Recommendations based on Instructions for a Heatwaveby Maggie O'Farrell

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

  1. This Must Be the Place

    by Maggie O'Farrell
    A story of a family's journey through life, love, and loss, spanning continents and decades.

    A dazzling novel from bestselling writer Maggie O'Farrell, winner of the Costa Novel Award—an irresistible love story that crisscrosses continents and time zones as it captures an extraordinary ... (Goodreads)

  2. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

    by Maggie O'Farrell
    Story of two women's struggle to uncover a dark family secret and reclaim their freedom.

    In the middle of tending to the everyday business at her vintage-clothing shop and sidestepping her married boyfriend’s attempts at commitment, Iris Lockhart receives a stunning phone call: Her ... (Barnes & Noble)

  3. The Hand That First Held Mine

    by Maggie O'Farrell
    An interweaving of two stories, exploring the complexities of love, friendship, and family.

    The story progresses in two different timelines. It tells the story of Lexie Sinclair, a young English woman who falls in love with magazine editor Innes Kent, after escaping from her stifling family ... (Wikipedia)

  4. Life After Life

    by Kate Atkinson
    A woman lives multiple lives, reflecting on choices and consequences and the power of love.

    The novel has an unusual structure, repeatedly looping back in time to describe alternative possible lives for its central character, Ursula Todd, who is born on 11 February 1910 to an ... (Wikipedia)

  5. And the Mountains Echoed

    by Khaled Hosseini
    Interconnected stories of family and love, tracing the consequences of decisions made throughout life.

    The novel opens in the year 1952. Saboor, an impoverished farmer from the fictional village of Shadbagh, decides to sell his three-year-old daughter Pari to a wealthy, childless couple in Kabul. ... (Wikipedia)

  6. The Children Act

    by Ian McEwan
    A family court judge must make a difficult decision between the law and her conscience.

    Fiona Maye is a respected High Court Judge specialising in Family Law and living in Gray's Inn Square. While reviewing a case, she is approached by her husband, Jack, who tells her that because of ... (Wikipedia)

  7. The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

    by Rachel Joyce
    A story of friendship, love and courage told through the last letter of a dying woman.

    When Queenie Hennessy discovers that Harold Fry is walking the length of England to save her, and all she has to do is wait, she is shocked. Her note had explained she was dying. How can she wait? A ... (Goodreads)

  8. 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)

  9. Started Early, Took My Dog

    by Kate Atkinson
    Private investigator Tracy Waterhouse rescues a child and buys a dog, leading to a complex web of secrets and lies.

    The main story takes place over a few days in present-day (2010) Leeds, England and vicinity. There are frequent flashbacks to 1975, when the mystery being investigated originated. ... (Wikipedia)

  10. Burial Rites

    by Hannah Kent
    A woman awaits her execution in 19th-century Iceland, reliving her story of hardship, loss and faith.

    Burial Rites tells the story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, a servant in northern Iceland who was condemned to death after the murder of two men, one of whom was her employer, and became the last woman put ... (Wikipedia)

  11. 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)

  12. The Language of Flowers

    by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
    A young woman's journey of healing and redemption through the power of flowers.

    The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in ... (Goodreads)

  13. Honor

    by Elif Shafak
    A family saga that explores the concept of honor and its impact on individuals and society.

    An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London Internationally bestselling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and ... (Goodreads)

  14. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

    by Rachel Joyce
    An elderly man's unexpected quest of faith, discovering the power of hope and love.

    Harold Fry, 65, has cut the lawn outside his home at Kingsbridge on the south coast of Devon when he receives a letter. A colleague of twenty years ago, Queenie Hennessy, has cancer and is in a ... (Wikipedia)

  15. The Burgess Boys

    by Elizabeth Strout
    Siblings reunite to help a small Maine town overcome its dark past.

    Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their Maine hometown of Shirley Falls for New York City as soon as they possibly ... (Goodreads)

  16. The Little Friend

    by Donna Tartt
    A young girl sets out to avenge her brother's mysterious death.

    In the mid-1960s, on Mother's Day , Robin, the eldest child and only son of the Dufresnes, a white family living in Mississippi, is found hanging from a tree on the family property. Only nine years ... (Wikipedia)

  17. The Dovekeepers

    by Alice Hoffman
    Four women living in a fort in ancient Israel tell their stories of survival and faith.

