Books like 'Cracking India'

Readers who enjoyed Cracking India by Bapsi Sidhwa also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  south asian  20th century

  • The Storyteller's Secret by Sejal Badani

    The Storyteller's Secret by Sejal Badani

    Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars
    · 69 ratings
    From the bestselling author of Trail of Broken Wings comes an epic story of the unrelenting force of love, the power of healing, and the invincible desire to dream. Nothing prepares Jaya, a New York journalist, for the heartbreak of her third miscarriage and the slow unraveling of her marriage in its wake...
  • The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley

    The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley

    Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars
    · 40 ratings
    Spanning four generations, The Midnight Rose sweeps from the glittering palaces of the great maharajas of India to the majestic stately homes of England, following the extraordinary life of a remarkable girl, Anahita Chaval, from 1911 to the present day . .
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  • My Tender Matador by Pedro Lemebel

    My Tender Matador by Pedro Lemebel

    Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars
    · 34 ratings
    Centered around the 1986 attempt on the life of Augusto Pinochet, an event that changed Chile forever, My Tender Matador is one of the most explosive, controversial, and popular novels to have been published in that country in decades. It is spring 1986 in the city of Santiago, and Augusto Pinochet is losing his grip on power...
  • The Sky Beneath Us by Fiona Valpy

    The Sky Beneath Us by Fiona Valpy

    Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    An inspiring, uplifting story of love and loss, courage and adventure, from the bestselling author of The Skylark’s Secret.1927. Violet Mackenzie-Grant is embarking on her dream of studying at the Edinburgh School of Gardening for Women...
  • The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

    The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 67 ratings
    SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD A NEW YORK TIMES Selection for BEST 10 BOOKS OF THE YEARA WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK A PICK FOR THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY'S 2018 BEST BOOKSTHE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT FOR READERS“A page turner...An absorbing and emotionally riveting story about what it’s like to live during times of crisis...
  • The Keeper of Stars by Buck Turner

    The Keeper of Stars by Buck Turner

    Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars
    · 36 ratings
    Who says you can’t rewrite the stars?1962—Twelve years removed from the summer when she first gave her heart away, Dr. Elizabeth (Ellie) Spencer, Professor of Astronomy at Indiana University, receives a mysterious package that has her asking that very question.Inside the unmarked box is a novel written by Ellie’s first love, Jack Bennett...
  • The Pianist's Wife by Soraya M. Lane

    The Pianist's Wife by Soraya M. Lane

    Rated: 4.65 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    A heartbreaking story of friendship, loyalty and the true cost of love, from the bestselling author of The Secret Midwife and Wives of War.Berlin, 1944: Amira and Gisele have been best friends since they were children, and now Gisele is the only person who knows Amira’s secret. A secret that puts her and everyone she loves in unimaginable danger amid the daily horror and violence of Nazi Germany...
  • Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman, Robert Chandler

    Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman, Robert Chandler

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 36 ratings
    Based around the pivotal WWII battle of Stalingrad (1942-3), where the German advance into Russia was eventually halted by the Red Army, and around an extended family, the Shaposhnikovs, and their many friends and acquaintances, Life and Fate recounts the experience of characters caught up in an immense struggle between opposing armies and ideologies...
  • The Parisians by Marius Gabriel

    The Parisians by Marius Gabriel

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    Paris, 1940. The Nazis have occupied the city—and the Ritz. The opulent old hotel, so loved by Parisians, is now full of swaggering officers, their minions and their mistresses.For American Olivia Olsen, working as a chambermaid at the hotel means denying her nationality and living a lie, every day bringing the danger of discovery closer...
  • Just Once: A Novel by Karen Kingsbury

    Just Once: A Novel by Karen Kingsbury

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    The #1 New York Times bestselling author “known for her deeply heartfelt novels” ( Woman’s World ) writes a sweeping World War II love story about a young woman torn between two brothers.In 1941, beautiful Irvel Holland is too focused on her secret to take much notice of the war raging overseas...
  • The Girl with the Diary by Shari J. Ryan

    The Girl with the Diary by Shari J. Ryan

    Rated: 4.52 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    “What if you never come back?” I asked.“I will find you, Amelia. I promise I will find you.”“What if you die trying?”Nazi-occupied Prague, 1942: Amelia is hiding in her closet when flashlights blind her and she’s captured by the SS. Out on the cobblestone street, she is shoved onto a freight train with hundreds of others. Hours pass as they travel in darkness...
  • All My Secrets by Lynn Austin

