Powered by a book like {foo}
Recommendations based on One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Doddby Jim Fergus
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
by Lisa See
Story of two women in 19th-century China, exploring the power of female friendship.
In rural Hunan province called Puwei (nicknamed the Common Beauty Village), a county in China, Lily is destined to become a, laotong, pair with Snow Flower, a girl of the same age from Tongkou (the ... (Wikipedia)
Orphan Train
by Christina Baker Kline
A story of two women's intertwined lives, spanning generations and crossing continents.
The #1 New York Times Bestseller “A lovely novel about the search for family that also happens to illuminate a fascinating and forgotten chapter of America’s history. Beautiful.”—Ann Packer Moving ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Thirteenth Tale
by Diane Setterfield
A mysterious storyteller reveals a dark family secret, transforming the lives of those around her.
Vida Winter, a famous novelist in England, has evaded journalists' questions about her past, refusing to answer their inquiries and spinning elaborate tales that they later discover to be false. Her ... (Wikipedia)
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)
Pope Joan
by Donna Woolfolk Cross
A story of a female Pope's rise to power in a male-dominated world.
Joan, the daughter of a priest and his Saxon wife, is born in 814 as the last of three children. When he discovers that Joan has learned to read, her father calls her “child of the devil” and blames ... (Wikipedia)
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by Jamie Ford
A touching story of the intersection of love, family, and culture during World War II.
Henry Lee, the son of Chinese parents in Seattle , Washington, is the only Asian child at his elementary school. His father makes him wear an "I Am Chinese" button so he will not be mistaken for a ... (Wikipedia)
These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901
by Nancy E. Turner
A young woman's struggle for independence, chronicles her journey through the American Southwest.
“Belongs on your must-read list. This novel is a gem.” — Omaha World-Herald Nancy E. Turner's unforgettable, These Is My Words, melds the sweeping adventures and dramatic landscapes of, Lonesome ... (Barnes & Noble)
Sarah's Key
by Tatiana de Rosnay
A French journalist unravels an untold story of the Holocaust, uncovering hidden secrets.
From beloved international sensation and #1, New York Times, bestselling author Tatiana de Rosnay come's her most celebrated novel, Sarah's Key,—now in mass market paperback!, Paris, July 1942: ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Kitchen House
by Kathleen Grissom
A young Irish girl is taken in by a plantation family in Virginia and becomes entangled in the lives of the slaves who work there.
When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family. Orphaned while onboard ship ... (Goodreads)
The Other Boleyn Girl
by Philippa Gregory
A historical fiction recounting the rivalry between two sisters vying for the love of King Henry VIII.
In 1521 England, Queen Catherine of Aragon's failure to provide King Henry VIII a male heir has strained their marriage. Thomas Boleyn and his brother-in-law Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk, plan ... (Wikipedia)
Year of Wonders
by Geraldine Brooks
A small English village grapples with the effects of the bubonic plague.
When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of ... (Goodreads)
The Birth of Venus
by Sarah Dunant
A passionate story of love and art set in 15th century Florence.
Alessandra Cecchi is not quite fifteen when her father, a prosperous cloth merchant, brings a young painter back from northern Europe to decorate the chapel walls in the family’s Florentine palazzo. ... (Goodreads)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Betty Smith
A coming of age story set in Brooklyn, depicting a young girl's struggles and growth.
The novel is split into five "books", each covering a different period in the characters' lives. Book One opens in 1912 and introduces 11-year-old Francie Nolan, who lives in the Williamsburg ... (Wikipedia)
The Thorn Birds
by Colleen McCullough
A powerful tale of forbidden love, set in rural Australia in the early 20th century.
The story begins in New Zealand on 8 December 1915, the fourth birthday of Meghann "Meggie" Cleary who is the only daughter of Padriac ("Paddy"), an Irish farm labourer, and Fiona ("Fee"), his wife. ... (Wikipedia)
Little Bee
by Chris Cleave
A Nigerian refugee's quest for survival and a British woman's search for redemption.