    According to the official trailer , Tagline: The trailer featured the tagline, "Their journey. Their passion. It all leads up to this. Take a stand." The adaptation garnered negative reviews: Keith ... (Wikipedia)

  18. The Silkworm

    by Robert Galbraith
    Detective investigates the murder of a novelist, uncovering shocking secrets.

    Several months after solving the Lula Landry case , Cormoran Strike is asked by Leonora Quine to locate her novelist husband Owen, a former literary genius whose attempts to recreate his past success ... (Wikipedia)

  19. The Essex Serpent

    by Sarah Perry
    A woman's spiritual journey of faith and doubt, set against the backdrop of a mysterious sea-serpent.

    After being widowed when her wealthy, abusive husband dies of throat cancer, Cora Seaborne decides to ignore the trappings of her London society life and take up amateur palaeontology. Vacationing in ... (Wikipedia)

  20. Sweet Tooth

    by Ian McEwan
    Story of a young woman's journey of self-discovery and the moral dilemmas she faces.

    The plot is set in early-1970s England. Serena Frome ("rhymes with plume"), the daughter of an Anglican bishop, shows a talent for mathematics and is admitted to the University of Cambridge . But she ... (Wikipedia)

  21. Standard Deviation

    by Katherine Heiny
    A witty and charming novel about a couple's marriage, their quirks, and the challenges they face.

    A rueful, funny examination of love, marriage, infidelity, and origami. Simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking, this sensational debut will appeal to fans of David Nicholls, Nick Hornby, Nora ... (Goodreads)

  22. The Keeper of Lost Things

    by Ruth Hogan
    A story of finding solace and connection through lost memories and objects.

    A charming, clever, and quietly moving debut novel of of endless possibilities and joyful discoveries that explores the promises we make and break, losing and finding ourselves, the objects that hold ... (Goodreads)

  23. Behind the Scenes at the Museum

    by Kate Atkinson
    A young girl's exploration of her family's history, unravelling their secrets and lies.

    Ruby Lennox begins narrating her life at the moment of conception, and from there takes us on a whirlwind tour of the twentieth century as seen through the eyes of an English girl determined to learn ... (Goodreads)

  24. The Thread

    by Victoria Hislop
    A journey of two families through 20th century Greece, facing hardships & tragedy.

    A beautiful and epic novel that spans nearly a hundred years, The Thread is a magnificent story of a friendship and a love that endures through the catastrophes and upheavals of the twentieth ... (Goodreads)

  25. Lila

    by Marilynne Robinson
    A young woman's journey of self-discovery and exploration of faith and spirituality.

    Marilynne Robinson, one of the greatest novelists of our time, returns to the town of Gilead in an unforgettable story of a girlhood lived on the fringes of society in fear, awe, and wonder. Lila, ... (Goodreads)

  26. The Dressmaker

    by Rosalie Ham
    A talented dressmaker returns to her small Australian hometown to confront her past and seek revenge. Dark secrets are revealed.

    In the 1950s, Myrtle "Tilly" Dunnage returns to her hometown of Dungatar, an Australian country town, to take care of her ill mother, Molly. The people of Dungatar sent Tilly away at the age of ten ... (Wikipedia)

  27. The Lowland

    by Jhumpa Lahiri
    Two brothers in Calcutta take different paths in life, leading to tragedy and a search for redemption.

    Raised in Tollygunge in Calcutta , brothers Subhash and Udayan are inseparable; they find joy in fixing and listening to radios, learning Morse Code , and looking out for each other at school. When ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Close to Home

    by Cara Hunter
    A young girl goes missing in a quiet Oxford neighborhood, and the investigation uncovers dark secrets and hidden motives among the residents.

    They know who did it. Perhaps not consciously. Perhaps not yet. But they know. When eight-year-old Daisy Mason vanishes from her family’s Oxford home during a costume party, Detective Inspector Adam ... (Goodreads)

  29. To Rise Again at a Decent Hour

    by Joshua Ferris
    A successful dentist questions his identity and purpose after discovering a fake website impersonating him.

    A big, brilliant, profoundly observed novel about the mysteries of modern life by National Book Award Finalist Joshua Ferris, one of the most exciting voices of his generation Paul O'Rourke is a man ... (Goodreads)

  30. The Accidental

    by Ali Smith
    A stranger's arrival disrupts the lives of a family, leading to unexpected connections and revelations.

    Set in 2003, the novel consists of three parts: "The Beginning," "Middle" and "The End." Each part contains four separate narrations, one focusing on each member of the Smart family: Eve, the mother, ... (Wikipedia)