    All My Secrets by Lynn Austin

    Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Bestselling author Lynn Austin returns with a luminous work of historical fiction set amid the opulence of Gilded Age New York, where three generations of women in one family must reckon with the choices they have made and their hopes for the future.New York, 1898...
  • The Storyteller of Casablanca by Fiona Valpy

    The Storyteller of Casablanca by Fiona Valpy

    Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    In this evocative tale from the bestselling author of The Dressmaker’s Gift, a strange new city offers a young girl hope. Can it also offer a lost soul a second chance?Morocco, 1941. With France having fallen to Nazi occupation, twelve-year-old Josie has fled with her family to Casablanca, where they await safe passage to America...
  • The Words We Whisper by Mary Ellen Taylor

    The Words We Whisper by Mary Ellen Taylor

    Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    As a hospice nurse, Zara Mitchell has already seen more death than most people will experience in a lifetime. So when her older sister asks her to help care for their ailing grandmother, Zara agrees—despite strained family relationships.Though pale and tired, Nonna has lost none of her sharp mind...
  • The Woman in the White Kimono by Ana Johns

    The Woman in the White Kimono by Ana Johns

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 36 ratings
    Oceans and decades apart, two women are inextricably bound by the secrets between them.Japan, 1957...
  • The Trade Off by Samantha Greene Woodruff

    The Trade Off by Samantha Greene Woodruff

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    A brilliant and ambitious young woman strives to find her place amid the promise and tumult of 1920s Wall Street in a captivating historical novel by the author of The Lobotomist’s Wife.Bea Abramovitz has a gift for math and numbers. With her father, she studies the burgeoning Wall Street market’s stocks and patterns in the financial pages...
  • The Oceans Between Us by Gill Thompson

    The Oceans Between Us by Gill Thompson

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    Inspired by heartrending real events, a mother fights to find her son and a child battles for survival in this riveting debut novel.For readers of Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly, The Letter by Kathryn Hughes, and Remember Me by Lesley Pearse.A woman is found wandering injured in London after an air raid.She remembers nothing of who she is...
  • The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S. by Jaime Hernández

    The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S. by Jaime Hernández

    Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    The 25th anniversary Love and Rockets celebration continues withthis, the second of three volumes collecting the adventures of thespunky Maggie; her annoying, pixie-ish best friend and sometime loverHopey; and their circle of friends, including their bombshell friendPenny Century, Maggie's weirdo mentor Izzy—as well as the aging butstill heroic wrestler Rena Titañon and Maggie's handsome love...
  • A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

    A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

    Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars
    · 50 ratings
    Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman living in Malaya, is captured by the invading Japanese and forced on a brutal seven-month death march with dozens of other women and children. A few years after the war, Jean is back in England, the nightmare behind her. However, an unexpected inheritance inspires her to return to Malaya to give something back to the villagers who saved her life...
  • The Kites by Romain Gary

    The Kites by Romain Gary

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    On a small farm in Normandy, as Hitler rises to power in Germany, young Ludo comes of age in the care of his Uncle Ambrose, an eccentric mailman, kite-maker, and pacifist. Ludo’s quiet existence changes the day he meets Lila, a girl from the aristocratic Polish family who own the estate next door. In a single glance, Ludo instantly falls in love forever; Lila, on the other hand, remains elusive...
  • An Apprenticeship or The Book of Pleasures by Clarice Lispector, Sheila Heti

    An Apprenticeship or The Book of Pleasures by Clarice Lispector, Sheila Heti

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    What to make of a writer who follows the metaphysical heights of her great Passion According to GH with a book that looks suspiciously like a romance novel?In The Apprenticeship, or The Book of Pleasures, Clarice Lispector tries to discover how to bridge the gap between people, or how to even begin to try...
  • The Lies We Leave Behind by Noelle Salazar

    The Lies We Leave Behind by Noelle Salazar

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    For readers of Kate Quinn and Beatriz Williams, this sweeping story follows a fearless nurse who must leave love behind when duty calls her back to the front. Somewhere in the Pacific, 1943. Kate Campbell is a nurse who bravely flies back and forth from the front to rescue wounded soldiers, amid long days, harsh conditions and often dangerous weather...
  • The Enchanted Barn - Grace Livingston Hill [Modern Library Collection Edition] by Grace Livingston Hill

    The Enchanted Barn - Grace Livingston Hill [Modern Library Collection Edition] by Grace Livingston Hill

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    The Hollisters, a bright, spirited, wholesome family, are compelled to move into the country. After many efforts to secure a home, Shirley, eldest of the Hollisters, contrives a way out by renting a magnificent old stone barn at a ridiculously low price, transforming it into a house...
  • Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer

    Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    Once An Eagle is the story of one special man, a soldier named Sam Damon, and his adversary over a lifetime, fellow officer Courtney Massengale. Damon is a professional who puts duty, honor, and the men he commands above self interest. Massengale, however, brilliantly advances by making the right connections behind the lines and in Washington's corridors of power...
  • Under a Greek Moon by Carol Kirkwood

    Under a Greek Moon by Carol Kirkwood

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    The escapist Sunday Times bestselling debut from the nation’s best loved TV presenter, Carol Kirkwood.‘Loved it! It sizzles with secrets and passion...
  • The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen

    The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen

    Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars
    · 59 ratings
    Love and secrets collide in Venice during WWII in an enthralling novel of brief encounters and lasting romance by the New York Times bestselling author of The Tuscan Child and Above the Bay of Angels.Caroline Grant is struggling to accept the end of her marriage when she receives an unexpected bequest. Her beloved great-aunt Lettie leaves her a sketchbook, three keys, and a final whisper…Venice...
  • The Good Doctor of Warsaw by Elisabeth Gifford

    The Good Doctor of Warsaw by Elisabeth Gifford

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Set in the ghettos of wartime Warsaw, this is a sweeping, poignant and heartbreaking tale, based on the true story of one of World War II's quiet heroes - Dr Janusz Korczak.'You do not leave a sick child alone to face the dark and you do not leave a child at a time like this.'Deeply in love and about to marry, students Misha and Sophia flee a Warsaw under Nazi occupation for a chance at freedom...
  • The Lost Lights of St Kilda by Elisabeth Gifford

    The Lost Lights of St Kilda by Elisabeth Gifford

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    1927: When Fred Lawson takes a summer job on St. Kilda, little does he realize that he has joined the last community to ever live on that beautiful, isolated island. Only three years later, St. Kilda will be evacuated, the islanders near dead from starvation. But for Fred, memories of that summer - and the island woman, Chrissie, with whom he falls in love - will never leave him...
  • Of Marriageable Age by Sharon Maas

    Of Marriageable Age by Sharon Maas

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings
    A spellbinding story of forbidden love, spanning three continents and three decades. Set against the Independence struggles of two British colonies, Of Marriageable Age is ultimately a story of personal triumph against a brutal fate, brought to life by a multicultural cast of characters:Savitri, intuitive and charismatic, grows up among the servants of a pre-war English household in the Raj...
  • These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon

    These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 38 ratings
    For years, Mitford's sixtysomething rector has been happily married to his parish. Now he's also married to Cynthia, his vivacious next-door neighbor. For Father Tim, life in Mitford has never been so full of surprises. His wife is "aging" his already ancient kitchen walls, not to mention burning his draperies. The mountain boy he's learned to love as his own makes a heartrending decision...
  • The Dressmaker's Gift by Fiona Valpy

    The Dressmaker's Gift by Fiona Valpy

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 53 ratings
    A Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon Charts bestseller.From the bestselling author of The Beekeeper’s Promise comes a gripping story of three young women faced with impossible choices. How will history – and their families – judge them?Paris, 1940. With the city occupied by the Nazis, three young seamstresses go about their normal lives as best they can...
  • Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain

    Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 45 ratings
    Bestselling author Diane Chamberlain delivers a breakout book about a small southern town fifty years ago, and the darkest—and most hopeful—places in the human heart After losing her parents, fifteen-year-old Ivy Hart is left to care for her grandmother, older sister and nephew as tenants on a small tobacco farm...
  • The Last Party at Silverton Hall by Rachel Burton

    The Last Party at Silverton Hall by Rachel Burton

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    A gripping and heartbreaking tale of family, duty and the secrets we keep from those we love most. Perfect for fans of Rachel Hore, Lorna Cook and Kathryn Hughes.Two women. Two centuries. A life-changing night...1952: Vivien and Max collide in the thick London smog...
  • The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard by Natasha Lester

    The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard by Natasha Lester

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Three generations. One chance to prove themselves. Can the women of the Bricard fashion dynasty finally rewrite their history?French countryside, Present  Blythe Bricard is the daughter of famous fashion muses but that doesn't mean she wants to be one. She turned her back on that world, and her dreams, years ago...
  • Aunt Crete's Emancipation by Grace Livingston Hill

    Aunt Crete's Emancipation by Grace Livingston Hill

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    All her life, Aunt Crete has been tormented by sister and her niece but fate has something else in store for her. The arrival of Aunt Crete's nephew suddenly causes a reversal in her fortune and she gets a chance to live a life of love and respect...
  • All That Glitters by Catrin Collier

