Books like 'Lessons'
Readers who enjoyed Lessons by Ian McEwan also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary historical-fiction literary-fiction family coming-of-age
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Crank Trilogy by Ellen Hopkins
Rated: 4.64 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe heart-wrenching bestselling Crank trilogy shows that addiction is never just one person’s problem. Crank Kristina is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. Then she meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild ride turns into a struggle for her mind, her soul—her life. Glass Crank. Glass. Ice. Crystal... -
![The Ones We Leave Behind by Deanna Lynn Sletten]()
The Ones We Leave Behind by Deanna Lynn Sletten
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDiane picked up her mother’s phone. “How do you feel about your mother being let out of prison today after sixty-five years?” the reporter asked. Diane stared at her mother. “My grandmother is alive?” That one phone call hurled shock waves throughout the entire family.1955 – Anna Bergman Craine’s life changes in an instant when she commits a crime of passion and is sentenced to life in prison... -
![Pretty Beach Posies by Polly Babbington]()
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![Hard Land by Benedict Wells]()
Hard Land by Benedict Wells
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsMissouri, 1985: Um vor den Problemen zu Hause zu fliehen, nimmt der fünfzehnjährige Sam einen Ferienjob in einem alten Kino an. Und einen magischen Sommer lang ist alles auf den Kopf gestellt. Er findet Freunde, verliebt sich und entdeckt die Geheimnisse seiner Heimatstadt. Zum ersten Mal ist er kein unscheinbarer Außenseiter mehr. Bis etwas passiert, das ihn zwingt, erwachsen zu werden... -
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![All My Mothers by Joanna Glen]()
All My Mothers by Joanna Glen
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the author of the Costa shortlisted debut, The Other Half of Augusta Hope, comes the story of one girl’s journey to find her birth mother, and her realisation that mothers – and family – can be discovered in the most unexpected of places…London, 1980s. Though she has a comfortable, privileged life, Eva Martínez-Green is deeply unhappy...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction coming-of-age family fiction contemporary audiobook parenthood -
![The Unbreakable Heart of Oliva Denaro by Viola Ardone]()
The Unbreakable Heart of Oliva Denaro by Viola Ardone
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the internationally bestselling author of The Children’s Train comes an unforgettable coming-of-age novel, set in 1960s Sicily and based on a true story, of how a young Sicilian girl defied centuries old tradition to win the right to control her own life...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family coming-of-age europe south-europe italy fiction -
![Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah]()
Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA moving and deeply engaging debut novel about a young Native American man struggling to find strength in his familial identity, from a stellar new voice in literary fiction... -
![Champagne Widows: First Woman of Champagne, Veuve Clicquot by Rebecca Rosenberg]()
Champagne Widows: First Woman of Champagne, Veuve Clicquot by Rebecca Rosenberg
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsChampagne, France, 1800. Twenty-year-old Barbe-Nicole inherited Le Nez (an uncanny sense of smell) from her great-grandfather, a renowned champagne maker. She is determined to use Le Nez to make great champagne, but the Napoleon Code prohibits women from owning a business...Categorized as:
historical-fiction family coming-of-age literary-fiction romance drama contemporary fiction -
![Han cantado bingo by Lana Corujo]()
Han cantado bingo by Lana Corujo
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTodo empieza con un algunas noches, en los diez minutos suspendidos antes de que Abuela regrese del bingo, dos hermanas salen a escondidas por la puerta de atrás hasta El Ahorcado —un volcán redondo como una panza bocarriba—, cuentan hasta tres y corren de vuelta sin mirar atrás...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family literary-fiction fiction magical-realism contemporary female-author book -
![Cánh Đồng Bất Tận by Nguyễn Ngọc Tư]()
Cánh Đồng Bất Tận by Nguyễn Ngọc Tư
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCánh đồng bất tận bao gồm những truyện hay và mới nhất của nhà văn Nguyễn Ngọc Tư. Đây là tác phẩm đang gây xôn xao trong đời sống văn học, bởi ở đó người ta tìm thấy sự dữ dội, khốc liệt của đời sống thôn dã qua cái nhìn của một cô gái. Bi kịch về nỗi mất mát, sự cô đơn được đẩy lên đến tận cùng, khiến người đọc có lúc cảm thấy nhói tim.. -
