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Recommendations based on Empress Orchidby Anchee Min
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
Master of the Game
by Sidney Sheldon
The story of a powerful and ruthless businesswoman, spanning generations and continents, as she builds her empire and seeks revenge.
Kate Blackwell, matriarch of the Blackwell family and head of multinational business empire Kruger-Brent Int., celebrates her 90th birthday. She sees the ghosts of her past but refuses to join them ... (Wikipedia)
Bloodline
by Sidney Sheldon
An investigative journalist discovers a hidden family secret that leads to a global conspiracy.
Roffe and Sons is a family firm, an international empire filled with desperate, cash-hungry family members. The family consists of It is clear that everyone in the family is in need of money. The ... (Wikipedia)
The Other Side of Midnight
by Sidney Sheldon
A gripping tale of love, betrayal, and revenge. The story follows the lives of two women and the man they both love.
Set in between the two World Wars, Noelle Page is born to a poor family in Marseille , France, though she is led to believe she is better than everyone else. She is initially devoted to her father, ... (Wikipedia)
The Hundred Secret Senses
by Amy Tan
A woman discovers her Chinese-American heritage with the help of her sister's spirit.
The story focuses on the relationship between Chinese-born Kwan and her younger, Chinese-American sister Olivia, who serves as the book's primary narrator. Olivia and Kwan's relationship begins when ... (Wikipedia)
The Mistress of Spices
by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Enchanting story of an Indian woman with magical powers who helps others find balance in their lives.
Tilo, the titular character, is a shopkeeper born in India and trained in magic, who helps customers satisfy their needs and desires with the mystical properties of spices. Her life changes when she ... (Wikipedia)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
by Lisa See
Story of two women in 19th-century China, exploring the power of female friendship.
In rural Hunan province called Puwei (nicknamed the Common Beauty Village), a county in China, Lily is destined to become a, laotong, pair with Snow Flower, a girl of the same age from Tongkou (the ... (Wikipedia)
The Twentieth Wife
by Indu Sundaresan
Epic tale of a powerful Mughal Empress, set against a backdrop of political intrigue and personal drama.
An enchanting seventeenth-century epic of grand passion and adventure, this debut novel tells the captivating story of one of India's most legendary and controversial empresses – a woman whose ... (Goodreads)
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)
The Gargoyle
by Andrew Davidson
A modern day quest for redemption and love, interlaced with tales of medieval passion and horror.
The Gargoyle follows two different time lines, one in the form of a story (or ‘memory’), and one in real time. In real time, an unnamed atheist and former hardcore porn star with a troubled childhood ... (Wikipedia)
Three Things About Elsie
by Joanna Cannon
A poignant tale of an elderly woman's memories and secrets, as she navigates the challenges of aging and friendship.
There are three things you should know about Elsie. The first thing is that she’s my best friend. The second is that she always knows what to say to make me feel better. And the third thing… might ... (Goodreads)
We Need to Talk About Kevin
by Lionel Shriver
A mother's struggle to come to terms with the monstrous acts of her disturbed son.
In the wake of a school massacre conducted by Kevin Khatchadourian, the 15-year-old son of Franklin Plaskett and Eva Khatchadourian, Eva begins writing letters to Franklin in November 2000. She ... (Wikipedia)
Q & A
by Vikas Swarup
An impoverished man's journey of luck and circumstance that leads to a life-changing prize.
Vikas Swarup's spectacular debut novel opens in a jail cell in Mumbai, India, where Ram Mohammad Thomas is being held after correctly answering all twelve questions on India's biggest quiz show, Who ... (Goodreads)
And the Mountains Echoed
by Khaled Hosseini
Interconnected stories of family and love, tracing the consequences of decisions made throughout life.
The novel opens in the year 1952. Saboor, an impoverished farmer from the fictional village of Shadbagh, decides to sell his three-year-old daughter Pari to a wealthy, childless couple in Kabul. ... (Wikipedia)
The Tea Planter's Wife
by Dinah Jefferies
A young bride moves to Ceylon in the 1920s to join her tea planter husband, but secrets and lies threaten to destroy their marriage and family.
