Literary theme analysis, by a book like {foo}
Books about Heritage
Absalom, Absalom!
by William Faulkner
A tangled web of family secrets, betrayal, and tragedy in the American South.
Absalom, Absalom! details the rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen , a white man born into poverty in West Virginia who moves to Mississippi with the complementary aims of gaining wealth and becoming a ... (Wikipedia)
Dreams of Joy
by Lisa See
A young woman's journey to discover her Chinese roots, only to find unexpected truth and tragedy.
Dreams of Joy is organized in four sections—The Tiger Leaps, The Rabbit Dodges, The Dog Grins, and The Dragon Rises. Joy is the Tiger – romantic, artistic, rash, and impulsive. In this novel, unlike ... (Wikipedia)
The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion
by Fannie Flagg
A woman discovers the truth about her family's past, unlocking a legacy of secrets.
Poland, 1909 Stanislaw is determined to escape the Russians and follow his brother to America, a land where anything seems possible. Wisconsin, 1941 With all the men off to war, Fritzi and her ... (Goodreads)
The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Loss
by Edmund de Waal
A journey through time, tracing the history of a family's collection of art and their struggles with loss.
The Ephrussis were a grand banking family, as rich and respected as the Rothschilds, who “burned like a comet” in nineteenth-century Paris and Vienna society. Yet by the end of World War II, almost ... (Goodreads)
The Woman Warrior
by Maxine Hong Kingston
A personal memoir of identity and culture, told through Chinese mythology and folklore.
The book is divided into five interconnected chapters, which read like short stories. In the first part of this chapter, the narrator is recounting how her mother once told her the story of the ... (Wikipedia)
Breath, Eyes, Memory
by Edwidge Danticat
A young girl's exploration of her family's history and her own identity in Haiti.
At the age of twelve, Sophie Caco is sent from her impoverished village of Croix-des-Rosets to New York, to be reunited with a mother she barely remembers. There she discovers secrets that no child ... (Goodreads)
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)
Song of Solomon
by Toni Morrison
A tale of family, heritage, and identity, exploring the power of memory and its impact on the present.
Song of Solomon opens with the death of Robert Smith, an insurance agent and member of The Seven Days, an organization that kills white people in retaliation for the racial killing of black people. ... (Wikipedia)
The Namesake
by Jhumpa Lahiri
A young Indian-American's journey of reconciling two different cultures and his own identity.
The story begins as Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli, a young Bengali couple, leave Calcutta , India, and settle in Central Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts . Ashoke is an engineering student at the ... (Wikipedia)
One Crazy Summer
by Rita Williams-Garcia
A young girl's summer adventure in Oakland, California, as she learns about her family's past.
Delphine, aged eleven, Vonetta, nine, and Fern, seven, live with their father and grandmother in Brooklyn , New York. However, the girls’ father sends them to Oakland, California one summer to stay ... (Wikipedia)
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
by Barack Obama
An exploration of the Obama family history, tracing the threads of identity and race.
In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New ... (Goodreads)
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
by Heidi W. Durrow
A young black girl's story of survival, resilience, and self-discovery in a world of racial prejudice.
"The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, can actually fly." —,The New York Times Book Review, , Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I., becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy after a ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Almost Sisters
by Joshilyn Jackson
A Southern family navigates the complexities of identity, culture, and relationships.
With empathy, grace, humor, and piercing insight, the author of gods in Alabama pens a powerful, emotionally resonant novel of the South that confronts the truth about privilege, family, and the ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Heretic's Daughter
by Kathleen Kent
A dramatic tale of one family's survival during the Salem Witch Trials.
A courageous woman fights to survive the darkest days of the Salem Witch Trials in this "heart-wrenching story of family love and sacrifice" (,USA Today,). Salem, 1752. Sarah Carrier Chapman, weak ... (Barnes & Noble)
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home
by Rhoda Janzen
A journey of self-discovery as a young woman returns to her conservative Mennonite roots.
