Recommendations based on Under the Wide and Starry Skyby Nancy Horan

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

  1. Loving Frank

    by Nancy Horan
    A romantic story of love and tragedy, as a woman risks everything for her forbidden passion.

    The book opens to notes written by Mamah Borthwick, reminiscing on her life and expressing her longing to tell her views of what happened. The story begins with an account of Mamah’s attendance, with ... (Wikipedia)

  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. Circling the Sun

    by Paula McLain
    A fictionalized account of the extraordinary life of aviator Beryl Markham.

    Brought to Kenya from England as a child and then abandoned by her mother, Beryl Markham is raised by both her father and the native Kipsigis tribe who share his estate. Her unconventional upbringing ... (Goodreads)

  4. Life After Life

    by Kate Atkinson
    A woman lives multiple lives, reflecting on choices and consequences and the power of love.

    The novel has an unusual structure, repeatedly looping back in time to describe alternative possible lives for its central character, Ursula Todd, who is born on 11 February 1910 to an ... (Wikipedia)

  5. The Miniaturist

    by Jessie Burton
    Set in 17th century Amsterdam, a woman is given a mysterious gift of a dollhouse replica of her home.

    Set in seventeenth century Amsterdam–a city ruled by glittering wealth and oppressive religion--a masterful debut steeped in atmosphere and shimmering with mystery, in the tradition of Emma Donoghue, ... (Goodreads)

  6. The Wednesday Sisters

    by Meg Waite Clayton
    Five women form a writing group in the 1960s and navigate the challenges of marriage, motherhood, and pursuing their dreams.

    When five young mothers—Frankie, Linda, Kath, Ally, and Brett—first meet in a neighborhood park in the late 1960s, their conversations center on marriage, raising children, and a shared love of ... (Goodreads)

  7. Varina

    by Charles Frazier
    A fictionalized account of the life of Varina Davis, wife of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and her struggles during and after the Civil War.

    Sooner or later, history asks, which side were you on? In his powerful new novel, Charles Frazier returns to the time and place of, Cold Mountain, vividly bringing to life the chaos and devastation ... (Barnes & Noble)

  8. After Anna

    by Lisa Scottoline
    A mother's worst nightmare comes true when her daughter Anna is murdered, and her stepfather is accused. But is he really guilty?

    Riveting and disquieting,, After Anna, is a groundbreaking domestic thriller, as well as a novel of emotional justice and legal intrigue., New York Times, bestselling author Lisa Scottoline keeps ... (Barnes & Noble)

  9. The Paris Wife

    by Paula McLain
    A woman's journey of self-discovery, navigating the complexities of a passionate and tumultuous relationship.

    The Paris Wife focuses on the romance, marriage and divorce of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley Richardson, who met when Hemingway was 20 years old, and Richardson 28. They marry and move ... (Wikipedia)

  10. 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)

  11. The Painter

    by Peter Heller
    A famous painter faces a creative block and a personal crisis, leading him to embark on a journey of self-discovery and redemption.

    Peter Heller, the celebrated author of the breakout best seller The Dog Stars, returns with an achingly beautiful, wildly suspenseful second novel about an artist trying to outrun his past. Jim ... (Goodreads)

  12. Ordinary Grace

    by William Kent Krueger
    A Midwestern family's journey of grief and healing, grappling with tragedy and the power of grace.

    “That was it. That was all of it. A grace so ordinary there was no reason at all to remember it. Yet I have never across the forty years since it was spoken forgotten a single word.” New Bremen, ... (Goodreads)

  13. The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

    by Rachel Joyce
    A story of friendship, love and courage told through the last letter of a dying woman.

    When Queenie Hennessy discovers that Harold Fry is walking the length of England to save her, and all she has to do is wait, she is shocked. Her note had explained she was dying. How can she wait? A ... (Goodreads)

  14. 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)

  15. Dear Committee Members

    by Julie Schumacher
    An epistolary novel of a professor's reflections on his life and career.

    Finally, a novel that puts the "pissed" back into "epistolary." Jason Fitger is a beleaguered professor of creative writing and literature at Payne University, a small and not very distinguished ... (Goodreads)

  16. The Great Santini

    by Pat Conroy
    A family's psychological struggles centered around a domineering, military father.

    Hard-nosed Marine fighter pilot Lt. Col. Wilbur "Bull" Meecham calls himself "The Great Santini". He runs his family with a strict hand. In 1962 before the Vietnam War , the Meecham family struggles ... (Wikipedia)

  17. The Aviator's Wife

    by Melanie Benjamin
    A woman's emotional journey of growth and self-discovery, learning to stand on her own.

