Books like Birdsong
12 books with a reading profile close to Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. Deep, inward-looking and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
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1
Suite française
Also deep and thought-provoking · history, narrative
Set in 1940 during the German invasion of France, the narrative follows a chaotic exodus from Paris as civilians flee an oncoming army.
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2
The Garden of Evening Mists
by Tan Twan Eng
Also deep and inward-looking · history, narrative
Set in the aftermath of the Japanese occupation of Malaya, the narrative follows Teoh Yun Ling, a survivor of a brutal prisoner-of-war camp.
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3
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Also deep and thought-provoking · history, narrative
Robert Jordan, an American language instructor, joins an International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War to fight against Francisco Franco’s fascist forces.
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4
Small Island
by Andrea Levy
history, narrative
In 1948, Hortense Roberts arrives in London from Jamaica to join her husband, Gilbert Joseph, who fought for Britain in the war.
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5
Every Man Dies Alone
by Hans Fallada
Also thought-provoking · history, narrative
Otto and Anna Quangel are ordinary Berliners who, after their son's death in the war, start leaving postcards that criticize Hitler in stairwells and offices.
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6
Cry, the Beloved Country
by Alan Paton
Also deep and inward-looking · history, narrative
Stephen Kumalo, a Zulu pastor from the rural village of Ndotsheni, travels to Johannesburg to find his sister and his missing son, Absalom.
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7
The Grapes of Wrath
Also deep and thought-provoking · history, narrative
In 1930s America, a severe drought and aggressive agricultural mechanization force the Joad family off their Oklahoma farm.
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8
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Also thought-provoking · history, narrative
The narrative follows the parallel trajectories of Uncle Tom, a devout Christian man sold away from his family in Kentucky, and Eliza, an enslaved mother who escapes across the Ohio River to save her son from the same f…
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9
Germinal
by Émile Zola
Also deep and thought-provoking · history, narrative
Set in a coal-mining settlement in northern France during the 1860s, the narrative follows Etienne Lantier, an unemployed railway worker who secures a job at the Voreux pit.
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10
The Captain's Daughter
history, narrative
The Captain's Daughter, set during Pugachev's Rebellion in 18th-century Russia, follows the young nobleman Pyotr Grinyov as he falls in love with Masha Mironova, the daughter of a fortress commander.
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11
The Night Watch
by Sarah Waters
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · history, narrative
Set in London during and immediately after the Second World War, the narrative moves backward in time from 1947 to 1941.
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12
The Winter of Our Discontent
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature
Ethan Allen Hawley, a scion of a formerly wealthy New England family, works as a grocery clerk for an immigrant shopkeeper in the fictional town of New Baytown.
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