Recommendations based on Tara Roadby Maeve Binchy

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Circle of Friends

    by Maeve Binchy
    A story of friendship, love, heartache, and acceptance set in a small Irish town.

    Big, generous-hearted Benny and the elfin Eve Malone have been best friends growing up in sleepy Knockglen. Their one thought is to get to Dublin, to university and to freedom... On their first day ... (Goodreads)

  2. Scarlet Feather

    by Maeve Binchy
    Two friends start a catering business in Dublin, facing challenges and personal struggles along the way.

    Set in contemporary Ireland, filled with warmth, wit, and drama, Scarlet Feather is the story of Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather, their spouses, families, and friends, and the struggling new catering ... (Goodreads)

  3. The Glass Lake

    by Maeve Binchy
    A family drama set in a small Irish town, revolving around a mother's disappearance and the secrets that come to light.

    Helen McMahon disappears when her daughter Kit is 12 years old, and it is suspected that she drowned in the local lake. Kit finds a letter from her mother and burns it before reading it, fearing that ... (Wikipedia)

  4. 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)

  5. Sam's Letters to Jennifer

    by James Patterson
    A woman discovers a box of letters from her deceased husband, revealing his secret life.

    Jennifer, who is still mourning the death of her husband, is rushed to her grandmother's side when she goes into a coma. Jennifer makes the shocking discovery while there of a packet of letters ... (Wikipedia)

  6. I Know This Much Is True

    by Wally Lamb
    A man's journey of self-discovery, coming to terms with family trauma and understanding his identity.

    The novel takes place in Three Rivers, Connecticut in the early 1990s. Dominick Birdsey's identical twin , Thomas Birdsey, suffers from paranoid schizophrenia . With medication, Thomas is able to ... (Wikipedia)

  7. 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)

  8. The Shell Seekers

    by Rosamunde Pilcher
    A family explores their past, present, and future while examining the importance of treasured objects.

    Shifting in time, the novel tells the story of Penelope Keeling, the daughter of unconventional parents (an artist father and his much-younger French wife), examining her past and her relationships ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Body of Evidence

    by Patricia Cornwell
    Crime thriller featuring a female medical examiner investigating a series of murders.

    Kay Scarpetta, chief medical examiner of Virginia, gets involved in the case of a brutal stabbing death in Richmond of romance writer Beryl Madison. Then, Madison's greedy lawyer accuses Scarpetta of ... (Wikipedia)

  10. Firefly Lane

    by Kristin Hannah
    A lifelong friendship between two women, navigating through life's ups and downs.

    From the New York Times bestselling author of On Mystic Lake comes a powerful novel of love, loss, and the magic of friendship. . . . In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her ... (Goodreads)

  11. Unnatural Exposure

    by Patricia Cornwell
    Dr. Kay Scarpetta investigates a series of murders linked to a dangerous virus, while dealing with personal and professional challenges.

    Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta has a bloody puzzle on her hands: five headless, limbless cadavers in Ireland , plus four similar victims in a landfill back home. Is a serial butcher ... (Wikipedia)

  12. Drowning Ruth

    by Christina Schwarz
    A tragic tale of family secrets and tragic consequences.

    Amanda and Mathilda are two sisters who live in rural Wisconsin ; they are very close, but very different. While Mathilda is petite, well-liked, pretty, and adventurous, Amanda is tall, clumsy, ... (Wikipedia)

  13. The Clan of the Cave Bear

    by Jean M. Auel
    A young woman's journey of survival and self-discovery in prehistoric times.

    A five-year-old girl, Ayla , who readers come to understand is Cro-Magnon, is orphaned and left homeless by an earthquake that destroys her family's camp. She wanders aimlessly, naked and unable to ... (Wikipedia)

  14. White Oleander

    by Janet Fitch
    A young girl's struggles to survive in a series of foster homes, finding strength in her resilience.

    Astrid Magnussen is a 12-year-old girl living in Los Angeles , California with her mother, Ingrid Magnussen, a self-centered and eccentric poet. Astrid's father, Klaus Anders, left before Astrid was ... (Wikipedia)

  15. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

    by Fannie Flagg
    A nostalgic tale of friendship, courage and resilience set in the American South.