A hilarious and moving memoir—in the spirit of Anne Lamott and Nora Ephron—about a woman who returns home to her close-knit Mennonite family after a personal crisis Not long after Rhoda Janzen turned ... (Goodreads)
ثلاثية غرناطة
by رضوى عاشور
A story of three friends, navigating love and loss within the city of Granada.
ثلاثية غرناطة هي ثلاثية روائية تتكون من ثلاث روايات للكاتبة المصرية رضوى عاشور و هم على التوالي: غرناطة - مريمة - الرحيل. وتدور الأحداث في مملكة غرناطة بعد سقوط جميع الممالك الإسلامية في الأندلس، و ... (Goodreads)
The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses
by Paul Goble
A young Oglala Sioux girl and her connection to the wild horses of the plains.
The story focuses on a young Native American girl who has a deep affinity for wild horses . She cares for the horses that her tribe relies on for the nomadic hunting of buffalo . One day, the herd ... (Wikipedia)
The Bastard of Istanbul
by Elif Shafak
Exploring the shared history between Turkey and the US while uncovering secrets of a family’s past.
From one of Turkey’s most acclaimed and outspoken writers, a novel about the tangled histories of two families. In her second novel written in English, Elif Shafak confronts her country’s violent ... (Goodreads)
McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery In Ireland
by Pete McCarthy
A humorous and heartfelt exploration of Ireland and its people, culture, and history.
The book describes a series of trips McCarthy makes to Ireland in the late 1990s exploring his past and family history, as well as documenting how Ireland is coping with changing realities. ... (Wikipedia)
The Crow Road
by Iain Banks
A young man's journey of self-discovery and family secrets, set in Scotland.
This Bildungsroman is set in the fictional Argyll town of Gallanach (by its description, reminiscent of Oban but on the north east shore of Loch Crinan ), the real village of Lochgair , and in ... (Wikipedia)
The Flame Bearer
by Bernard Cornwell
A Saxon warrior embarks on a quest to reclaim his homeland from Viking invaders.
Uhtred fails again to capture Bebbanburg. His son-in-law, the pagan warlord Sigtryggr, king of Northumbria, asks for help against invading West Saxons who seem intent on breaking the recent truce ... (Wikipedia)
The Best We Could Do
by Thi Bui
A family's journey of remembrance, reflecting on the immigrant experience.
National bestseller 2017 National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Finalist, ABA Indies Introduce Winter / Spring 2017 Selection, Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Spring 2017 Selection, ALA 2018 ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Joy Luck Club
by Amy Tan
A story of four Chinese immigrant mothers and their daughters, exploring culture, family, identity and relationships.
The Joy Luck Club consists of sixteen interlocking stories about the lives of four Chinese immigrant mothers and their four American-born daughters. , In 1949, the four mothers meet at the First ... (Wikipedia)
Brown Girl Dreaming
by Jacqueline Woodson
A poetic memoir of a young girl's coming-of-age in the Civil Rights era.
Jacqueline Woodson, one of today's finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse. Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. ... (Goodreads)
Cane River
by Lalita Tademy
An epic tale tracing the history of four generations of African-American women in Louisiana.
A, New York Times, bestseller and Oprah's Book Club Pick-the unique and deeply moving saga of four generations of African-American women whose journey from slavery to freedom begins on a Creole ... (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)
Memory
by Lois McMaster Bujold
A young woman's quest to uncover the mysteries of her family's past and her own identity.
While leading the Dendarii Mercenaries on a hostage rescue mission, Miles Vorkosigan has a seizure — a recurring consequence of his death and resuscitation in, Mirror Dance, — which results in his ... (Wikipedia)
A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table
by Molly Wizenberg
A memoir of food, family, and life told through recipes and stories.
• An irresistible story of cooking that goes beyond the kitchen: Molly Wizenberg shares stories of an everyday life and a way of eating that is inspiring, playful, and mindful. From her father’s ... (Barnes & Noble)
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)
A Spool of Blue Thread
by Anne Tyler
A family's history is revealed through the stories of four generations of its members.
