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Recommendations based on American Rustby Philipp Meyer
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
The Son
by Philipp Meyer
Epic multigenerational saga of a Texas family, their rise to power, and the violent legacy they leave behind.
In 1849 thirteen year old Eli McCullough's family is attacked by the Comanches. The attack results in the rape and murder of his sister and mother. Eli and his older brother are kidnapped. While ... (Wikipedia)
Revolutionary Road
by Richard Yates
An American couple's struggle to stay afloat in suburban conventions and expectations.
Set in 1955, the novel focuses on the hopes and aspirations of Frank and April Wheeler, self-assured Connecticut suburbanites who see themselves as very different from their neighbors in the ... (Wikipedia)
Out Stealing Horses
by Per Petterson
An elderly man reflects on his past, uncovering long-buried secrets and memories.
We were going out stealing horses. That was what he said, standing at the door to the cabin where I was spending the summer with my father. I was fifteen. It was 1948 and one of the first days of ... (Goodreads)
The Luminaries
by Eleanor Catton
A complex mystery set in New Zealand's gold rush era, as a web of secrets and lies unravels.
The story begins with one of the book's protagonists, Walter Moody, arriving in the smoking room of the Crown Hotel after having encountered a horrific sight on his boat trip to Hokitika . There, he ... (Wikipedia)
Shutter Island
by Dennis Lehane
A U.S. Marshal investigates a psychiatric hospital on a remote island, uncovering chilling secrets and an unexpected truth.
In 1954, widower U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, go on a ferry boat to Shutter Island, the home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane, to investigate ... (Wikipedia)
Await Your Reply
by Dan Chaon
Three characters, each with a mysterious past, search for identity and connection.
The lives of three strangers interconnect in unforeseen ways and with unexpected consequences in acclaimed author Dan Chaon's gripping, brilliantly written new novel. Longing to get on with his life, ... (Goodreads)
The Hypnotist
by Lars Kepler
A police detective investigates a mysterious and violent death, uncovering a dark and sinister past.
A man is discovered murdered in the bathroom of a locker room. Upon going to the man's residence, a policeman finds the man's wife and young daughter brutally murdered as well as his son, Josef Ek, ... (Wikipedia)
Heartsick
by Chelsea Cain
Detective Archie Sheridan is haunted by his past with serial killer Gretchen Lowell, who has escaped from prison and wants to play a deadly game.
, Damaged Portland detective Archie Sheridan spent ten years tracking Gretchen Lowell, a beautiful serial killer, but in the end she was the one who caught him. Two years ago, Gretchen kidnapped ... (Goodreads)
The Last Child
by John Hart
A suspenseful mystery about a family's search for their missing son, uncovering a dark conspiracy.
Winner of the 2010 Edgar Award for Best Novel, John Hart's, New York Times, bestselling debut,, The King of Lies, announced the arrival of a major talent. With, Down, River, he surpassed his earlier ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
by Aimee Bender
A girl discovers she can taste emotions in food, leading to a painful realization about her family.
The story begins before Rose's ninth birthday, when her mother, Lane, bakes her a cake for the occasion. Rose knows that Lane is unhappy with her life, but Lane’s emotions show otherwise. From the ... (Wikipedia)
The Stars Are Fire
by Anita Shreve
A woman’s struggle to survive devastating wildfires in the post-WWII era.
In October 1947, after a summer-long drought, fires break out all along the Maine coast from Bar Harbor to Kittery and are soon racing out of control from town to village. Five months pregnant, Grace ... (Goodreads)
The Blackhouse
by Peter May
A murder mystery set in a remote Scottish island, delving into a dark past.
A brutal killing takes place on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland: a land of harsh beauty and inhabitants of deep-rooted faith. A MURDER Detective Inspector Fin Macleod is sent from Edinburgh to ... (Goodreads)
TransAtlantic
by Colum McCann
Interwoven stories of transatlantic journeys that span generations of history.
It tells the intertwined stories of Alcock and Brown (the first non-stop transatlantic fliers in 1919), the visit of Frederick Douglass to Ireland in 1845/46, and the story of the Irish peace process ... (Wikipedia)
Brighton Rock
by Graham Greene
A young gang leader's struggle for power, morality, and redemption in the criminal underworld.
Charles "Fred" Hale comes to Brighton on assignment to distribute cards anonymously for a newspaper competition (a variant of " Lobby Lud "; in this case, the name of the person to be spotted is ... (Wikipedia)
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)
Vernon God Little
by D.B.C. Pierre
A teenage boy's struggle to survive after being wrongfully accused of a school shooting.