![অপেক্ষা by Humayun Ahmed]()
অপেক্ষা by Humayun Ahmed
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsমানুষের জীবন কি চক্রের মত? চক্রের কোন শুরু নেই, শেষ নেই। মানব জীবনও কি তাই? রহস্যময় চক্রের ভেতর এই জীবন ঘুরপাক খেতে থাকে? শুরু নেই, শেষ নেই। চক্র ঘুরছে।এই চক্রের ভেতরে ঘুরপাক খেতে খেতে অপেক্ষা করে কেউ কেউ। কিংবা সকলেই কিসের... -
![All The Colours In Between by Eva Jordan]()
All The Colours In Between by Eva Jordan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEva Jordan's much-anticipated follow up to the bestselling 183 Times a Year It's not a life, it's an adventure! Lizzie is fast approaching 50. Her once angst ridden teenage daughters, now grown and in their twenties, have flown the nest, Cassie to London and Maisy to Australia... -
![天橋上的魔術師 by Wu Ming-Yi, 吳明益]()
天橋上的魔術師 by Wu Ming-Yi, 吳明益
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 7 ratings...Categorized as:
family coming-of-age literary-fiction historical-fiction fiction young-adult magic contemporary -
![My Struggle: Book Three by Karl Ove Knausgård]()
My Struggle: Book Three by Karl Ove Knausgård
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA family of four--mother, father and two boys--move to the South Coast of Norway to a new house on a newly developed site. It is the early 1970s and the family's trajectory, upwardly mobile: the future seems limitless...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction 21st-century adult anthologies audiobook -
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![Grown Women by Sarai Johnson]()
Grown Women by Sarai Johnson
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn this stunning debut novel, four generations of complex Black women contend with motherhood and daughterhood, generational trauma and the deeply ingrained tensions and wounds that divide them as they redefine happiness and healing for themselves. Erudite Evelyn, her cynical daughter Charlotte, and Charlotte’s optimistic daughter Corinna see the world very differently... -
![Los nombres propios by Marta Jiménez Serrano]()
Los nombres propios by Marta Jiménez Serrano
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratings¿Quién es Belaundia Fu? Es la mejor amiga de Marta a los siete años: la amiga invisible que, en esos momentos en que las cosas no salen como había planeado y ni siquiera la abuela es capaz de consolarla, se sienta con ella y espera hasta que se le pase... -
![O'Mara's by Michelle Vernal]()
O'Mara's by Michelle Vernal
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratings‘If you love Maeve Binchy, you’ll love this series...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction adult audiobook book contemporary -
![Heart the Lover by Lily King]()
Heart the Lover by Lily King
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratings“Lily King has written another masterpiece. This book overflows with her brilliance and her heart. We are so lucky.” —Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of This Time TomorrowFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Writers & Lovers comes a magnificent and intimate new novel of desire, friendship, and the lasting impact of first loveYou knew I’d write a book about you someday...Categorized as:
literary-fiction coming-of-age historical-fiction family romance fiction contemporary friendship -
![A Family Affair - A Free Preview of the First 7 Chapters by ReShonda Tate Billingsley]()
A Family Affair - A Free Preview of the First 7 Chapters by ReShonda Tate Billingsley
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAward-winning author ReShonda Tate Billingsley, whose bestselling fiction "tackles some of life’s toughest situations" ( The Florida Times-Union ), unravels the secrets in a mother’s past that turn her daughter’s life upside down—by revealing the family she never knew existed... -
![Baby Talk by Judith S. Keim]()
Baby Talk by Judith S. Keim
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsReaders of the Hartwell Women Series asked for more. I listened. Baby Talk is Book 4. When Marissa Crawford and her husband Brad decide to start a family, Marissa has serious doubts about her ability to be a good mother--she was raised by one of the worst... -
![Troubled Waters by Rosie Harris]()
Troubled Waters by Rosie Harris
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsShe looked after them. But who would look after her? When fourteen-year-old Sara Jenkins rescues her baby sister, Myfanwy, from the fire which kills their mother, little does she realise the burden of responsibility she is taking on. Her father, Ifor, is perceived as strict and moral by everyone in the village... -
![Straight Talk by Judith Keim]()
