Recommendations based on A History of Lonelinessby John Boyne

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. The Heart's Invisible Furies

    by John Boyne
    A man's life journey spanning seven decades and three continents, searching for love and acceptance.

    Cyril Avery is not a real Avery or at least that’s what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be. But if he isn’t a real Avery, then who is he? Born out of wedlock to a teenage girl cast ... (Goodreads)

  2. A Ladder to the Sky

    by John Boyne
    A young writer's ambition leads him to steal stories from others, ultimately leading to his downfall.

    Maurice Swift is handsome, charming, and hungry for fame. The one thing he doesn’t have is talent—but he’s not about to let a detail like that stand in his way. After all, a would-be writer can find ... (Goodreads)

  3. The Boy at the Top of the Mountain

    by John Boyne
    A young boy is taken from his loving family to live with his cruel aunt in Hitler's mountain retreat, where he becomes indoctrinated into Nazi ideology.

    The Boy at the Top of the Mountain, by John Boyne, the author of, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, is another extraordinary historical fiction about World War II and innocence in the face of evil., ... (Barnes & Noble)

  4. A Little Life

    by Hanya Yanagihara
    A powerful tale of four friends navigating life's hardships and the devastating effects of trauma.

    The novel follows the lives of four friends in New York City from college through to middle-age. It focuses particularly on Jude, a lawyer with a mysterious past, ambiguous ethnicity, and unexplained ... (Wikipedia)

  5. The Paying Guests

    by Sarah Waters
    A forbidden affair between two women in 1920s London, amidst an era of social change.

    It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned; the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa—a large, silent house now ... (Goodreads)

  6. My Sunshine Away

    by M.O. Walsh
    A coming-of-age story set in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where a teenage girl is raped and the narrator becomes a suspect.

    "It was the summer everything changed...." My Sunshine Away unfolds in a Baton Rouge neighborhood best known for cookouts on sweltering summer afternoons, cauldrons of spicy crawfish, and passionate ... (Goodreads)

  7. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

    by Karen Joy Fowler
    A family's secrets and a girl's quest for the truth about her own identity.

    The, New York Times, bestselling author of, The Jane Austen Book Club, introduces a middle-class American family that is ordinary in every way but one in this novel that won the PEN/Faulkner Award ... (Barnes & Noble)

  8. The Green Road

    by Anne Enright
    A family's journey through life, with each member reflecting on their individual paths.

    The first half of the novel concerns each family member individually and goes chronologically from 1980 to 2005. Each of the four Madigan children and their mother Rosaleen receive a chapter of their ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Some Luck

    by Jane Smiley
    A saga tracing five generations of a farming family in midwestern America.

    On their farm in Denby, Iowa, Rosanna and Walter Langdon abide by time-honored values that they pass on to their five wildly different yet equally remarkable children: Frank, the brilliant, stubborn ... (Goodreads)

  10. The Turner House

    by Angela Flournoy
    The Turner family's Detroit home is at the center of their struggles as they confront their past and present.

    The novel tells the story of a Detroit family with 13 children as it responds to the economic woes of the city, in both the 1940s, and then in 2008. The house that sees the changes in the family, ... (Wikipedia)

  11. The Secret History

    by Donna Tartt
    A small group of misfit college students uncover a sinister secret and their lives become entangled with dangerous consequences.

    Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the ... (Goodreads)

  12. The Sisters Brothers

    by Patrick deWitt
    A unique western, following two brothers on a quest to find and murder a prospector.

    In 1851, Eli and Charlie Sisters, a pair of assassins of minor repute, are hired by a wealthy businessman known only as "the Commodore" to travel from Oregon City to California in order to murder a ... (Wikipedia)

  13. How to Build a Girl

    by Caitlin Moran
    A teenage girl reinvents herself as a music journalist in 1990s London, navigating the pitfalls of fame and self-discovery.

    How to Build a Girl follows Johanna Morrigan, a working-class 14-year-old living with her parents and five siblings on a council estate in 1990s Wolverhampton . After revealing to her disapproving ... (Wikipedia)

  14. The Invasion of the Tearling

    by Erika Johansen
    A young queen's quest to save her kingdom from a powerful and mysterious invader.

    Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn must defeat the powers of the Red Queen, who is out to destroy her. She must journey to the royal castle to claim her throne, and is accompanied only by the loyal ... (Wikipedia)

  15. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

    by Patrick Süskind
    A murder mystery set in 18th century France, exploring the depths of human obsession.

