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Recommendations based on Burnt Shadowsby Kamila Shamsie
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Shantaram
by Gregory David Roberts
An Australian convict escapes to India and embarks on a journey of self-discovery.
In 1978, Roberts was sentenced to a 19-year imprisonment in Australia after being convicted of a series of armed robberies of building society branches, credit unions , and shops. In July 1980, he ... (Wikipedia)
Family Matters
by Rohinton Mistry
Follows the lives of the Parsi family, navigating complex relationships in Bombay.
Nariman Vakeel is a 79 year-old Parsi widower beset by Parkinson's disease and haunted by memories of the past. He lives with his two middle-aged step-children. When Nariman's illness is compounded ... (Wikipedia)
Unaccustomed Earth
by Jhumpa Lahiri
Collection of stories exploring the complexities of family, culture, and identity.
From the internationally best-selling, Pulitzer Prize–winning author, a superbly crafted new work of fiction: eight stories—longer and more emotionally complex than any she has yet written—that take ... (Goodreads)
Roots: The Saga of an American Family
by Alex Haley
A multigenerational saga tracing the journey of an African American family in the U.S.
Roots tells the story of Kunta Kinte —a young man taken from the Gambia when he was seventeen and sold as a slave—and seven generations of his descendants in the United States. Kunta, a Mandinka ... (Wikipedia)
When Christ and His Saints Slept
by Sharon Kay Penman
Epic tale of medieval England, exploring the power struggles of the Plantagenet dynasty.
A.D. 1135. As church bells tolled for the death of England's King Henry I, his barons faced the unwelcome prospect of being ruled by a woman: Henry's beautiful daughter Maude, Countess of Anjou. But ... (Goodreads)
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)
A Fine Balance
by Rohinton Mistry
A gripping story of four unlikely lives intertwined in the tumult of India's caste system.
The book exposes the changes in Indian society from independence in 1947 to the Emergency called by Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi . Mistry was generally critical of Indira Gandhi in the book. ... (Wikipedia)
Interpreter of Maladies
by Jhumpa Lahiri
Collection of stories exploring the struggles of Indian-American immigrants in the US.
A married couple, Shukumar and Shoba, live as strangers in their house until an electrical outage brings them together when all of sudden "they [are] able to talk to each other again" in the four ... (Wikipedia)
The Forty Rules of Love
by Elif Shafak
A story of romance and spiritual enlightenment, exploring the teachings of a Sufi master.
Ella Rubenstein is forty years old and unhappily married when she takes a job as a reader for a literary agent. Her first assignment is to read and report on Sweet Blasphemy , a novel written by a ... (Goodreads)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot Díaz
An exploration of love, identity, and the power of fate in a family's struggles and triumphs.
Oscar de León (nicknamed Oscar Wao, a bastardization of Oscar Wilde ) is an overweight Dominican growing up in Paterson, New Jersey. Oscar desperately wants to be successful with women but, from a ... (Wikipedia)
Mornings in Jenin
by Susan Abulhawa
A Palestinian family's generations-long journey, struggling for identity and freedom.
A heart-wrenching, powerfully written novel that could do for Palestine what, The Kite Runner, did for Afghanistan. Forcibly removed from the ancient village of Ein Hod by the newly formed state of ... (Goodreads)
The Glass Palace
by Amitav Ghosh
Epic tale of a family's journey through Burma, India, and Malaya during the British colonization.
Set in Burma during the British invasion of 1885, this masterly novel by Amitav Ghosh tells the story of Rajkumar, a poor boy lifted on the tides of political and social chaos, who goes on to create ... (Goodreads)
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)
Far From the Madding Crowd
by Thomas Hardy
A pastoral romance of love and redemption, set against the backdrop of 19th century rural England.
An ACE can be found here . Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three ... (Goodreads)
Wide Sargasso Sea
by Jean Rhys
A woman's journey of self-discovery in the Caribbean, her story of emancipation from the shadows of colonialism.
The novel, initially set in Jamaica, opens a short while after the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ended slavery in the British Empire on 1 August 1834. , The protagonist Antoinette relates the story of ... (Wikipedia)
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay
by Elena Ferrante
Two friends navigate the changing relationships of their youth and adulthood, and the consequences of their choices.
In this third Neapolitan novel, Elena and Lila, the two girls whom readers first met in My Brilliant Friend, have become women. Lila married at sixteen and has a young son; she has left her abusive ... (Goodreads)
Fat Chance
by Nick Spalding
A humorous and heartwarming story of a man's journey to lose weight and find love.
