Recommendations based on The Signature of All Thingsby Elizabeth Gilbert

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

  1. The Invention of Wings

    by Sue Monk Kidd
    A powerful story about a girl's journey to freedom, despite the limitations of slavery.

    Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world—and it is now ... (Goodreads)

  2. 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)

  3. 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)

  4. Flight Behavior

    by Barbara Kingsolver
    A woman's struggle to reconcile her faith and environmentalism as she faces a mysterious ecological disaster.

    Dellarobia Turnbow is a 28-year-old discontented housewife living with her poor family on a farm in Appalachia . On a hike to begin an affair with a telephone repairman, Turnbow finds millions of ... (Wikipedia)

  5. Cutting for Stone

    by Abraham Verghese
    A sweeping journey of two twin brothers and their search for identity, belonging and family.

    The story is told by the protagonist, Marion Stone. He and his conjoined twin Shiva are born at Mission Hospital (called "Missing" in accordance with the local pronunciation), Addis Ababa , in ... (Wikipedia)

  6. Olive Kitteridge

    by Elizabeth Strout
    An exploration of the life of a small-town woman, revealing her struggles and emotional complexities.

    Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition – its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires. At times stern, at other times ... (Goodreads)

  7. A Tale for the Time Being

    by Ruth Ozeki
    An exploration of the connections between two lives, bridging time, space and cultures.

    In Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao has decided there’s only one escape from her aching loneliness and her classmates’ bullying, but before she ends it all, Nao plans to document the life of her ... (Goodreads)

  8. 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)

  9. 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)

  10. The Paris Wife

    by Paula McLain
    A woman's journey of self-discovery, navigating the complexities of a passionate and tumultuous relationship.

    The Paris Wife focuses on the romance, marriage and divorce of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley Richardson, who met when Hemingway was 20 years old, and Richardson 28. They marry and move ... (Wikipedia)

  11. Shantaram

    by Gregory David Roberts
    An Australian convict escapes to India and embarks on a journey of self-discovery.

    In 1978, Roberts was sentenced to a 19-year imprisonment in Australia after being convicted of a series of armed robberies of building society branches, credit unions , and shops. In July 1980, he ... (Wikipedia)

  12. Station Eleven

    by Emily St. John Mandel
    Post-apocalyptic exploration of a world drastically changed after a pandemic.

    An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse,, Station Eleven, tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of ... (Barnes & Noble)

  13. Those Who Save Us

    by Jenna Blum
    A woman's journey of self-discovery, uncovering the secrets of her mother's past.

    For fifty years, Anna Schlemmer has refused to talk about her life in Germany during World War II. Her daughter, Trudy, was only three when she and her mother were liberated by an American soldier ... (Barnes & Noble)

  14. Freedom

    by Jonathan Franzen
    A family saga revealing the struggles of a divided nation, and the power of love to heal.

    The novel opens with a brief look at the Berglund family during their time living in St. Paul, Minnesota , from the perspective of their nosy neighbors. The Berglunds are portrayed as an ideal ... (Wikipedia)

  15. Bel Canto

    by Ann Patchett
    A story of redemption and transformation amidst a hostage crisis.

    Set in an unspecified South American country, , the story begins at a birthday party thrown at the country's vice presidential home in honor of Katsumi Hosokawa, the visiting chairman of a large ... (Wikipedia)

  16. The Storyteller

    by Jodi Picoult
    A storyteller's quest to restore faith in the power of storytelling and to mend the wounds of her past.

    25-year-old Sage Singer lives in the small town of Westerbrook, New Hampshire . , A couple of years before the story began, Sage and her mother were in a car accident while Sage was driving. Sage's ... (Wikipedia)

  17. 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)

  18. State of Wonder

    by Ann Patchett
    A journey in the Amazon rainforest to find a missing colleague and unlock the secrets of a mysterious drug.

    In a narrative replete with poison arrows, devouring snakes, scientific miracles, and spiritual transformations, "State of Wonder" presents a world of stunning surprise and danger, rich in emotional ... (Goodreads)

  19. Paris

    by Edward Rutherfurd
    An epic historical saga of love, loyalty, and power, spanning centuries of life in the city of Paris.

    The novel follows six families: the Le Sourds (a revolutionary family), the de Cygnes (a noble family), the Renards (a bourgeois family of merchants), the Blanchards (a family of Napoleon ... (Wikipedia)

  20. We Are Water

    by Wally Lamb
    A family's struggle to reconcile their differences and make peace with their past.

    In middle age, Annie Oh—wife, mother, and outsider artist—has shaken her family to its core. After twenty-seven years of marriage and three children, Annie has fallen in love with Viveca, the ... (Goodreads)

  21. The Marriage of Opposites

    by Alice Hoffman
    A historical novel exploring the life of the mother of Impressionist painter Claude Monet.

    From the New York Times bestselling author of The Dovekeepers and The Museum of Extraordinary Things : a forbidden love story set on the tropical island of St. Thomas about the extraordinary woman ... (Goodreads)

  22. The Forgotten Garden

    by Kate Morton
    A woman's quest to uncover the secrets of her family's past, leading to a mysterious garden.

    At Nell's joyous 21st birthday party her world falls apart when her father tells her she was adopted as a 4-year-old in 1913, seemingly abandoned on an Australian wharf and unable to remember her ... (Wikipedia)

  23. City of Thieves

    by David Benioff
    Two young men embark on a perilous mission in the besieged Leningrad of WWII.

    The story is introduced as the recollections of the narrator's grandfather Lev Beniov, a contemporary Russian Jewish émigré. It is set in the first week of 1942, with the 17-years-old Lev trying to ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Euphoria

    by Lily King
    Three anthropologists in the 1930s study a tribe in New Guinea, leading to a complex love triangle and ethical dilemmas.

    A New York Times Bestseller,Winner of the 2014 Kirkus Prize,Winner of the 2014 New England Book Award for Fiction,A Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award,A Best Book of the Year for:,, ... (Barnes & Noble)

  25. The Silver Star

    by Jeannette Walls
    Two sisters embark on an epic journey across the U.S. in search of their long-lost mother.

    It is 1970 in a small town in California. “Bean” Holladay is twelve and her sister, Liz, is fifteen when their artistic mother, Charlotte, takes off to find herself, leaving her girls enough money to ... (Goodreads)

  26. The Likeness

    by Tana French
    A murder investigation reveals secrets of a young woman's past, threatening her present.

    The story follows the efforts of detective Cassie Maddox to determine the circumstances surrounding the death of Lexie Madison, a young woman who is her doppelgänger . , The dead woman not only ... (Wikipedia)

  27. The Art of Racing in the Rain

    by Garth Stein
    An uplifting story of a race car driver and the bond between humans and animals.

    Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by ... (Goodreads)

  28. Half of a Yellow Sun

    by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
    Story of two sisters navigating a civil war in Nigeria, and the effects of colonialism.

    The novel takes place in Nigeria prior to and during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–70). The effect of the war is shown through the relationships of five people's lives including the twin daughters of ... (Wikipedia)

  29. 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)

  30. My Name Is Lucy Barton

    by Elizabeth Strout
    A woman's journey of self-reflection, uncovering secrets from her past.

    Lucy Barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. Her mother, to whom she hasn't spoken for many years, comes to see her. Her unexpected visit forces Lucy to confront ... (Goodreads)