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Recommendations based on The Ninth Hourby Alice McDermott
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
Anything Is Possible
by Elizabeth Strout
An exploration of the interconnected lives of a small town's inhabitants, and the power of redemption.
Short story collection Anything Is Possible explores the whole range of human emotion through the intimate dramas of people struggling to understand themselves and others. Here are two sisters: one ... (Goodreads)
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)
The Women in the Castle
by Jessica Shattuck
Three women unite in a quest to survive in war-torn Germany and seek justice for their pasts.
The story begins at the site of a Bavarian castle in 1938, with detailed descriptions of the society of the pre-war days in Germany among a certain class of landed aristocrats. Countess Marianne von ... (Wikipedia)
Sing, Unburied, Sing
by Jesmyn Ward
A family's journey through the Mississippi Delta, confronting a traumatic past.
It is Jojo's thirteenth birthday. To step into his new role as a man, Jojo tries to bravely help his grandfather, Pop, kill a goat. Jojo ends up throwing up at the sight although Pop is sympathetic. ... (Wikipedia)
Manhattan Beach
by Jennifer Egan
A female-led story of crime, courage and sacrifice set in 1940s Brooklyn.
Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. She is mesmerized by the sea ... (Goodreads)
Fates and Furies
by Lauren Groff
A tale of the secrets and passions of a marriage, exploring the depths of private lives.
Every story has two sides. Every relationship has two perspectives. And sometimes, it turns out, the key to a great marriage is not its truths but its secrets. At the core of this rich, expansive, ... (Goodreads)
Wishtree
by Katherine Applegate
An ancient oak tree tells the story of a community coming together to accept difference and promote understanding.
The, New York Times-,bestselling story of kindness, friendship, and hope. ,, Trees can't tell jokes, but they can certainly tell stories. . . . Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the ... (Barnes & Noble)
Home Fire
by Kamila Shamsie
A family torn apart by tragedy, facing the choices of loyalty, love and politics.
Isma is free. After years of watching out for her younger siblings in the wake of their mother’s death, she’s accepted an invitation from a mentor in America that allows her to resume a dream long ... (Goodreads)
Warlight
by Michael Ondaatje
After WWII, two siblings are left in the care of mysterious figures as their parents disappear. Years later, they uncover the truth.
In a narrative as mysterious as memory itself – at once both shadowed and luminous – Warlight is a vivid, thrilling novel of violence and love, intrigue and desire. It is 1945, and London is still ... (Goodreads)
The Poet X
by Elizabeth Acevedo
A young girl in Harlem discovers her love for slam poetry as a way to express herself and navigate the challenges of her conservative Dominican family.
Xiomara Batista is a fifteen-year-old Dominican teenager living in Harlem, who loves to write poetry. Though she longs to share it with the world, her religious mother is only concerned with her ... (Wikipedia)
Less
by Andrew Sean Greer
A man's journey of self-discovery and coming to terms with his life choices.
PROBLEM: You are a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: your boyfriend of the past nine years now engaged to someone else. You can’t say yes–it would all be ... (Goodreads)
Miller's Valley
by Anna Quindlen
A coming-of-age story of Mimi Miller, who grows up in a small town that is slowly being flooded.
For generations the Millers have lived in Miller’s Valley. Mimi Miller tells about her life with intimacy and honesty. As Mimi eavesdrops on her parents and quietly observes the people around her, ... (Goodreads)
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)
Asymmetry
by Lisa Halliday
A novel in three parts, exploring the power dynamics of relationships and the complexities of identity and privilege.
The book is composed of three parts that take place over different periods of time in the 2000s. The 25-year old Alice, who works for a publishing company, starts an affair with a famous writer, Ezra ... (Wikipedia)
Let the Great World Spin
by Colum McCann
Interconnected stories of ordinary lives in 1970s New York, inspired by a high-wire artist's death-defying feat.
The events of the story are told in a largely non-linear fashion, with several different narrators telling the story from different perspectives. The story is interspersed with fictionalized accounts ... (Wikipedia)
The High Mountains of Portugal
by Yann Martel
A spiritual journey of three stories across Portugal, spanning three different time periods.