    In the spirit of, Loving Frank, and, The Paris Wife, acclaimed novelist Melanie Benjamin pulls back the curtain on the marriage of one of America’s most extraordinary couples: Charles Lindbergh and ... (Goodreads)

  18. Super Sad True Love Story

    by Gary Shteyngart
    A darkly comic exploration of love in a technologically-driven world.

    The son of a Russian immigrant , protagonist Leonard (Lenny) Abramov, a middle-aged, middle class, otherwise unremarkable man whose mentality is still in the past century, falls madly in love with ... (Wikipedia)

  19. Broken Harbor

    by Tana French
    A detective investigates a murder case in a ghostly housing estate, uncovering a web of secrets.

    Mick “Scorcher" Kennedy is the star of the Dublin Murder Squad. He plays by the books and plays hard, and thatʼs how the biggest case of the year ends up in his hands. On one of the half-abandoned ... (Goodreads)

  20. 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)

  21. One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd

    by Jim Fergus
    In 1875, May Dodd and a group of women are sent to marry Cheyenne warriors. May's journal tells of her journey and the relationships she forms.

    Based on an actual historical event but told through fictional diaries, this,, is the story of May Dodd—a remarkable woman who, in 1875, travels through the American West to marry the chief of the ... (Barnes & Noble)

  22. Memory Man

    by David Baldacci
    A detective investigates a suspicious death, unraveling a complex web of secrets and lies.

    This "impossible to put down" #1, New York Times, bestseller introduces Amos Decker, a gifted police detective with a perfect memory who must solve a mystery he wishes he could forget: his family's ... (Barnes & Noble)

  23. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

    by Lisa See
    A woman's search for identity in the face of cultural expectations and familial secrets.

    In their remote mountain village, Li-yan and her family align their lives around the seasons and the farming of tea. For the Akha people, ensconced in ritual and routine, life goes on as it has for ... (Goodreads)

  24. The Beekeeper's Apprentice

    by Laurie R. King
    A young girl’s journey to becoming a detective apprentice, uncovering crime and solving mysteries.

    After losing her family in a tragic motor accident in California, fifteen-year-old Mary Russell goes to live with her aunt in Sussex, England. Wandering the Sussex Downs in April 1915, she literally ... (Wikipedia)

  25. A Great Reckoning

    by Louise Penny
    A murder mystery set in a sleepy Quebec village, uncovering dark secrets and hidden dangers.

    Instant, New York Times, bestseller:,#1 in Hardcover Fiction,#1 in E-book Fiction,#1 in Combined Print and E-book Fiction,"Deep and grand and altogether extraordinary....Miraculous.",—,The Washington ... (Barnes & Noble)

  26. Our Souls at Night

    by Kent Haruf
    An elderly couple's exploration of love, loneliness, and companionship.

    A spare yet eloquent, bittersweet yet inspiring story of a man and a woman who, in advanced age, come together to wrestle with the events of their lives and their hopes for the imminent future. In ... (Goodreads)

  27. The Lowland

    by Jhumpa Lahiri
    Two brothers in Calcutta take different paths in life, leading to tragedy and a search for redemption.

    Raised in Tollygunge in Calcutta , brothers Subhash and Udayan are inseparable; they find joy in fixing and listening to radios, learning Morse Code , and looking out for each other at school. When ... (Wikipedia)

  28. The Buried Giant

    by Kazuo Ishiguro
    An elderly couple's journey through a mythical land, confronting the forgotten secrets of the past.

    Following the death of King Arthur , Saxons and Britons live in harmony. Along with everyone else in their community, Axl and Beatrice, an elderly Briton couple, suffer from severe selective amnesia ... (Wikipedia)

  29. These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901

    by Nancy E. Turner
    A young woman's struggle for independence, chronicles her journey through the American Southwest.

    “Belongs on your must-read list. This novel is a gem.” — Omaha World-Herald Nancy E. Turner's unforgettable, These Is My Words, melds the sweeping adventures and dramatic landscapes of, Lonesome ... (Barnes & Noble)

  30. Angle of Repose

    by Wallace Stegner
    A man's search for his ancestors and their stories, leading to a journey of self-discovery.

    Lyman Ward narrates a century after the fact. Lyman interprets the story at times and leaves gaps that he points out at other times. Some of the disappointments of his life, including his divorce, ... (Wikipedia)