Recommendations based on Whistling Past the Graveyardby Susan Crandall

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

  1. Necessary Lies

    by Diane Chamberlain
    A young social worker in 1960s rural North Carolina uncovers a dark secret that threatens to upend the lives of those around her.

    It is 1960 in North Carolina and the lives of Ivy Hart and Jane Forrester couldn't be more different. Fifteen-year-old Ivy lives with her family as tenants on a small tobacco farm, but when her ... (Barnes & Noble)

  2. 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)

  3. Calling Me Home

    by Julie Kibler
    An interracial friendship between two women, challenged by the realities of racial prejudice.

    Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler is a soaring debut interweaving the story of a heartbreaking, forbidden love in 1930s Kentucky with an unlikely modern-day friendship. Eighty-nine-year-old Isabelle ... (Goodreads)

  4. 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)

  5. The Invention of Wings

    by Sue Monk Kidd
    A powerful story about a girl's journey to freedom, despite the limitations of slavery.

    Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world—and it is now ... (Goodreads)

  6. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

    by Beth Hoffman
    A young girl's journey of self-discovery, gaining strength and resilience in the face of adversity.

    Twelve-year-old CeeCee is in trouble. For years she’s been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille— the crown-wearing, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town. Though it’s 1967 and ... (Goodreads)

  7. The Pecan Man

    by Cassie Dandridge Selleck
    A woman's journey of self-discovery, as she uncovers the truth about her family's past.

    The Pecan Man is a work of Southern fiction whose first chapter was the First Place winner of the 2006 CNW/FFWA Florida State Writing Competition in the Unpublished Novel category. In the summer of ... (Goodreads)

  8. The Secret Keeper

    by Kate Morton
    A woman unravels her family's past, uncovering secrets and lies that span generations.

    During a summer party at the family farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson has escaped to her childhood tree house and is happily dreaming of the future. She spies a ... (Goodreads)

  9. The Diary of Mattie Spenser

    by Sandra Dallas
    A young woman's journey through the hardships of frontier life in the American West during the late 1800s.

    No one is more surprised than Mattie Spenser herself when Luke Spenser, considered the great catch of their small Iowa town, asks her to marry him. Less than a month later, they are off in a covered ... (Goodreads)

  10. Before We Were Yours

    by Lisa Wingate
    Family torn apart is reunited across generations, revealing a powerful tale of resilience and hope.

    Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the ... (Goodreads)

  11. The Dry Grass of August

    by Anna Jean Mayhew
    A coming-of-age story set in the 1950s American South, following a young girl's journey of self-discovery and racial awakening.

    In this beautifully written debut, Anna Jean Mayhew offers a riveting depiction of Southern life in the throes of segregation, what it will mean for a young girl on her way to adulthood—and for the ... (Barnes & Noble)

  12. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

    by Gabrielle Zevin
    Life of an isolated bookseller is transformed when an unexpected visitor brings unexpected joy.

    “Marvelously optimistic about the future of books and bookstores and the people who love both.”—, The Washington Post, A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. He lives alone, his ... (Barnes & Noble)

  13. Looking for Me

    by Beth Hoffman
    After her brother's disappearance, Teddi Overman leaves her hometown to pursue her passion for antiques. She discovers herself and uncovers family secrets along the way.

    A Southern novel of family and antiques from the bestselling author of the beloved, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, Beth Hoffman’s bestselling debut, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt , won admirers and acclaim with ... (Goodreads)

  14. The Light Between Oceans

    by M.L. Stedman
    A lighthouse keeper and his wife make a heartbreaking decision that has lifelong repercussions.

    Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found, here, Australia, 1926. After four harrowing years fighting on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns home to take a job as the lighthouse ... (Goodreads)

  15. The Story of Beautiful Girl

    by Rachel Simon
    A love story between two people with intellectual disabilities, on a journey to find home and belonging.

    It is 1968. Lynnie, a young white woman with a developmental disability, and Homan, an African American deaf man, are locked away in an institution, the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded, and ... (Goodreads)

  16. Glory Over Everything: Beyond The Kitchen House

    by Kathleen Grissom
    A slave's story of freedom and its unexpected complications.