    Throughout the novel the narrator and time period change, and the reader relies on the chapters' headings to establish the date and the source of the chapter. Some of the narration comes in the form ... (Wikipedia)

  16. Winter Garden

    by Kristin Hannah
    A family drama that explores the complex relationships between a mother and her two daughters, set against the backdrop of World War II and the Leningrad Siege.

    Can a woman ever really know herself if she doesn’t know her mother?, From the author of the smash-hit bestseller Firefly Lane, and, True Colors, comes a powerful, heartbreaking novel that ... (Goodreads)

  17. A Prayer for Owen Meany

    by John Irving
    A boy's search for faith, set against a backdrop of unlikely events.

    The story is narrated by John Wheelwright, a former citizen of New Hampshire who has become a voluntary expatriate from the United States, having settled in Toronto , Ontario , Canada and taken on ... (Wikipedia)

  18. The Pilot's Wife

    by Anita Shreve
    A woman's journey of overcoming personal tragedy to find strength and courage.

    The novel is about Kathryn Lyons, whose husband, Jack Lyons, dies in a plane crash over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Malin Head , Ireland. As she and her daughter Mattie try to cope with this ... (Wikipedia)

  19. Summer Sisters

    by Judy Blume
    Two teenage girls' deepening friendship, and the changing dynamics of their lives over a span of two decades.

    The novel begins with a phone call from Caitlin to Vix. Caitlin calls to tell Vix that she is marrying Vix's ex-boyfriend and first love, Bru. Vix is shocked and becomes sick with the news. ... (Wikipedia)

  20. Fall of Giants

    by Ken Follett
    Epic historical fiction recounting the tumultuous events of World War I and its aftermath.

    The novel begins with the thirteen-year-old Billy Williams, nicknamed 'Billy With Jesus', going to work his first day in the coal mine underneath the fictional Welsh town of Aberowen in 1911. Three ... (Wikipedia)

  21. The Year of Pleasures

    by Elizabeth Berg
    After losing her husband, Betta moves to a small town and embarks on a journey of self-discovery, friendship, and new beginnings.

    In this rich and deeply satisfying novel by the beloved author of The Art of Mending , and Open House , a resilient woman embarks upon an unforgettable journey of adventure, self-discovery, and ... (Goodreads)

  22. 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)

  23. Cold Mountain

    by Charles Frazier
    A Confederate soldier's homecoming journey, filled with danger and adventure.

    The novel opens in a Confederate military hospital near Raleigh, North Carolina , where Inman is recovering from battle wounds during the American Civil War . The soldier is tired of fighting for a ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Sea Glass

    by Anita Shreve
    A group of people's lives intersect in a New Hampshire beach town during the Great Depression.

    In the textile-manufacturing region of New Hampshire in 1929, newlyweds Honora and Sexton Beecher wrestle with all the wonders and challenges that young couples have always faced. They've just ... (Goodreads)

  25. 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)

  26. Back Roads

    by Tawni O'Dell
    After his mother's imprisonment, a young man struggles to care for his three younger sisters in a small Pennsylvania town.

    Harley Altmyer should be in college drinking beer and chasing girls. He should be freed from his stifling coal town with its lack of jobs and no sense of humor. Instead he's marooned in the ... (Wikipedia)

  27. The Bonesetter's Daughter

    by Amy Tan
    A Chinese-American woman rediscovers her heritage, uncovering her family's deep past.

    Ruth is a self-sufficient woman who makes her living as a ghostwriter for self-help books . She lives with her boyfriend, Art Kamen, and acts as a stepmother to Art's two teenage daughters, Dory and ... (Wikipedia)

  28. Light on Snow

    by Anita Shreve
    A father and daughter find an abandoned newborn in the snow, leading to a journey of healing and self-discovery.

    What makes a family? That's what twelve-year-old Nicky Dillon wonders after she and her widowed father discover a wailing abandoned baby in the snow-filled woods near their New Hampshire home. ... (Barnes & Noble)

  29. 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)

  30. She's Come Undone

    by Wally Lamb
    A young woman's trial-filled journey to self-acceptance and self-preservation.

    Dolores Price is heartbroken when her handsome, but irresponsible father, Tony, leaves their suburban home for another woman. She and her mother, Bernice, move into her uptight Catholic grandmother's ... (Wikipedia)