Straight Talk by Judith Keim
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsStraight Talk - Book Three in the Hartwell Women Trilogy Samantha Hartwell’s life changes completely when she’s attacked by a client’s boyfriend. She leaves Boston and Straight Talk, her consulting business, and escapes to California wine country to heal and to help her sister and brother-in-law with their vineyard’s growth... -
![The Gulf by Anna Spargo-Ryan]()
The Gulf by Anna Spargo-Ryan
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"He found an egg at the park so he incubated it and this tortoise hatched out."Skye’s sixteen, and her mum’s got yet another new boyfriend. Trouble is, Jason’s bad news. Really bad. Now Mum’s quit her job and they’re all moving north to Port Flinders, population nobody."That's a Southern Right Whale. They have the largest balls of any animal in the world... -
![No Honour by Awais Khan]()
No Honour by Awais Khan
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA young woman defies convention in a small Pakistani village, with devastating results for her and her family. A stunning, immense beautiful novel about courage, family and the meaning of love, when everything seems lost… In sixteen-year-old Abida’s small Pakistani village, there are age-old rules to live by, and her family’s honour to protect...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction adult book contemporary female-mc fiction -
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![The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue]()
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhere would I start, and how would it even make sense? How could you understand the year in Shandon Street unless you were there, with us, living it?Rachel Murray is twenty-one years old, platonically infatuated with her housemate James, and less-than-platonically infatuated with her enigmatic, married English professor Dr Byrne... -
![No Small Thing by Natale Ghent]()
No Small Thing by Natale Ghent
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFull of heart and humor, this coming-of-age tale is no small thing — the tale of a boy's search for love and identity in the face of longing, abandonment, and uncertainty.When twelve-year-old Nathaniel and his two sisters discover an ad in the paper for a free pony, they can hardly believe their luck...Categorized as:
historical-fiction coming-of-age literary-fiction family animals horses realistic fiction -
![Cómplices by Taibo]()
Cómplices by Taibo
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJulián ha luchado contra el aburrimiento de todas las maneras posibles. Desde que le diagnosticaron hepatitis, ha recreado en su cabeza conversaciones imaginarias entre ostras que no tienen nada que hacer, ha buscado formas fantasiosas en las manchas de la pared, ha lanzado mocos al aire. Pero es feliz porque no tiene que ir a la escuela... -
![Susan by Lena Kennedy]()
Susan by Lena Kennedy
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSusan is a London slum child, brought up in an East End orphanage. Rebelling against its rigid rules, she runs away to Soho and is adopted by a group of prostitutes. Soon, she too is earning her living 'on the game'. When Billy 'Apples' Rafferty, a Cockney villain with a heart of gold, becomes her protector, Sue swears to give up her racy life... -
![McKellan's Run by Nicole Hurley-Moore]()
McKellan's Run by Nicole Hurley-Moore
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsYears ago, Violet Beckett made the mistake of falling for the wrong McKellan brother and both she and her younger sister, Lily, paid the price. Now eight years later, fate has brought Violet and her daughter, Holly, back to the house Violet grew up in. As soon as Violet runs into James 'Mac' McKellan, she wonders if she should run all the way back to the city... -
![Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford]()
Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“One of those books you just want to hug to your chest. I loved it so much... -
![The Orchard by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry]()
The Orchard by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFour teenagers grow inseparable in the last days of the Soviet Union—but not all of them will live to see the new world arrive in this powerful debut novel, loosely based on Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard.Coming of age in the USSR in the 1980s, best friends Anya and Milka try to envision a free and joyful future for themselves...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family coming-of-age fiction contemporary retellings audiobook -
![Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter by J. Nozipo Maraire]()
Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter by J. Nozipo Maraire
