Books about Cultural Conflict

  1. The Satanic Verses

    by Salman Rushdie
    An exploration into the clash between faith and reason, with a controversial narrative of religious satire.

    Just before dawn one winter's morning, a hijacked jetliner explodes above the English Channel. Through the falling debris, two figures, Gibreel Farishta, the biggest star in India, and Saladin ... (Goodreads)

  2. Light in August

    by William Faulkner
    A story of redemption and hope set in the Jim Crow South.

    The novel is set in the American South in the 1930s, during the time of Prohibition and Jim Crow laws that legalized racial segregation in the South. It begins with the journey of Lena Grove, a young ... (Wikipedia)

  3. The Inheritance of Loss

    by Kiran Desai
    An exploration of the effects of colonialism on the characters' lives in a small Himalayan town.

    In a crumbling, isolated house at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas lives an embittered judge who wants only to retire in peace, when his orphaned granddaughter, Sai, arrives on his ... (Goodreads)

  4. Shalimar the Clown

    by Salman Rushdie
    A story of love, loss, and revenge set against a backdrop of religious extremism, terrorism, and political unrest.

    The central character, India, is the illegitimate child of a former United States ambassador to India, Maximilian Ophuls. Although a number of narratives and incidents in the novel revolve around ... (Wikipedia)

  5. A Passage to India

    by E.M. Forster
    Exploring imperial tensions between colonial India and Britain in the early 20th century.

    A young British schoolmistress, Adela Quested, and her elderly friend, Mrs. Moore, visit the fictional city of Chandrapore, British India . Adela is to decide if she wants to marry Mrs. Moore's son, ... (Wikipedia)

  6. LaRose

    by Louise Erdrich
    A family's tragedy brings them together, pushing them to confront the past and embrace their future.

    LaRose is set in North Dakota , on an Ojibwa reservation in the "era of George W. Bush and 9/11." , The novel's protagonist is LaRose Iron, a young Native American boy. , His father, Landreaux Iron, ... (Wikipedia)

  7. The Poisonwood Bible

    by Barbara Kingsolver
    A family's journey in the Congo, exploring the intersection of faith, colonialism, and identity.

    Orleanna Price, the mother of the family, narrates the introductory chapter in five of the novel's seven sections. The narrative then alternates among the four daughters, with a slight preference for ... (Wikipedia)

  8. The Tortilla Curtain

    by T. Coraghessan Boyle
    A story of two families, one affluent and one struggling, and their intersecting paths.

    Cándido Rincón (33) and América (his pregnant common law wife , 17) are two Mexicans who enter the United States illegally, dreaming of a good life in their own little house somewhere in California. ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Not Without My Daughter

    by Betty Mahmoody
    A woman's dramatic fight for freedom from an oppressive husband in a foreign land.

    It was August 3, 1984. Moody, Betty, and Mahtob had spent two days traveling from their home in Detroit to Moody's native country of Iran. In preparation for their arrival, Betty, at Moody's request, ... (Wikipedia)

  10. Things Fall Apart

    by Chinua Achebe
    Exploration of African culture and traditions, grappling with the tension between modernity and tradition.

    The novel's protagonist , Okonkwo, is famous in the villages of Umuofia for being a wrestling champion, defeating a wrestler nicknamed "Amalinze The Cat" (because he never lands on his back). Okonkwo ... (Wikipedia)

  11. Ragtime

    by E.L. Doctorow
    Interweaving stories of disparate individuals as they navigate the changing social and cultural landscape of early 20th century America.

    The novel centers on a wealthy family living in New Rochelle, New York , referred to as Father, Mother, Mother's Younger Brother, Grandfather, and 'the little boy', Father and Mother's young son. The ... (Wikipedia)

  12. A Tale of Love and Darkness

    by Amos Oz
    A tale of love, loss, and identity set against the backdrop of the tumultuous history of Israel.

    Tragic, comic, and utterly honest, A Tale of Love and Darkness is at once a family saga and a magical self-portrait of a writer who witnessed the birth of a nation and lived through its turbulent ... (Goodreads)

  13. Season of Migration to the North

    by Tayeb Salih
    A stranger arrives in a small Sudanese village, stirring up dark secrets from the past.

    After years of study in Europe, the young narrator of Season of Migration to the North returns to his village along the Nile in the Sudan. It is the 1960s, and he is eager to make a contribution to ... (Goodreads)

  14. My Name Is Red

    by Orhan Pamuk
    An art mystery set in 16th century Istanbul, delving into the power of art, religion and love.

    At once a fiendishly devious mystery, a beguiling love story, and a brilliant symposium on the power of art, My Name Is Red is a transporting tale set amid the splendor and religious intrigue of ... (Goodreads)

  15. Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History

    by S.C. Gwynne
    Epic tale of the Comanche tribe's rise and fall in North America.

    In the tradition of, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,, a stunningly vivid historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West, ... (Goodreads)

  16. Victoria

    by Daisy Goodwin
    A thrilling tale of love, loss, and self-discovery set in the 19th century British court.

    “They think I am still a little girl who is not capable of being a Queen.”,Lord Melbourne turned to look at Victoria. “They are mistaken. I have not known you long, but I observe in you a natural ... (Goodreads)

  17. ثلاثية غرناطة

    by رضوى عاشور
    A story of three friends, navigating love and loss within the city of Granada.