Named as one of the 100 Best Things in the World by GQ magazine in 2003, the riotous adventures of Vernon Gregory Little in small town Texas and beachfront Mexico mark one of the most spectacular, ... (Goodreads)
Nutshell
by Ian McEwan
A unique retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet, from the perspective of an unborn child.
Nutshell is a classic story of murder and deceit, told by a narrator with a perspective and voice unlike any in recent literature. A bravura performance, it is the finest recent work from a true ... (Goodreads)
Black Swan Green
by David Mitchell
A young boy confronts personal and social challenges as he navigates adolescence.
Jason Taylor is a 13-year-old with a stammer in the small village of Black Swan Green in Worcestershire . The first chapter starts with a rule Jason's father has: "Do not set foot in my office" and ... (Wikipedia)
Sons and Lovers
by D.H. Lawrence
A young man's struggle between his loyalty to his family and his desire for independence.
The refined daughter of a "good old burgher family," Gertrude Coppard meets a rough-hewn miner, Walter Morel, at a Christmas dance and falls into a whirlwind romance characterised by physical ... (Wikipedia)
The Known World
by Edward P. Jones
A story of a former slave turned landowner navigating the complex social dynamics of Antebellum America.
One of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, The Known World is a daring and ambitious work by Pulitzer Prize winner Edward P. Jones. The Known World tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black ... (Goodreads)
American War
by Omar El Akkad
A vivid account of a second American Civil War and its devastating consequences.
In 2074, after the passage of a bill that bans the use of fossil fuels anywhere in the United States, Mississippi , Alabama , Georgia , South Carolina and Texas secede from the Union, starting the ... (Wikipedia)
QB VII
by Leon Uris
A courtroom drama that explores the aftermath of a libel suit brought by a Polish doctor against an American author.
A famous author, Abraham Cady, stands trial for libel. In his book The Holocaust , he named eminent surgeon Sir Adam Kelno as one of the Jadwiga concentration camp 's most sadistic inmate/doctors. ... (Wikipedia)
The Remains of the Day
by Kazuo Ishiguro
A butler reflects on his past, grappling with the lost opportunities of a life devoted to service.
The novel tells, in first-person narration , the story of Stevens, an English butler who has dedicated his life to the loyal service of Lord Darlington (who is recently deceased, and whom Stevens ... (Wikipedia)
The Reader
by Bernhard Schlink
A man's journey of understanding, uncovering a dark secret from his past.
Hailed for its coiled eroticism and the moral claims it makes upon the reader, this mesmerizing novel is a story of love and secrets, horror and compassion, unfolding against the haunted landscape of ... (Goodreads)
Sophie's Choice
by William Styron
A survivor of the Holocaust is confronted with a devastating moral dilemma.
Stingo, a novelist who is recalling the summer when he began his first novel, has been fired from his low-level reader's job at the publisher McGraw-Hill and has moved into a cheap boarding house in ... (Wikipedia)
Dept. of Speculation
by Jenny Offill
A woman's exploration of relationships, marriage, and motherhood amidst personal and familial struggles.
Dept. of Speculation is a portrait of a marriage. It is also a beguiling rumination on the mysteries of intimacy, trust, faith, knowledge, and the condition of universal shipwreck that unites us all. ... (Goodreads)
The Bonfire of the Vanities
by Tom Wolfe
An ambitious Wall Street banker's moral downfall in New York City.
The story centers on Sherman McCoy, a successful New York City bond trader . His $3 million Park Avenue co-op , combined with his aristocratic wife's extravagances and other expenses required to keep ... (Wikipedia)
Mystic River
by Dennis Lehane
Three childhood friends are reunited by a tragedy that exposes their dark past and tests their loyalty.
The novel revolves around three boys who grow up as friends in Boston — Dave Boyle, Sean Devine, and Jimmy Marcus. When the story opens, Dave is abducted by child molesters while he, Sean, and Jimmy ... (Wikipedia)
The Heart's Invisible Furies
by John Boyne
A man's life journey spanning seven decades and three continents, searching for love and acceptance.
Cyril Avery is not a real Avery or at least that’s what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be. But if he isn’t a real Avery, then who is he? Born out of wedlock to a teenage girl cast ... (Goodreads)
Cities of the Plain
by Cormac McCarthy
Two cowboys in love struggle to survive in a changing world. Their bond is tested when they encounter a violent pimp and his young prostitute.
The story opens in 1952. John Grady Cole (the protagonist of, All the Pretty Horses, ) and Billy Parham (the protagonist of, The Crossing, ) work together on a cattle ranch south of Alamogordo , New ... (Wikipedia)