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWritten as a letter from a Zimbabwean mother to her daughter, a student at Harvard, J. Nozipo Maraire evokes the moving story of a mother reaching out to her daughter to share the lessons life has taught her and bring the two closer than ever before...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family fiction contemporary epistolary 20th-century book -
![The Half Brother by Lars Saabye Christensen]()
The Half Brother by Lars Saabye Christensen
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThis Nordic Prize-winning novel, a truly gripping epic, relates the lives of four generations of a unique and strange family with touching intimacy and surreal comedy.Traces four generations of a family marked by the untimely birth of Fred, a misfit and boxer conceived during a devastating rape who forges an unusual friendship with his younger half-brother, Barnum...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction 21st-century adult book classics -
![The Temptation to Be Happy by Lorenzo Marone, Shaun Whiteside]()
The Temptation to Be Happy by Lorenzo Marone, Shaun Whiteside
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCesare is a seventy-seven-year-old widower and cynical troublemaker, a man who has always struggled to care for others and has given up trying. Aside from an intermittent fling with a nurse called Rossana, he avoids contact with his neighbours and even his own children. One day, the enigmatic Emma moves into the neighbouring flat with her strange and sinister husband... -
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![Misophonia by Dana Vowinckel]()
Misophonia by Dana Vowinckel
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPart coming-of-age tale, part family saga, an extraordinary debut novel set between Berlin, Chicago, and Jerusalem “about being Jewish and German, and all the awkwardness that entails” (The Guardian).It’s the hottest of summers in Chicago, and fifteen-year-old Margarita is spending her vacation as usual, under the not-so-watchful eyes of her aging maternal grandparents... -
![A Girl Within a Girl Within a Girl by Nanda Reddy]()
A Girl Within a Girl Within a Girl by Nanda Reddy
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA girl takes on a series of identities to survive, shrouding herself in layer upon layer of secrets, until one morning years later when she is forced to reckon with her past."This debut is a beautiful, if sometimes harrowing, exploration of one woman’s journey. . . to a life built by her own grit and determination." -Library Journal, Starred Review... -
![In the Time of Our History by Susanne Pari]()
In the Time of Our History by Susanne Pari
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsInspired by her own Iranian-American heritage, the acclaimed author weaves a beautifully crafted story of mothers and daughters, secrets and lies, and defying expectations—even when those choices come with an irrevocable cost...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction family fiction contemporary audiobook friendship female-mc -
![The Lover by A.B. Yehoshua, Philip Simpson]()
The Lover by A.B. Yehoshua, Philip Simpson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratings“Elusive, haunting.”— New York Times Book Review A husband’s search for his wife’s lover, lost amid the turbulence of the Yom Kippur War, is the heart of this dreamlike novel. Through five different perspectives, Yehoshua explores the realities and consequences of the affair and the search, laying bare deep-rooted tensions within family, between generations, between Jews and Arabs...Categorized as:
family historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult book contemporary fiction -
![Gravel Heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah]()
Gravel Heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, a powerful story of exile, migration, and betrayal.Salim has always known that his father does not want him. Living with his parents and his adored Uncle Amir in a house full of secrets, he is a bookish child, a dreamer haunted by night terrors. It is the 1970s and Zanzibar is changing... -
![Eddie's Bastard by William Kowalski]()
Eddie's Bastard by William Kowalski
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratings"Eddie's Bastard" is William Amos Mann IV, known as Billy -- the son of a heroic pilot killed in Vietnam and an unknown woman. The last in a line of proud, individualistic Irish-American men, Billy is discovered in a basket at the door of the dilapidated mansion where his bitter, hard-drinking grandfather, Thomas Mann, has exiled himself... -
![The Life List by Chrissy Anderson]()
