Recommendations based on Honoluluby Alan Brennert

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  1. Moloka'i

    by Alan Brennert
    A young Hawaiian girl is diagnosed with leprosy and sent to live in a settlement on Moloka'i, where she learns to survive and thrive.

    This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai'i more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place—-and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit. ... (Barnes & Noble)

  2. 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)

  3. The Shoemaker's Wife

    by Adriana Trigiani
    Two Italian immigrants forge a love story amongst the struggles of making a life in America.

    The majestic and haunting beauty of the Italian Alps is the setting of the first meeting of Enza, a practical beauty, and Ciro, a strapping mountain boy, who meet as teenagers, despite growing up in ... (Goodreads)

  4. 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)

  5. Peony in Love

    by Lisa See
    A young woman's journey of self-discovery and exploration of love.

    Peony's father, a wealthy, cultured man with important political contacts, is planning a performance of The Peony Pavilion on his estate. This is seen by many as controversial because the opera may ... (Wikipedia)

  6. 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)

  7. 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)

  8. Pachinko

    by Lee Min-jin
    A saga spanning four generations of a Korean family living in Japan, struggling to survive and thrive amidst prejudice and poverty.

    The novel takes place over the course of three books: Book I Gohyang/Hometown, Book II Motherland, and Book III Pachinko. In 1883, in the little island fishing village of Yeongdo , which is a ferry ... (Wikipedia)

  9. 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)

  10. Secret Daughter

    by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
    An Indian woman's journey to find her daughter and redeem her past.

    Somer's life is everything she imagined it would be — she's newly married and has started her career as a physician in San Francisco — until she makes the devastating discovery she never will be able ... (Goodreads)

  11. 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)

  12. 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)

  13. Mudbound

    by Hillary Jordan
    Two families, one black and one white, struggle to survive and thrive in rural Mississippi during and after World War II.

    In the winter of 1946, Henry McAllen moves his city-bred wife, Laura, from their comfortable home in Memphis, Tennessee to a remote cotton farm in the Mississippi Delta —a place she finds both ... (Wikipedia)

  14. Daughter of Moloka'i

    by Alan Brennert
    A young girl is taken from her leprosy-afflicted mother and sent to an orphanage, where she struggles to find her identity and reunite with her family.

    NOW A, LOS ANGELES TIMES, BESTSELLER | NAMED A BEST/MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK BY:, USA Today, , • ,, BookRiot, , • BookBub, , • ,, LibraryReads, , • ,, OC Register • Never Ending Voyage,, The highly ... (Barnes & Noble)

  15. 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)

  16. Daughter of Fortune

    by Isabel Allende
    A young woman's epic journey to find her lost love, and rediscover her roots.

    In Chile during the 1840s, young Chilean Eliza Sommers is raised and educated by English Anglican siblings Rose, Jeremy, and John Sommers. The Victorian-Spinster Rose, strict Jeremy, and sailor John ... (Wikipedia)

  17. Sycamore Row

    by John Grisham
    A lawyer in Mississippi must unravel a mysterious will and its secrets.

    The title refers to a row of sycamore trees in the countryside near the fictional town of Clanton, in fictional Ford County, Mississippi . The trees play an important role in the book's plot, though ... (Wikipedia)

  18. Sacajawea

    by Anna Lee Waldo
    Epic historical novel of the life of Sacajawea, a Shoshone woman who helped guide Lewis and Clark on their expedition.

    Clad ln a doeskin, alone and unafraid, she stood straight and proud before the onrushlng Forces of America’s destiny: Sacajawea. child of a Shoshoni chief, lone woman on Lewis and Clark‘s historic ... (Goodreads)

  19. 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)

  20. What Alice Forgot

    by Liane Moriarty
    A woman wakes up with amnesia and must reconstruct her life, rediscovering truths hidden in her past.

    FROM THE #1, NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF, THE HUSBAND'S SECRET, AND, BIG LITTLE LIES,. A “cheerfully engaging”(,Kirkus Reviews,) novel for anyone who’s ever asked herself, “How did I get ... (Barnes & Noble)

  21. 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)

  22. Once We Were Brothers

    by Ronald H. Balson
    A Holocaust survivor accuses a prominent Chicago businessman of being a Nazi officer who murdered his family. Legal drama ensues.

    The gripping tale about two boys, once as close as brothers, who find themselves on opposite sides of the Holocaust., "A novel of survival, justice and redemption...riveting." —,Chicago Tribune, on, ... (Barnes & Noble)

  23. The Heretic's Daughter

    by Kathleen Kent
    A dramatic tale of one family's survival during the Salem Witch Trials.

    A courageous woman fights to survive the darkest days of the Salem Witch Trials in this "heart-wrenching story of family love and sacrifice" (,USA Today,). Salem, 1752. Sarah Carrier Chapman, weak ... (Barnes & Noble)

  24. 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)

  25. 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)

  26. Nefertiti

    by Michelle Moran
    Historical fiction about the life of Nefertiti, queen of Egypt, and her rise to power alongside her husband, Pharaoh Akhenaten.

    Nefertiti and her younger sister, Mutnodjmet, have been raised in a powerful family that has provided wives to the rulers of Egypt for centuries. Ambitious, charismatic, and beautiful, Nefertiti is ... (Goodreads)

  27. World Without End

    by Ken Follett
    Epic tale of love and war, tracing the lives of two families over centuries.

    The novel begins in the fictional city of Kingsbridge, England in the year 1327 . Four children - Merthin, Caris, Gwenda, and Merthin's brother Ralph - head into the woods on All Hallows Day . ... (Wikipedia)

  28. 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)

  29. Keeping Faith

    by Jodi Picoult
    A mother's legal battle to keep her daughter's faith against a court ruling.

    When Mariah White catches her husband, Colin White, having an affair with another woman for the second time in their marriage, he files for divorce and gives her full custody of their child, Faith. ... (Wikipedia)

  30. A Piece of the World

    by Christina Baker Kline
    A woman's journey of self-discovery as she comes to terms with a painting that made her famous.

    A New York Times bestseller. "Exquisite. A must-read.” —Kristin Hannah From the #1, New York Times, bestselling author of the smash bestseller, Orphan Train, a stunning and atmospheric novel of ... (Barnes & Noble)