    All That Glitters by Catrin Collier

    Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings
    Cornish smuggler Devlin 'Devil' Varcoe braves winter weather and revenue men to fetch the contraband on which Porthinnis depends for survival. Drawn to Jenefer Trevanion, whose father finances the smuggling operation, Devlin is seduced by beautiful wild-child Tamara Gillis. When fire destroys her home, Jenefer is forced to work in the pilchard cellars...
  • The Spitfire Girls by Soraya M. Lane

    The Spitfire Girls by Soraya M. Lane

    Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    Three skilled aviators determined to help win the war. Three brave women who know their place is not at home. At the height of World War II, the British Air Transport Auxiliary need help. A group of young women volunteer for action, but the perils of their new job don’t end on the tarmac. Things are tough in the air, but on the ground their abilities as pilots are constantly questioned...
  • The Hotel on the Riviera by Carol Kirkwood

    The Hotel on the Riviera by Carol Kirkwood

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    By the sapphire blue waters of the French Riviera, a decades-long secret is about to be revealed…Wayward Greek heiress, Ariana Theodosis, inherits the Hotel du Soleil as part of a mysterious legacy. Captivated by its faded glamour, she hopes it offers her the chance to start again...
  • The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken

    The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken

    Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Beekeeper of Aleppo.In the 1930s, Stalin’s activists marched through the Soviet Union, espousing the greatness of collective farming. It was the first step in creating a man-made famine that, in Ukraine, stole almost 4 million lives...
  • Her Last Promise by Kathryn Hughes

    Her Last Promise by Kathryn Hughes

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    A mysterious letter from Spain. A surprising new beginning... Fall in love this summer with Her Last Promise, a gripping, heartwrenching story of how hope can blossom in the ruins of tragedy and of the redeeming power of love. From No. 1 bestselling author Kathryn Hughes. Tara Richards was just a girl when she lost her mother...
  • The Fortunate Ones by Catherine Hokin

    The Fortunate Ones by Catherine Hokin

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings
    Every day he stood exactly where he was directed. He listened for his number, shouted his answer in the freezing cold. He was ragged and he was starving, but he was alive. He was one of the fortunate ones whom fate had left standing. And he needed to stay that way. For Hannah. Berlin, 1941. Felix Thalberg, a printer’s apprentice, has the weight of the world on his shoulders...
  • Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash

    Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 33 ratings
    “Spence-Ash has written the novel in eight points of view, but each character is utterly three-dimensional and distinct. This debut novel captivated me from start to finish...
  • The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham

    The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 40 ratings
    W. Somerset Maugham’s ‘The Moon and Sixpence’ is an ode to the powerful forces behind the creative genius. It is a fictional novel heavily influenced by the life of French painter Paul Gauguin. The novel is told in first-person, dipping episodically into the mind of the artist...
  • Murder at the Village Fete by Catherine Coles

    Murder at the Village Fete by Catherine Coles

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    Downton Abbey crossed with Murder, She Wrote...set in a Yorkshire village!Evelyn Christie, the new Lady Northmoor, is looking forward to hosting the local village fete in the grounds of Hessleham Hall...
  • The Day the Germans Came by Ella Gyland

    The Day the Germans Came by Ella Gyland

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Inspired by the incredible true story of how the people of Denmark saved their Jewish neighbours during World War IIHelsingør, Denmark, 1943In the midst of the German occupation during World War II, Inger Bredahl joins the underground resistance and risks her life to save members of Denmark’s Jewish community and help them escape to Sweden...
  • Never Meant to Stay by Trisha Das

    Never Meant to Stay by Trisha Das

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings
    A bighearted romantic comedy about family and finding the perfect match set against the exuberant backdrop of contemporary Delhi. Home has always been a temporary arrangement for Samara Mansingh, a wayfaring wedding photographer and the daughter of a diplomat. When her father is uprooted once again, Samara needs a place to stay in Delhi. Next the Khanna family...
  • The Paper Daughters of Chinatown by Heather B. Moore

    The Paper Daughters of Chinatown by Heather B. Moore

    Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    Based on true events, The Paper Daughters of Chinatown in a powerful story about a largely unknown chapter in history and the women who emerged as heroes.In the late nineteenth century, San Francisco is a booming city with a dark side, one in which a powerful underground organization—the criminal tong—buys and sells young Chinese women into prostitution and slavery...
  • Long Way Home by Lynn Austin

    Long Way Home by Lynn Austin

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    In this portrait of war and its aftermath, a young woman searches for the truth her childhood friend won't discuss after returning from World War II, revealing a story of courage, friendship, and faith.Peggy Serrano couldn't wait for her best friend to come home from the war...
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