A freshly observed, joyful and wrenching, funny and true new novel from Anne Tyler "It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoon." This is how Abby Whitshank always begins the story of how ... (Goodreads)
The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love
by Oscar Hijuelos
A story of two Cuban brothers and their pursuit of the American dream.
It's 1949. Two young Cuban musicians make their way up from Havana to the grand stage of New York. It is the era of the mambo, and Castillo brothers, workers by day, become by night stars of the ... (Goodreads)
Coming Home
by Rosamunde Pilcher
A journey of self-discovery and rediscovering love and family.
The story focuses on Judith Dunbar, who is enrolled in St. Ursula's, an English boarding school, when her parents and younger sister move to colonial Singapore . She is introduced to a world of ... (Wikipedia)
The House Girl
by Tara Conklin
A story of two women, a present-day lawyer and a 19th Century slave, and the search for justice in a complex world.
A stunning debut novel of love, family, and justice that intertwines the stories of an escaped house slave in 1852 Virginia and ambitious young lawyer in contemporary New York Virginia, 1852. ... (Goodreads)
Sarum: The Novel of England
by Edward Rutherfurd
Epic saga tracing the history of an English landscape from prehistoric times to the present day.
Sarum: The Novel of England - a novel that traces the entire turbulent course of English history. This rich tapestry weaves a compelling saga of five families—the Wilsons, the Masons, the family of ... (Goodreads)
All-of-a-Kind Family
by Sydney Taylor
Five sisters navigate life in early 1900s New York, learning lessons in love and family.
Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte, and Gertrude are five sisters growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1912. The book follows them through a year of their childhood, as they deal with mundane ... (Wikipedia)
September
by Rosamunde Pilcher
A story of family, friends and romance, spanning across generations and continents.
As spring comes to Scotland and the hills burst into life, a dance is planned for September. The invitations summon home the group of people Violet Aird has cared for most in her long life. The ... (Goodreads)
City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi
by William Dalrymple
Exploration of Delhi's vibrant culture, history and people over the course of a year.
Sparkling with irrepressible wit, City of Djinns peels back the layers of Delhi's centuries-old history, revealing an extraordinary array of characters along the way-from eunuchs to descendants of ... (Goodreads)
London
by Edward Rutherfurd
Historical novel tracing the 2000-year history of the English capital.
Here is Edward Rutherfurd's classic novel of London, a glorious pageant spanning 2,000 years. He brings this vibrant city's long and noble history alive through the ever-shifting fortunes, fates, and ... (Goodreads)
The Shepherd's Life: A People's History of the Lake District
by James Rebanks
A chronicle of life in the Lake District of England, exploring the traditional way of life of shepherds.
Some people's lives are entirely their own creations. James Rebanks' isn't. The first son of a shepherd, who was the first son of a shepherd himself, he and his family have lived and worked in and ... (Goodreads)
Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness
by Alexandra Fuller
A personal exploration of the African continent, full of stories of the author's family and their life in Zimbabwe.
In this sequel to Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight , Alexandra Fuller returns to Africa and the story of her unforgettable family. In Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness , Alexandra ... (Goodreads)
Mama Day
by Gloria Naylor
An exploration of the power of faith and family in a small African-American community.
Mama Day centers around the characters George and Cocoa. Cocoa, whose real name is Ophelia, is a young southern woman living in New York who is still deeply connected to her family and ancestry, even ... (Wikipedia)
Honor
by Elif Shafak
A family saga that explores the concept of honor and its impact on individuals and society.
An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London Internationally bestselling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and ... (Goodreads)
Caramelo
by Sandra Cisneros
A Latina girl's story of growing up and coming to terms with her cultural identity.