The Life List by Chrissy Anderson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen she was just sixteen, Chrissy Anderson made a life list… …The outcome is a dream husband, a career to envy, and the kind of best friends every girl wants. Then out of nowhere…an affair. What would you do if you realized the life you created wasn’t right for you? You think you know the answer? Think again... -
![Blodsbunden by Augustin Erba]()
Blodsbunden by Augustin Erba
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMitt i en nedgången förort bor en blåblodig prinsessa med sin man, deras tre barn och en gigantisk schäfer. Innanför väggarna i höghuslägenheten försöker familjen hålla en egen värld vid liv, och där vill mamman helst stanna. Den äldste sonen Amadeus sätts i privatskola i stan "för att inte bli knarkare som grannbarnen", som hans mamma säger... -
![Abandoned Child by Kitty Neale]()
Abandoned Child by Kitty Neale
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsKitty Neale is back! Curl up with this heartrending new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of A BROKEN FAMILY and A FATHER’S REVENGEAll she wanted was a mother’s love …DESPISEDPenny’s childhood was spent in the shadows of her mother’s business schemes, feeling alone and unimportant... -
![The Promise: A Passionate Romance by M.V. Kasi]()
The Promise: A Passionate Romance by M.V. Kasi
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTwo billionaire brothers. Two village belles. A promise. A charade. And falling in love... Vikram and Vishal are the heirs to the well-known Saaho Group fortune. London bred and educated, the handsome brothers are accustomed to a jet-setting lifestyle while they win cutthroat business deals, date beautiful women and spend time with their doting family... -
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![Hôtel Splendid by Marie Redonnet]()
Hôtel Splendid by Marie Redonnet
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThese three short novels are the first works to appear in English by a remarkable contemporary French author, Marie Redonnet. Born in Paris in 1947, Redonnet taught for a number of years in a suburban lycée before deciding to pursue a writing career full time... -
![Sea of Tranquillity by Paul Russell]()
Sea of Tranquillity by Paul Russell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPaul Russell's delicately layered, richly textured novels have won him widespread acclaim as one of the finest contemporary American novelists... -
![Five Night Stand by Richard J. Alley]()
Five Night Stand by Richard J. Alley
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLegendary jazz pianist Oliver Pleasant finds himself alone at the end of his career, playing his last five shows, hoping the music will draw his estranged family back…Frank Severs, a middle-aged, out-of-work journalist, is at a crossroads as his longtime dreams and marriage grind to a standstill…And piano prodigy Agnes Cassady is desperately grasping for fulfillment before a debilitating disease... -
![The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane]()
The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the beloved author of the triumphant New York Times bestseller Ask Again, Yes comes a magnificently told novel about the complexities of marriage, family, longing, and desire.Malcolm Gephardt, the handsome and gregarious longtime bartender at the Half Moon, has always dreamed of owning a bar. When his boss is finally ready to retire, Malcolm is inspired to buy the place...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family historical-fiction literary-fiction adult book contemporary fiction -
![Em's Awful Good Fortune: A Novel by Marcie Maxfield]()
Em's Awful Good Fortune: A Novel by Marcie Maxfield
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPart dysfunctional marriage, part global romp, this is not your typical expat story. Em’s Awful Good Fortune is a deeply personal, marriage-coming-apart-at-the-seams look at the struggle between a woman’s desire for partnership and her need for identity...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family literary-fiction fiction contemporary female-mc breakup domestic-drama -
![Honey by Isabel Banta]()
Honey by Isabel Banta
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA coming-of-age story that follows the meteoric rise of singer Amber Young as she navigates fame in the late-1990s and early-2000s era of pop music superstardomIt is 1997, and Amber Young has received a life-changing call. It is a chance thousands of girls would die for: the opportunity to join girl group Cloud9 in Los Angeles and escape her small town...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction coming-of-age fiction contemporary young-adult friendship book
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