    An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of ... (Goodreads)

  16. No Time for Goodbye

    by Linwood Barclay
    A woman's mysterious disappearance leads her family into a dangerous investigation, uncovering a dark secret.

    Fourteen-year-old Cynthia Bigge woke one morning to discover that her entire family, mother, father, brother had vanished. No note, no trace, no return. Ever. Now, twenty-five years later, she'll ... (Goodreads)

  17. Nora Webster

    by Colm Tóibín
    A widow navigates life in a small Irish town in the 1960s, finding solace in music and independence.

    From one of contemporary literature's most acclaimed and beloved authors comes this magnificent new novel set in a small town in Ireland in the 1960s, where a fiercely compelling, too-young widow and ... (Goodreads)

  18. The Story of a New Name

    by Elena Ferrante
    Two young women's search for identity and independence in a patriarchal society.

    In 2012, Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend introduced readers to the unforgettable Elena and Lila, whose lifelong friendship provides the backbone for the Neapolitan Novels. The Story of a New ... (Goodreads)

  19. The Last Painting of Sara de Vos

    by Dominic Smith
    A centuries-old mystery unfolds, as a woman's painting is tracked through its various owners.

    This is what we long for: the profound pleasure of being swept into vivid new worlds, worlds peopled by characters so intriguing and real that we can't shake them, even long after the reading's done. ... (Goodreads)

  20. The Shock of the Fall

    by Nathan Filer
    A young man's struggle with mental illness and his journey to find understanding and acceptance.

    What begins as the story of a lost boy turns into a story of a brave man yearning to understand what happened that night, in the years since, and to his very person. While on vacation with their ... (Goodreads)

  21. The World According to Garp

    by John Irving
    A humorous and heart-wrenching journey of life, love and literature.

    This is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields—a feminist leader ahead of her times. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a ... (Goodreads)

  22. An Untamed State

    by Roxane Gay
    A woman's fight against her captors, as she struggles to survive the horrors of captivity.

    Mireille Duval Jameson is born and raised in the United States, her parents are from Haitian descent. Her parents move back to Haiti. While vacationing at her parents' house with her husband and ... (Wikipedia)

  23. Elizabeth Is Missing

    by Emma Healey
    An elderly woman's struggle with dementia, as she desperately searches for her missing friend.

    Maud, a grandmother in her 80s living with Alzheimer's disease , relies on sticky notes to get through the day as her memory slowly deteriorates. One day her best friend, another elderly woman named ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Lincoln in the Bardo

    by George Saunders
    A spiritual exploration of death, exploring the afterlife through the eyes of President Lincoln.

    In his long-awaited first novel, American master George Saunders delivers his most original, transcendent, and moving work yet. Unfolding in a graveyard over the course of a single night, narrated by ... (Goodreads)

  25. Us

    by David Nicholls
    A couple's marriage is tested during a summer trip across Europe, forcing them to confront their past and future together.

    Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that, against all odds, seduces beautiful Connie into a second date and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three ... (Goodreads)

  26. At Swim-Two-Birds

    by Flann O'Brien
    A novel within a novel, where characters rebel against their author and create their own stories. A surreal and humorous exploration of Irish literature.

    At Swim-Two-Birds presents itself as a first-person story by an unnamed Irish student of literature. The student believes that "one beginning and one ending for a book was a thing I did not agree ... (Wikipedia)

  27. Outline

    by Rachel Cusk
    A woman's journey of self-reflection, exploring relationships and the complexities of life.

    An English woman writer flies to Athens to teach a summer writing workshop. On the plane, she meets an older Greek bachelor , who tells her about his two failed marriages. The next day she meets with ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Stoner

    by John Williams
    An academic's life of quiet desperation, finding solace in literature.

    William Stoner is born on a small farm in 1891. After high school, the county agent advises he go to agriculture school. Stoner enrolls in the University of Missouri , where all agriculture students ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Americanah

    by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
    An exploration of race, identity, and belonging as two Nigerian immigrants experience life in America and beyond.

    Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to ... (Goodreads)

  30. The Happy Prince and Other Tales

    by Oscar Wilde
    A collection of enchanting stories full of magical creatures, life lessons, and unforgettable characters.

    Oscar Wilde made up these very special fairy stories for children. He was telling them more than stories about princes, giants, nightingales, and roses, he was teaching them about life and the way to ... (Goodreads)