Books like

Books like The Housekeeper and the Professor

12 books with a reading profile close to The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa. Inward-looking, contemplative and thought-provoking; an easy read.

1

And the Mountains Echoed

by Khaled Hosseini

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

The narrative begins in 1952 in the Afghan village of Shadbagh, centered on the separation of two siblings, Pari and Abdullah.
2

Breathing Lessons

by Anne Tyler

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

Maggie and Ira Moran, a married couple in their fifties in Baltimore, drive to the funeral of a friend's husband in Pennsylvania.
3

French Braid

by Anne Tyler

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

The Garrett family of Baltimore are followed over several decades, starting in 1959 when Mercy and David Garrett go on a family vacation to a lakeside spot.
4

Indian Horse

by Richard Wagamese

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

Saul Indian Horse is an Ojibway man telling the story of his life from a treatment centre.
5

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

by Deesha Philyaw

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

Deesha Philyaw’s short story collection centers on the private lives of Black women navigating the tension between traditional Christian morality and their own physical desires.
6

The Samurai's Garden

by Gail Tsukiyama

Also contemplative and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Stephen, a young Chinese man who has been ill, goes in 1937 to his family's summer house in Tarumi, a Japanese seaside village, to recover.
7

The Kitchen God's Wife

by Amy Tan

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

Winnie Louie has kept her past secret from her Chinese American daughter, Pearl, who in turn is hiding her own diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
8

Another Brooklyn

by Jacqueline Woodson

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

In the 1970s, August moves from Tennessee to Bushwick, Brooklyn, after the death of her mother.
9

So Late in the Day

by Claire Keegan

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

On a bright Friday in Dublin, Cathal sits at his office desk counting down the hours until the workday ends.
10

The Danish Girl

by David Ebershoff

Also inward-looking · narrative, literary

Einar Wegener, an artist living in Denmark, experiences a profound shift in his identity, leading him to identify as a woman named Lili Elbe.
11

Mayflies

by Andrew O'Hagan

Also inward-looking and contemplative · narrative, literary

The story begins in 1986, following teenager James Noble and his charismatic friend Tully Dawson in a small Scottish town.
12

The Seed Keeper

by Diane Wilson

Also contemplative and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Rosalie Iron Wing grows up learning the traditional Dakhóta methods of gathering and preserving seeds from her father in the woods of Minnesota.

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