher
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn this epic tale of friendship and loss from the author of The Sugar Men, fate pushes childhood friends to opposite sides of a terrible war—but is forgiveness always possible? Ukraine, 1923. On a small farm, two boys are born within days of each other, both Ukrainian, one Jewish...Categorized as:
female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book family -
The Woman with the Blue Star by Pam Jenoff, Sanna Majuri
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratings1942. Sadie Gault is eighteen and living with her parents amid the horrors of the Kraków Ghetto during World War II. When the Nazis liquidate the ghetto, Sadie and her pregnant mother are forced to seek refuge in the perilous sewers beneath the city. One day Sadie looks up through a grate and sees a girl about her own age buying flowers... -
A Splendid Ruin by Megan Chance
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA spellbinding novel of dark family secrets and a young woman’s rise and revenge set against the backdrop of the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake.The eve of destruction. After her mother’s death, penniless May Kimble lives a lonely life until an aunt she didn’t know existed summons her to San Francisco. There she’s welcomed into the wealthy Sullivan family and their social circle...Categorized as:
coming-of-age female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction suspense 20th-century abuse -
Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsFrom the internationally bestselling author of Kane and Abel and A Prisoner of Birth comes Only Time Will Tell, the first in an ambitious new series that tells the story of one family across generations, across oceans, from heartbreak to triumph. The epic tale of Harry Clifton’s life begins in 1920, with the words “I was told that my father was killed in the war... -
Love Released by Geri Foster
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBest if books are read in order. RIVETING AND REVEALING! The past stands between them, but a strong abiding love bridges the gap. Violence and crime intrude on the quiet town of Gibbs City, Missouri when a citizen does the unthinkable, but Sheriff Virgil Carter is determined to uphold the law at all cost...Categorized as:
female-mc friendship historical-fiction suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult book -
The Christmas Key by Phillipa Nefri Clark
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA hot summer Christmas Day is just around the corner in the Australian seaside town of River’s End. Beachside BBQs and sumptuous dinners are on the menu. But Martha Blake is like a dog with a bone, determined to solve the last of the cottage mysteries. She and great-niece Christie begin a secret investigation. Meanwhile, Thomas is busy with his own clues and enlists a reluctant Martin...Categorized as:
female-mc suspense historical-fiction literary-fiction christian mystery fiction holidays -
The Quiet Librarian by Allen Eskens
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter the murder of her best friend, a librarian’s search for answers leads back to her own dark secrets in this sweeping novel about a woman transformed by war, family, vengeance, and love, from award-winning writer Allen Eskens.Hana Babic is a quiet, middle-aged librarian in Minnesota who wants nothing more than to be left alone... -
Deadly Caress by Brenda Joyce
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBrenda Joyce's New York Times best-selling novels have thrilled millions of readers. Now, in her latest Francesca Cahill novel, return to the lush mansions and teeming streets of New York City's Gilded Age, where intrigue and seduction lie on every corner... The year is 1902. The place is New York City... -
The Spinster's Fortune by Mary Kendall
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMoonlit alleys, shadowy tunnels, and buried secrets…Summer of 1929.Of supposed unsound mind without a penny to her name, Blanche Magruder lies alone in a home for the aged and infirm.Meanwhile, her house, a crumbled ruin in the heart of Georgetown, Washington, D.C., is pillaged nightly by thieves looking for treasure rumored to be hidden there...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction suspense 20th-century adult book crime -
Thief of Glory: A Novel by Sigmund Brouwer
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratings“Brouwer makes you live it....sharing each moment of an exotic and terrifying time and place in a gripping, personal way.” —Bodie and Brock Thoene, authors of Take this Cup A boy coming of age in a time of war… the love that inspires him to survive...Categorized as:
coming-of-age historical-fiction literary-fiction suspense 20th-century book christian drama -
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The Commandant's Daughter by Catherine Hokin
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratings1933, Berlin. Ten-year-old Hanni Foss stands by her father’s side watching the torchlit procession to celebrate Adolf Hitler as Germany’s new leader. As the lights fade, she knows her safe and happy childhood is about to change forever. Practically overnight, the father she adores becomes unrecognisable, lost to his ruthless ambition to oversee an infamous concentration camp…Twelve years later...Categorized as:
coming-of-age female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book drama -
World's End by Upton Sinclair
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWorld's End is the first novel in Upton Sinclair's Lanny Budd series. First published in 1940, the story covers the period from 1913 to 1919. This is the beginning of a monumental 7,340 page novel, the story of Lanny Budd, a young American, beginning in Europe in 1913. It is also an intimate record of a great world which fell victim to its own civilization. A new world was about to be born...Categorized as:
historical-fiction politics literary-fiction coming-of-age fiction classics historical 20th-century -
The Sins of the Father by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsOn the heels of the international bestseller Only Time Will Tell, Jeffrey Archer picks up the sweeping story of the Clifton Chronicles.Only days before Britain declares war on Germany, Harry Clifton, hoping to escape the consequences of long-buried family secrets, and forced to accept that his desire to marry Emma Barrington will never be fulfilled, has joined the Merchant Navy... -