#1 International bestselling novel set in 1920s Ceylon, about a young Englishwoman who marries a charming tea plantation owner and widower, only to discover he's keeping terrible secrets about his ... (Goodreads)
Still Alice
by Lisa Genova
A woman's struggle to hold on to her identity in the face of a devastating diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience ... (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)
Mistress of Rome
by Kate Quinn
The story of a slave girl and her rise to power in Ancient Rome.
The first in an unforgettable historical saga from the, New York Times, and, USA Today, bestselling author of, The Alice Network., First-century Rome: A ruthless emperor watches over all–and fixes ... (Goodreads)
The God of Small Things
by Arundhati Roy
A moving story of two siblings growing up in India, exploring love, politics, and class.
The year is 1969. In the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India, a skyblue Plymouth with chrome tailfins is stranded on the highway amid a Marxist workers' demonstration. Inside the car ... (Goodreads)
Homeless Bird
by Gloria Whelan
A young girl's story of courage and resilience in the face of adversity.
Like many girls her age in the India of her time period, thirteen-year-old-Koly is getting married. Full of hope and courage, she leaves home forever. But Koly's story takes a terrible turn when in ... (Goodreads)
A Year in the Merde
by Stephen Clarke
A humorous account of an Englishman's experiences working in a French company, navigating cultural differences and romantic entanglements.
When Paul West starts his new job in September he is altogether unaware of the true character and the machinations of his boss, Jean-Marie Martin, who is in his early fifties, rich, handsome, ... (Wikipedia)
The Heretic Queen
by Michelle Moran
The story of Nefertari, an ambitious and powerful queen of Ancient Egypt.
In ancient Egypt, a forgotten princess must overcome her family’s past and remake history. The winds of change are blowing through Thebes. A devastating palace fire has killed the Eighteenth ... (Goodreads)
The White Tiger
by Aravind Adiga
An exploration of the Indian class system, told from the perspective of a lower-caste man.
The entire novel is narrated through letters by Balram Halwai to the Premier of China, who will soon be visiting India. Balram is an Indian man from an impoverished background, born in the village of ... (Wikipedia)
The Samurai's Garden
by Gail Tsukiyama
A young man's journey of healing in a remote Japanese village.
A 20-year-old Chinese painter named Stephen is sent to his family's summer home in a Japanese coastal village to recover from a bout with tuberculosis. Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent ... (Goodreads)
Elephants Can Remember
by Agatha Christie
A mother and daughter investigate a double suicide that happened years ago, uncovering secrets and lies along the way.
At a literary luncheon Ariadne Oliver is approached by a woman named Mrs Burton-Cox, whose son Desmond is engaged to Oliver's goddaughter Celia Ravenscroft. Mrs Burton-Cox questions the truth ... (Wikipedia)
The Lady and the Unicorn
by Tracy Chevalier
A tapestry weaves the story of a noblewoman, her maid, and the mysterious unicorn. A tale of love, desire, and art in medieval France.
A tour de force of history and imagination, The Lady and the Unicorn is Tracy Chevalier’s answer to the mystery behind one of the art world’s great masterpieces—a set of bewitching medieval ... (Goodreads)
Kitchens of the Great Midwest
by J. Ryan Stradal
A heartwarming tale of interconnected lives, all connected by their shared love of food.
The novel centers around Eva, a culinary prodigy born with a “once-in-a-generation palate” to a chef father and a sommelier mother. Though growing up in poverty and facing numerous challenges, by age ... (Wikipedia)
Five on Kirrin Island Again
by Enid Blyton
The Famous Five return to Kirrin Island and uncover a plot to steal valuable treasure. Adventure ensues.
What can Uncle Quentin be up to - all alone - on Kirrin Island. He won't let anyone visit - not even George and the rest of the Famous Five. But Quentin isn't really all alone on the island - ... (Goodreads)
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)
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 Old Man Who Read Love Stories
by Luis Sepúlveda
An old man's quest to find solace and peace in the stories he reads.
In a remote river town deep in the Ecuadoran jungle, Antonio José Bolívar seeks refuge in amorous novels. But tourists and opportunists are making inroads into the area, and the balance of nature is ... (Goodreads)
