Recommendations based on Propertyby Valerie Martin

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

  1. 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)

  2. Small Island

    by Andrea Levy
    A story of post-WWII immigration, exploring themes of identity, belonging, and racism.

    Hortense Joseph arrives in London from Jamaica in 1948 with her life in her suitcase, her heart broken, her resolve intact. Her husband, Gilbert Joseph, returns from the war expecting to be received ... (Goodreads)

  3. Fugitive Pieces

    by Anne Michaels
    A poetic exploration of the trauma of displacement and the power of memory.

    The novel is split into two sections: Book I and Book II. Jakob Beer is a 7-year-old child of a Jewish family living in Poland . His house is stormed by Nazis; he escapes the fate of his parents and ... (Wikipedia)

  4. Gilead

    by Marilynne Robinson
    A reverend's reflections on life in the Midwest, and the lessons of faith and family.

    The book is an account of the memories and legacy of John Ames as he remembers his experiences of his father and grandfather to share with his son. All three men share a vocational lifestyle and ... (Wikipedia)

  5. The Thing Around Your Neck

    by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
    Collection of stories about the struggles and triumphs of Nigerian immigrants in America.

    Searing and profound, suffused with beauty, sorrow, and longing, the stories in The Thing Around Your Neck map, with Adichie's signature emotional wisdom, the collision of two cultures and the deeply ... (Goodreads)

  6. Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War

    by Sebastian Faulks
    A poignant love story set during World War I, exploring the impact of war on human relationships and the human psyche.

    Birdsong has an episodic structure, and is split into seven sections which move between three different periods of time before, during and after the war in the Stephen Wraysford plot, and three ... (Wikipedia)

  7. A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories

    by Flannery O'Connor
    A collection of short stories exploring the human condition, from the comic to the grotesque.

    This now classic book revealed Flannery O'Connor as one of the most original and provocative writers to emerge from the South. Her apocalyptic vision of life is expressed through grotesque, often ... (Goodreads)

  8. Beloved

    by Toni Morrison
    A haunting story of loss and resilience in the aftermath of slavery.

    Beloved begins in 1873 in Cincinnati, Ohio , where the protagonist Sethe, a formerly enslaved woman, has been living with her eighteen-year-old daughter Denver at 124 Bluestone Road. The book ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Peace Like a River

    by Leif Enger
    A young boy's journey of faith, hope, and courage in the midst of tragedy.

    Once in a great while, we encounter a novel in our voluminous reading that begs to be read aloud. Leif Enger's debut, Peace Like a River , is one such work. His richly evocative novel, narrated by an ... (Goodreads)

  10. Then She Was Gone

    by Lisa Jewell
    A mother's desperate search for her missing daughter reveals secrets of a dark family history.

    #1, NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER From the, New York Times, bestselling author of, Invisible Girl, and, The Truth About Melody Browne, comes a “riveting” (,PopSugar,) and “acutely observed family drama” ... (Barnes & Noble)

  11. Housekeeping

    by Marilynne Robinson
    A story of two sisters navigating their lives in a small town, and the matriarchal figure that unites them.

    Ruthie narrates the story of how she and her younger sister Lucille are raised by a succession of relatives in the fictional town of Fingerbone, Idaho (some details are similar to Robinson's ... (Wikipedia)

  12. Because of Winn-Dixie

    by Kate DiCamillo
    A girl's journey of self-discovery and healing, as she finds friendship in an unlikely companion.

    Kate DiCamillo's beloved, best-selling debut novel is now available in a paperback digest edition. Kate DiCamillo's first published novel, like Winn-Dixie himself, immediately proved to be a keeper—a ... (Goodreads)

  13. My Name Is Lucy Barton

    by Elizabeth Strout
    A woman's journey of self-reflection, uncovering secrets from her past.

    Lucy Barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. Her mother, to whom she hasn't spoken for many years, comes to see her. Her unexpected visit forces Lucy to confront ... (Goodreads)

  14. 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)

  15. Liar

    by K.L. Slater
    A psychological thriller about a woman who lies to protect her family, but her lies spiral out of control.