Every year, Ceyala “Lala” Reyes' family—aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, and Lala's six older brothers—packs up three cars and, in a wild ride, drive from Chicago to the Little Grandfather and Awful ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Keeping Quilt
by Patricia Polacco
A family heirloom, a quilt made from the clothes of ancestors, is passed down through generations of a Jewish immigrant family in America.
"We will make a quilt to help us always remember home," Anna's mother said. "It will be like heaving the family in backhome Russia dance around us at night. And so it was. From a basket of old ... (Goodreads)
New York
by Edward Rutherfurd
An epic saga spanning centuries of the history and people of New York City.
Edward Rutherfurd celebrates America’s greatest city in a rich, engrossing saga, weaving together tales of families rich and poor, native-born and immigrant—a cast of fictional and true characters ... (Goodreads)
Daniel Deronda
by George Eliot
Story of a man's struggle to reconcile his Jewish identity and the expectations of English society.
Daniel Deronda contains two main strains of plot, united by the title character. The novel begins in late August 1865 , with the meeting of Daniel Deronda and Gwendolen Harleth in the fictional town ... (Wikipedia)
Priestdaddy
by Patricia Lockwood
A memoir about a daughter's relationship with her eccentric, former-priest father.
From Patricia Lockwood - a writer acclaimed for her wildly original voice - a vivid, heartbreakingly funny memoir about having a married Catholic priest for a father. Father Greg Lockwood is unlike ... (Goodreads)
Dancing at the Rascal Fair
by Ivan Doig
Two Scottish immigrants navigate life in Montana, facing love, loss, and the challenges of homesteading in the American West.
The central volume in Ivan Doig's acclaimed Montana trilogy, Dancing at the Rascal Fair is an authentic saga of the American experience at the turn of this century and a passionate, portrayal of the ... (Goodreads)
Samarkand
by Amin Maalouf
Epic tale of a man's journey to discover his identity and the truths of his ancestry.
The first half of the story is set in Persia (present day Iran ) and Central Asia in the 11th century, and revolves around the scientist, philosopher, and poet Omar Khayyám . It recounts the creation ... (Wikipedia)
The Red Garden
by Alice Hoffman
A story of family secrets, told through the generations in a small New England town.
The Red Garden introduces us to the luminous and haunting world of Blackwell, Massachusetts, capturing the unexpected turns in its history and in our own lives. In exquisite prose, Hoffman offers a ... (Goodreads)
كخه يا بابا
by عبدالله المغلوث
A story of a family's search for a missing father, and the secrets it reveals.
إن أبرز مشاكلنا السلوكية والإجتماعية تبدأ في مجتمعاتنا مبكراً، مبكراً جداً... فنحن نستقبل أطفالنا بعبارات: "كخه يا بابا"، و"أح يا ماما" و"عيب" حتى ينبت الشعر في شواربهم. هذه العبارات التي ترافق ... (Goodreads)
The House at Tyneford
by Natasha Solomons
A story of forbidden love and self-discovery in the backdrop of a grand estate.
It's the spring of 1938 and no longer safe to be a Jew in Vienna. Nineteen-year-old Elise Landau is forced to leave her glittering life of parties and champagne to become a parlor maid in England. ... (Goodreads)
الأسود يليق بك
by أحلام مستغانمي
A journey of self-discovery, exploring identity and culture through the eyes of a young girl.
ما من قصة حب إلا و تبدأ بحركة موسيقية ، قائد الأوركسترا فيها ليس قلبك، إنما القدر الذي يخفي عنك عصاه . بها يقودك نحو سلم موسيقي لا درج له، مادمت لا تملك من سيمفونية العمر لا ((مفتاح صول)) ..ولا ... (Goodreads)
The Name Jar
by Yangsook Choi
A young Korean girl moves to America and is embarrassed by her name. She learns to embrace her identity with the help of her classmates.
The new kid in school needs a new name! Or does she? Being the new kid in school is hard enough, but what about when nobody can pronounce your name? Having just moved from Korea, Unhei is anxious ... (Goodreads)
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