    The latest New York Times bestseller from the author of the beloved book club favorite The Kitchen House is a heart racing story about a man’s treacherous journey through the twists and turns of the ... (Barnes & Noble)

  17. Sarah's Quilt

    by Nancy E. Turner
    Sarah's journey continues as she navigates life on the frontier, facing challenges and finding love.

    Sarah's Quilt, the long-awaited sequel to, These Is My Words, continues the dramatic story of Sarah Agnes Prine. Beloved by readers and book clubs from coast to coast,, These Is My Words, told the ... (Barnes & Noble)

  18. The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper

    by Phaedra Patrick
    An elderly man embarks on an unexpected journey of self-discovery and healing.

    Look for Phaedra Patrick’s newest perfectly charming read, The Secrets of Love Story Bridge . “An endearing celebration of life.” -RealSimple.com Perfect for fans of A Man Called Ove , this curiously ... (Barnes & Noble)

  19. The Rent Collector

    by Camron Wright
    A poor Cambodian family's story of resilience in the face of hardship.

    Survival for Ki Lim and Sang Ly is a daily battle at Stung Meanchey, the largest municipal waste dump in all of Cambodia. They make their living scavenging recyclables from the trash. Life would be ... (Goodreads)

  20. Tell the Wolves I'm Home

    by Carol Rifka Brunt
    A young girl's journey of grief and healing as she discovers the secrets of her beloved uncle's life.

    June Elbus is a 14-year-old girl living in Westchester in 1986. She is in love with her gay uncle, Finn Weiss, a fact she is scared to admit even to herself. Finn is dying of AIDS. Being a ... (Wikipedia)

  21. 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)

  22. The Thirteenth Tale

    by Diane Setterfield
    A mysterious storyteller reveals a dark family secret, transforming the lives of those around her.

    Vida Winter, a famous novelist in England, has evaded journalists' questions about her past, refusing to answer their inquiries and spinning elaborate tales that they later discover to be false. Her ... (Wikipedia)

  23. A Desperate Fortune

    by Susanna Kearsley
    Sara deciphers a cryptic diary, uncovering a hidden code that leads to a dangerous secret. A tale of love, espionage, and betrayal.

    The highly anticipated, brand-new timeslip romance from New York Times bestselling author Susanna Kearsley For nearly 300 years, the mysterious journal of Jacobite exile Mary Dundas has lain ... (Goodreads)

  24. The Storyteller

    by Jodi Picoult
    A storyteller's quest to restore faith in the power of storytelling and to mend the wounds of her past.

    25-year-old Sage Singer lives in the small town of Westerbrook, New Hampshire . , A couple of years before the story began, Sage and her mother were in a car accident while Sage was driving. Sage's ... (Wikipedia)

  25. Salt to the Sea

    by Ruta Sepetys
    Vivid tale of a group of refugees struggling to survive in WWII Europe.

    New York Times, Bestseller and winner of the Carnegie Medal! ,"Masterfully crafted",—,The Wall Street Journal,For readers of, Between Shades of Gray, and, All the Light We Cannot See, Ruta Sepetys, ... (Barnes & Noble)

  26. 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)

  27. 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)

  28. Winter of the World

    by Ken Follett
    Epic saga of war, family, and love during the tumultuous times of the 20th century.

    The story follows characters from Germany , Britain , the United States and the Soviet Union , who become linked by events leading to World War II , and continues through the war and its immediate ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Skeletons at the Feast

    by Chris Bohjalian
    A family's journey through war-torn Germany during WWII, facing danger, loss, and unexpected connections.

    The plot of the story centers around a young Prussian girl, Anna Emmerich, and the broken remnants of her family as they flee westward from the advancing Russian army . Along with them they are ... (Wikipedia)

  30. Leaving Everything Most Loved

    by Jacqueline Winspear
    Detective Maisie Dobbs unravels a murder case in 1920s London, uncovering secrets along the way.

    London, 1933. Two months after Usha Pramal's body is discovered in the waters of a city canal, her brother, newly arrived in England, turns to Maisie Dobbs for help. Not only has Scotland Yard made ... (Barnes & Noble)