    How far would you go to protect your family? Single dad Ben is doing his best to raise his children alone, with the help of his devoted mother Judi. Life isn’t easy, but Judi’s family means ... (Goodreads)

  16. Milk and Honey

    by Faye Kellerman
    A gripping murder mystery set in Los Angeles, where a detective must solve a case involving a wealthy family and their secrets.

    Decker finds a toddler with blood-soaked pajamas in the early morning hours while driving home from the yeshiva . He brings her in to the station to turn her over to child services and starts trying ... (Wikipedia)

  17. 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)

  18. 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)

  19. 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)

  20. Little Bee

    by Chris Cleave
    A Nigerian refugee's quest for survival and a British woman's search for redemption.

    Using alternating first-person perspectives , the novel tells the stories of Little Bee, a Nigerian refugee, and Sarah O'Rourke (née Summers), a magazine editor from Surrey . After spending two years ... (Wikipedia)

  21. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

    by Rachel Joyce
    An elderly man's unexpected quest of faith, discovering the power of hope and love.

    Harold Fry, 65, has cut the lawn outside his home at Kingsbridge on the south coast of Devon when he receives a letter. A colleague of twenty years ago, Queenie Hennessy, has cancer and is in a ... (Wikipedia)

  22. The Boy

    by Tami Hoag
    A small town is rocked by the murder of a young boy, and the investigation uncovers dark secrets and hidden motives.

    When Detective Nick Fourcade enters the home of Genevieve Gauthier outside the sleepy town of Bayou Breaux, Louisiana, the bloody crime scene that awaits him is both the most brutal and the most ... (Goodreads)

  23. Talk Before Sleep

    by Elizabeth Berg
    A group of women come together to support their dying friend, sharing stories and memories as they face the end of life.

    "Until that moment, I hadn't realized how much I'd been needing to meet someone I might be able to say everything to." They met at a party. It was hate at first sight. Ruth was far too beautiful, too ... (Goodreads)

  24. The Lake

    by AnnaLisa Grant
    After a tragic accident, a teenage girl struggles to come to terms with her new reality and finds solace in a mysterious lake.

    At 17, Layla Weston is already starting over. Having lost both her parents and grandparents, and with nowhere else to go, Layla is moving from Florida to a small town in North Carolina to live with ... (Barnes & Noble)

  25. Chemistry

    by Weike Wang
    A Chinese-American Ph.D. candidate in chemistry struggles with the pressures of academia, family expectations, and her own identity crisis.

    At first glance, the quirky, overworked narrator of this novel seems to be on the cusp of a perfect life: she is studying for a prestigious PhD in chemistry that will make her Chinese parents proud ... (Goodreads)

  26. 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)

  27. Little Bitty Lies

    by Mary Kay Andrews
    Humorous and heartwarming tale of a woman who reinvents herself after her husband leaves her.

    New York Times bestselling author Mary Kay Andrews delivers another treasure of a comic novel. Little Bitty Lies is a tantalizing tale about an abandoned Atlanta housewife and mother who tells one ... (Goodreads)

  28. It's Always the Husband

    by Michele Campbell
    Three college roommates reunite after years, but their dark past resurfaces, leading to a murder investigation.

    A suspenseful, absorbing novel that examines the complexities of friendship,, It’s Always the Husband, by Michele Campbell will keep readers guessing right up to its shocking conclusion., ,“A ... (Barnes & Noble)

  29. The House by the Lake

    by Ella Carey
    A family saga spanning from pre-WWII Germany to modern-day Australia, centered around a lakeside house and the secrets it holds.

    The cobbled streets were dark as Isabelle hurried through the shadows, dodging in and out of doorways, constantly looking back. She worried the sound of her loudly thumping heart would give her away, ... (Barnes & Noble)

  30. Nine Stories

    by J.D. Salinger
    Nine short stories of insight into the human condition and its mysteries.

    Nine Stories (1953) is a collection of short stories by American fiction writer J. D. Salinger published in April 1953. It includes two of his most famous short stories, "A Perfect Day for ... (Goodreads)