Using alternating first-person perspectives , the novel tells the stories of Little Bee, a Nigerian refugee, and Sarah O'Rourke (née Summers), a magazine editor from Surrey . After spending two years ... (Wikipedia)
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats
by Jan-Philipp Sendker
An epic search for the truth, discovering the power of love and the beauty of forgiveness.
A poignant and inspirational love story set in Burma, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats spans the decades between the 1950s and the present. When a successful New York lawyer suddenly disappears without ... (Goodreads)
Before We Were Yours
by Lisa Wingate
Family torn apart is reunited across generations, revealing a powerful tale of resilience and hope.
Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the ... (Goodreads)
Shanghai Girls
by Lisa See
Two sisters navigate the turmoil of 1930s Shanghai, while struggling to protect each other.
Shanghai Girls is divided into three parts: Fate, Fortune, and Destiny. Here See treats Chinese immigration from a personal view through Pearl's narration. In, On Gold Mountain, she objectively ... (Wikipedia)
Still Alice
by Lisa Genova
A woman's struggle to hold on to her identity in the face of a devastating diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience ... (Goodreads)
Fortune's Rocks
by Anita Shreve
A forbidden summer romance between a married woman and a young man.
In the summer of 1899, Olympia Biddeford, a privileged, intelligent 15-year-old, and her parents have retired from the heat of Boston to the coastal resort of Fortune's Rocks. When the celebrated ... (Wikipedia)
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)
Girl in Hyacinth Blue
by Susan Vreeland
A painting's journey across time, connecting with its owners and revealing its secrets.
A professor invites a colleague from the art department to his home to view a painting he has kept secret for decades in Susan Vreeland's powerful historical novel, Girl in Hyacinth Blue . The ... (Goodreads)
Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer
by Sena Jeter Naslund
A woman's journey of self-discovery, defying society's expectations and finding her own path.
A magnificent, vast, and enthralling saga, Sena Jeter Naslund's Ahab's Wife is a remarkable epic spanning a rich, eventful, and dramatic life. Inspired by a brief passage in Moby Dick , it is the ... (Goodreads)
The Girl You Left Behind
by Jojo Moyes
A woman's search for answers and justice, despite the consequences of war-torn France.
From the, New York Times, bestselling author of, The Giver of Stars, a sweeping bestseller of love and loss, deftly weaving two journeys from World War I France to present day London. Paris, World ... (Goodreads)
Follow the River
by James Alexander Thom
A woman's epic journey of survival and courage, escaping captivity in the American wilderness.
Mary Ingles was twenty-three, married, and pregnant, when Shawnee Indians invaded her peaceful Virginia settlement, killed the men and women, then took her captive. For months, she lived with them, ... (Goodreads)
Loving Frank
by Nancy Horan
A romantic story of love and tragedy, as a woman risks everything for her forbidden passion.
The book opens to notes written by Mamah Borthwick, reminiscing on her life and expressing her longing to tell her views of what happened. The story begins with an account of Mamah’s attendance, with ... (Wikipedia)
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)
Midwives
by Chris Bohjalian
A midwife's journey of self-discovery, uncovering secrets of her own past.
The time is 1981, and Sibyl Danforth has been a dedicated midwife in the rural community of Reddington, Vermont, for fifteen years. But one treacherous winter night, in a house isolated by icy roads ... (Goodreads)
The Light Between Oceans
by M.L. Stedman
A lighthouse keeper and his wife make a heartbreaking decision that has lifelong repercussions.
Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found, here, Australia, 1926. After four harrowing years fighting on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns home to take a job as the lighthouse ... (Goodreads)
The Whistling Season
by Ivan Doig
A coming-of-age story set in rural Montana in 1909, following a family's struggles and triumphs during the homesteading era.
"Can't cook but doesn't bite." So begins the newspaper ad offering the services of an "A-1 housekeeper, sound morals, exceptional disposition" that draws the hungry attention of widower Oliver ... (Goodreads)