    ثلاثية غرناطة هي ثلاثية روائية تتكون من ثلاث روايات للكاتبة المصرية رضوى عاشور و هم على التوالي: غرناطة - مريمة - الرحيل. وتدور الأحداث في مملكة غرناطة بعد سقوط جميع الممالك الإسلامية في الأندلس، و ... (Goodreads)

  18. The Bookseller of Kabul

    by Åsne Seierstad
    An intimate look into the lives of an Afghan family, exploring culture and faith.

    In spring 2002, following the fall of the Taliban, Åsne Seierstad spent four months living with a bookseller and his family in Kabul. For more than twenty years Sultan Khan defied the authorities—be ... (Goodreads)

  19. The Best We Could Do

    by Thi Bui
    A family's journey of remembrance, reflecting on the immigrant experience.

    National bestseller 2017 National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Finalist, ABA Indies Introduce Winter / Spring 2017 Selection, Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Spring 2017 Selection, ALA 2018 ... (Barnes & Noble)

  20. Leo Africanus

    by Amin Maalouf
    An epic historical novel, tracing the journey of a North African explorer and diplomat in the 16th century.

    "I, Hasan the son of Muhammad the weigh-master, I, Jean-Leon de Medici, circumcised at the hand of a barber and baptized at the hand of a pope, I am now called the African, but I am not from Africa, ... (Goodreads)

  21. Kushiel's Dart

    by Jacqueline Carey
    A story of political intrigue, adventure, and forbidden love, set in a world of gods and mortals.

    The book follows Phèdre nó Delaunay's life from birth. She's born with a mote in her eye, which makes her appear inappropriate for service as a religious courtesan, but it is revealed that this is ... (Wikipedia)

  22. The Orenda

    by Joseph Boyden
    An exploration of the spiritual bonds between a small Huron tribe and their European invaders.

    In the remote winter landscape a brutal massacre and the kidnapping of a young Iroquois girl violently re-ignites a deep rift between two tribes. The girl’s captor, Bird, is one of the Huron Nation’s ... (Goodreads)

  23. The Word for World Is Forest

    by Ursula K. Le Guin
    A sci-fi novella set on a planet where an alien species is exploited by humans.

    The Word for World is Forest begins from the point of view of Captain Davidson, who is the commander of a logging camp named Smith camp. Many native Athsheans are used as slave labor at the camp, and ... (Wikipedia)

  24. The Gods of Gotham

    by Lyndsay Faye
    A police officer investigates the crime-ridden streets of 1840s New York City.

    1845. New York City forms its first police force. The great potato famine hits Ireland. These two seemingly disparate events will change New York City. Forever. Timothy Wilde tends bar near the ... (Goodreads)

  25. The Gift of Rain

    by Tan Twan Eng
    A young man's journey of self-discovery in Malaya during World War II.

    The novel is set in Penang . It concerns Philip Hutton, of mixed Chinese-English heritage, and his relationship with Hayato Endo, a Japanese diplomat who teaches him aikido . As war looms and the ... (Wikipedia)

  26. Inca Gold

    by Clive Cussler
    A thrilling journey of archaeological discovery in the jungles of Peru.

    In 1532 a fleet of ships sails in secret to an island in the middle of an inland sea. There they hide a magnificent treasure more vast than that any Pharaoh would ever possess. Then they disappear, ... (Wikipedia)

  27. Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots

    by Deborah Feldman
    A woman's journey of liberation, leaving behind the oppressive confines of her Hasidic community.

    The instant New York Times bestselling memoir of a young Jewish woman’s escape from a religious sect, in the tradition of Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Infidel and Carolyn Jessop’s Escape , featuring a new ... (Goodreads)

  28. Daniel Deronda

    by George Eliot
    Story of a man's struggle to reconcile his Jewish identity and the expectations of English society.

    Daniel Deronda contains two main strains of plot, united by the title character. The novel begins in late August 1865 , with the meeting of Daniel Deronda and Gwendolen Harleth in the fictional town ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Bangkok 8

    by John Burdett
    An intrepid detective investigates a murder in the seedy underworld of Bangkok.

    A thriller with attitude to spare, Bangkok 8 is a sexy, razor-edged, often darkly hilarious novel set in one of the world’s most exotic cities. Witnessed by a throng of gaping spectators, a ... (Goodreads)

  30. Bruchko: The Astonishing True Story of a 19-Year-Old American, His Capture by the Motilone Indians and His Adventures in Christianizing the Stone Age Tribe

    by Bruce Olson
    A 19-year-old's experiences living among and converting a Stone Age tribe in South America.

    What happens when a nineteen-year-old boy leaves home and heads into the jungles to evangelize a murderous tribe of South American Indians?, For Bruce Olson, it meant capture, disease, terror, ... (Barnes & Noble)

  31. Sister of My Heart

    by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
    An intertwining story of two young women and the bonds of family and friendship.

    Princess in the Palace of Snakes follows two cousins from birth until their wedding day. The sudden death of their fathers on a reckless hunt for rubies sends Anju and Sudha's mothers into premature ... (Wikipedia)

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