The Secret of the Château by Kathleen McGurl
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEverything is about to change…1789.Pierre and Catherine Aubert, the Comte and Comtesse de Verais, have fled the palace of Versailles for their château, deep in the French Alps. But as revolution spreads through the country, even hidden away the Auberts will not be safe forever. Soon they must make a terrible decision in order to protect themselves, and their children, from harm.Present day...Categorized as:
female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book crime -
The Secret History of Audrey James by Heather Marshall
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAn astonishing historical novel of one woman’s dangerous journey through World War II Germany and her life-changing friendship with a young woman decades later—from the #1 international bestselling author of Looking for JaneNorthern England, 2010... -
All the Little Hopes by Leah Weiss
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the acclaimed author of If the Creek Don’t Rise comes a Southern story of friendship forged by books and bees, when the timeless troubles of growing up meet the murky shadows of World War II.Deep in the tobacco land of North Carolina, nothing's the same since the boys shipped off to war and worry took their place...Categorized as:
coming-of-age friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century abuse audiobook book -
The Italian Villa by Daniela Sacerdoti
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCallie, a lonely small-town waitress, is still reeling from the discovery that she’s adopted when she arrives in Montevino, Italy in search of answers – the keys to the stunning hillside villa she has just inherited clutched tightly in her hand...Categorized as:
female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book -
O Jerusalem by Laurie R. King
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWith her bestselling mystery series featuring Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell, Laurie R. King has created "lively adventure in the very best of intellectual company," according to The New York Times Book Review...Categorized as:
female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction politics suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult -
The Rabbit Girls by Anna Ellory
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBerlin, 1989. As the wall between East and West falls, Miriam Winter cares for her dying father, Henryk. When he cries out for someone named Frieda – and Miriam discovers an Auschwitz tattoo hidden under his watch strap – Henryk’s secret history begins to unravel... -
Code Name Sapphire by Pam Jenoff
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA woman must rescue her cousin's family from a train bound for Auschwitz in this riveting tale of bravery and resistance, from the bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Paris1942. Hannah Martel has narrowly escaped Nazi Germany after her fiancé was killed in a pogrom...Categorized as:
female-mc friendship historical-fiction literary-fiction suspense 20th-century adult audiobook -
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The Colony Club by Shelley Noble
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhen young Gilded Age society matron Daisy Harriman is refused a room at the Waldorf because they don’t cater to unaccompanied females, she takes matters into her own hands. She establishes the Colony Club, the first women’s club in Manhattan, where visiting women can stay overnight and dine with their friends; where they can discuss new ideas, take on social issues, and make their voices heard...Categorized as:
historical-fiction friendship female-mc fiction historical mystery womens-fiction urban -
Queen of Clubs by Beezy Marsh
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLondon, 1957: After rising up against gangland’s queen, Alice Diamond, formerly downtrodden Nell is living the perfect life of crime. Far from the East End slums where she was raised, she’s now an accomplished professional thief by day—lifting luxury goods from high-end department stores—and a glamorous nightclub owner after dark...Categorized as:
historical-fiction female-mc coming-of-age literary-fiction fiction audiobook mystery crime -
Deadly Desire by Brenda Joyce
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe time is turn-of-the-century New York City. Society's elite host glittering balls inside sprawling mansions while outside, the teeming street harbor secrets of their own. New York City's Police Commissioner Rick Bragg has been called upon to investigate a shocking crime... -
Deadly Affairs by Brenda Joyce
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBrenda Joyce has enthralled millions of readers with her New York Times bestselling novels. Now, join us in the next chapter of her unforgettable storytelling: the Francesca Cahill novels. Enter the glittering world of turn-of-the-century New York City, where a metropolis booming with life also masks a dark world of danger, death, and daring desire.. -
The Sleeping Dictionary by Sujata Massey
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom an award-winning novelist, a stunning portrait of late Raj India—a sweeping saga and a love story set against a background of huge political and cultural upheaval.YOU ASK FOR MY NAME, THE REAL ONE, AND I CANNOT TELL. IT IS NOT FOR LACK OF EFFORT. In 1930, a great ocean wave blots out a Bengali village, leaving only one survivor, a young girl...Categorized as:
coming-of-age female-mc historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult audiobook book -
Flickan utan namn by Suzanne Goldring
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsShe left home, with the man she loved, and was never seen again…August 2004. Billie has rushed to her father Dick’s hospital bedside. A terrible stroke has robbed him of his speech, and she is devastated to see her strong, invincible dad a shell of the man he was before...Categorized as:
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