In Lisbon in 1904, a young man named Tomás discovers an old journal. It hints at the existence of an extraordinary artifact that—if he can find it—would redefine history. Traveling in one of Europe’s ... (Goodreads)
An American Marriage
by Tayari Jones
A newlywed couple's lives are torn apart when the husband is wrongfully convicted of a crime. The novel explores love, loyalty, and injustice.
Roy, a sales representative for a textbook company, and Celestial, an artist specializing in custom made baby dolls, are newlyweds who live in Atlanta. After their first year of marriage they travel ... (Wikipedia)
Snap
by Belinda Bauer
A mother's murder leaves three children alone and vulnerable. Jack, the eldest, takes matters into his own hands.
On a stifling summer's day, eleven-year-old Jack and his two sisters sit in their broken-down car, waiting for their mother to come back and rescue them. Jack's in charge , she said. I won't be long. ... (Goodreads)
Exit West
by Mohsin Hamid
Reflection on displacement and immigration as two refugees traverse the world in search of a new life.
Nadia and Saeed meet when they are working students in an unnamed city. Saeed is more conservative and still lives at home, as custom generally requires, but the more independent Nadia has chosen to ... (Wikipedia)
The Beginner's Goodbye
by Anne Tyler
A man's journey of healing and acceptance after the death of his beloved wife.
Anne Tyler gives us a wise, haunting, and deeply moving new novel in which she explores how a middle-aged man, ripped apart by the death of his wife, is gradually restored by her frequent ... (Goodreads)
The House of Unexpected Sisters
by Alexander McCall Smith
A woman's journey of self-discovery, as she uncovers secrets and finds new connections.
Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are approached by their part-time colleague, Mr. Polopetsi, with a troubling story: A woman, accused of being rude to a valued customer, has been wrongly dismissed from ... (Goodreads)
The Two-Family House
by Lynda Cohen Loigman
Two siblings, both Holocaust survivors, reunite and grapple with the family secrets that have kept them apart.
"An emotional but dreamy novel that...will transport you far, far away from your next dreary Monday morning. You may do a lot of sobbing, but don't worry, you'll be smiling by the end." —Bustle, "12 ... (Barnes & Noble)
Did You Ever Have a Family
by Bill Clegg
A tragic event shatters a woman's life, forcing her to leave her hometown and confront her past. A story of grief, loss, and redemption.
The novel focuses on June Reid, a beautiful, rich Connecticut woman. On the night before her daughter’s wedding, June Reid loses her daughter, her daughter’s fiancé, her ex-husband, and her boyfriend ... (Wikipedia)
The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine
by Alexander McCall Smith
Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's finest detective, takes a vacation and finds herself solving a mystery in the heart of Botswana's Okavango Delta.
In this latest installment of the beloved and best-selling series, Mma Ramotswe must contend with her greatest challenge yet—a vacation! Business is slow at the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, so ... (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)
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)
Love Medicine
by Louise Erdrich
Interconnected stories of two Native American families, exploring love, loss, and identity over generations.
Love Medicine follows the intertwining lives of three central families, the Kashpaws, Lamartines, and Morrisseys, and two peripheral families, the Pillagers and the Lazarres. , Members of the ... (Wikipedia)
Here I Am
by Jonathan Safran Foer
A multi-generational Jewish family struggles to make sense of the chaos of the 21st century.
Christian Lorentzen has described the plot as a blend of several different events, including "[a] divorce, a suicide, a bar mitzvah, an earthquake, an all-out Middle Eastern war, and the putting to ... (Wikipedia)
My Absolute Darling
by Gabriel Tallent
A teenage girl's extraordinary journey of personal growth and transformation.
Julia "Turtle" Alveston, age fourteen, lives in California with her sociopathic father, Martin. He is convinced of impending catastrophe, forcing her to learn survivalist skills. Turtle is thus ... (Wikipedia)
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)
