Books like

Books like Hamnet

12 books with a reading profile close to Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. Deep, inward-looking, contemplative and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

1

Duizend schitterende zonnen

by Khaled Hosseini

Also inward-looking and contemplative · history, narrative

Set against the backdrop of three decades of Afghan history, the narrative follows Mariam and Laila, two women from different generations and social backgrounds whose lives intersect through a forced marriage to the sam…
2

Bin Muhteşem Güneş

by Khaled Hosseini

Also inward-looking and contemplative · history, narrative

Mariam and Laila are two women from different generations and social backgrounds whose lives collide in Kabul during decades of political upheaval.
3

Homegoing

by Yaa Gyasi

Also deep and inward-looking · history, narrative

Beginning in eighteenth-century Ghana, the narrative follows the diverging lineages of two half-sisters, Effia and Esi.
4

The Cellist of Sarajevo

by Steven Galloway

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · history, narrative

Set in the besieged city of Sarajevo, the narrative follows three civilians navigating a landscape of sniper fire and shellings.
5

Five Little Indians

by Michelle Good

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · history, narrative

Five children, Kenny, Clara, Maisie, Lucy and Howie, are taken from their families as small children and sent to a residential school in British Columbia.
6

When the Emperor Was Divine

by Julie Otsuka

Also inward-looking and contemplative · history, narrative

The narrative follows an unnamed Japanese American family—a mother, daughter, and son—living in Berkeley, California, in 1942.
7

Pachinko

by Min Jin Lee

Also deep and contemplative · history, narrative

Sunja, the daughter of a crippled fisherman in colonial Korea, becomes pregnant by a married yakuza member.
8

Half of a Yellow Sun, Americanah, Purple Hibiscus

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Also deep and inward-looking · history, narrative

This three-volume collection tracks the socio-political evolution of Nigeria through specific family lineages and individual migrations.
9

Americanah

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Also deep and thought-provoking · history, narrative

Ifemelu and Obinze are young lovers in military-ruled Nigeria who depart the country for different hemispheres.
10

Cutting for Stone

by Abraham Verghese

Also deep and inward-looking · history, narrative

The story follows twin brothers Marion and Shiva Stone, born from a clandestine union between an Indian nun and a British surgeon in an Addis Ababa mission hospital.
11

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

by Ayana Mathis

Also deep and inward-looking · history, narrative

In 1923, Hattie Shepherd leaves Georgia for Philadelphia as part of the Great Migration, hoping for a better life.
12

There Are Rivers in the Sky

by Elif Shafak

Also contemplative and thought-provoking · history, narrative

The narrative follows a single drop of water across centuries, linking three distinct lives shaped by the Tigris and Thames rivers.

Get picks matched to your own reading on papr.

Get papr

Your library, beautifully understood.