Meet Zoe and Greg Milton, a married couple who have let themselves go a bit. Zoe was a stunner in her college days, but the intervening decades have added five stone, and removed most of her ... (Goodreads)
While My Eyes Were Closed
by Linda Green
A mother's worst nightmare comes true when her daughter disappears for 4 years. But when she returns, secrets are revealed that change everything.
''Clever and compelling'' Dorothy Koomson,''Very punchy and terrifyingly plausible'', Sunday Mirror,''Linda Green is bloody brilliant!'' Amanda Prowse,A, nail-biting psychological drama for fans of ... (Barnes & Noble)
Body Surfing
by Anita Shreve
A woman's life is changed when she becomes involved with a family during their summer vacation. Love, loss, and self-discovery ensue.
At the age of 29, Sydney has already been once divorced and once widowed. Trying to regain her footing once again, she has answered an ad to tutor the teenage daughter of a well-to-do couple as they ... (Barnes & Noble)
Postcards From a Stranger
by Imogen Clark
A woman receives postcards from a stranger, leading her on a journey to uncover secrets from her past.
A secret lies buried at the heart of her family—but it can’t stay hidden forever., When Cara stumbles across a stash of old postcards in the attic, their contents make her question everything she ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Devil's Work
by Mark Edwards
A woman starts a new job, but soon realizes that her boss is not what he seems. A psychological thriller that will keep you on edge.
A gripping psychological thriller from the bestselling author of, Follow You Home, and, The Magpies,., It was the job she had dreamed of since childhood. But on her very first day, when an unnerving ... (Goodreads)
The Woman Who Stole My Life
by Marian Keyes
A woman's life changes after a mysterious illness leaves her paralyzed and famous. She must navigate newfound success and family drama.
Stella Sweeney is back in Dublin. After living the dream in New York for a year - touring her self-help book, appearing on talk shows all over the USA and living it up in her 10-room duplex on the ... (Goodreads)
Broken Promise
by Linwood Barclay
After his wife's death, David Harwood returns to his hometown and uncovers dark secrets that threaten his family.
From, New York Times, bestselling author Linwood Barclay comes an explosive novel set in the peaceful small town of Promise Falls, where secrets can always be buried—but never forgotten…, After his ... (Goodreads)
The Sigma Protocol
by Robert Ludlum
A man's search for his father's killer leads him to uncover a secret organization with a deadly agenda.
Ben Hartman is vacationing in Switzerland when he meets his old school buddy Jimmy Cavanaugh - who tries to kill him. As he dodges assassins , mysterious tails, and police while searching for a safe ... (Wikipedia)
The Senator's Wife
by Sue Miller
A story of two women, one married to a senator and the other her neighbor, whose lives become intertwined in unexpected ways.
Once again Sue Miller takes us deep into the private lives of women with this mesmerizing portrait of two marriages exposed in all their shame and imperfection, and in their obdurate, unyielding ... (Goodreads)
Maids of Misfortune
by M. Louisa Locke
In Victorian San Francisco, a boardinghouse owner becomes an amateur detective to solve a murder mystery.
It’s the summer of 1879, and Annie Fuller, a young San Francisco widow, is in trouble. Annie’s husband squandered her fortune before committing suicide five years earlier, and one of his creditors is ... (Goodreads)
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)
The Winter Ghosts
by Kate Mosse
A grieving man finds solace in a small French village, where he uncovers a haunting mystery from the past.
By the author of the "New York Times"-bestselling "Labyrinth," a story of two lives touched by war and transformed by courage. In the winter of 1928, still seeking some kind of resolution to the ... (Goodreads)
Meet Me at the Cupcake Café
by Jenny Colgan
Issy Randall opens a bakery after losing her job, finding love and friendship along the way.
"[A] heartwarming story a la Bridget Jones' Diary with a twist...Colgan folds in a colorful cast of characters and whips up an easy, sweet read."— USA Today A smart, quirky contemporary confection of ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Taxidermist's Daughter
by Kate Mosse
A young woman in a small English village uncovers dark secrets about her family's past and the town's history.
A chilling and spooky Gothic historical thriller reminiscent of Rebecca and The Turn of the Screw , dripping with the dark twists and eerie surprises that are the hallmarks of Edgar Allan Poe, from ... (Barnes & Noble)
