Books like 'The Oceans Between Us'

Readers who enjoyed The Oceans Between Us by Gill Thompson also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  20th century  war

  • 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...
  • A Fire Sparkling by Julianne MacLean

    A Fire Sparkling by Julianne MacLean

    Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars
    · 45 ratings
    An Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestseller. From the USA Today bestselling author of A Curve in the Road comes a spellbinding novel about one woman’s love, loss, and courage during wartime...
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  • The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein

    The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein

    Rated: 4.59 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings
    In one volume, the New York Times–bestselling epic about hardship and female friendship in postwar Naples that has sold over five million copies.   Beginning with My Brilliant Friend, the four Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante follow Elena and Lila, from their rough-edged upbringing in Naples, Italy, not long after WWII, through the many stages of their lives—and along paths that diverge wildly...
  • Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

    Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

    Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars
    · 67 ratings
    With effortless grace, celebrated author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie illuminates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra's impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in southeastern Nigeria during the late 1960s...
  • 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 . .
  • 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...
  • 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 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 Last Letter from Juliet by Melanie Hudson

    The Last Letter from Juliet by Melanie Hudson

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    "The USA TODAY bestseller for fans of Soraya M. Lane, Heather Morris, Fiona Valpy and Pam Jenoff. Inspired by the brave women of WWII, this is a moving and powerful novel of friendship, love and resilience. A story of love not a story of a war. A daring WWII pilot who grew up among the clouds, Juliet Caron's life was one of courage, adventure - and a love torn apart by war...
  • 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...
  • The Secret Stealers by Jane Healey

    The Secret Stealers by Jane Healey

    Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars
    · 33 ratings
    A female American spy in Nazi-occupied France finds purpose behind enemy lines in a novel of unparalleled danger, love, and daring by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Beantown Girls.Anna Cavanaugh is a restless young widow and brilliant French teacher at a private school in Washington, DC...
  • 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 Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story by Mark Helprin

    The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story by Mark Helprin

    Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Mark Helprin, the #1  New York Times best-selling author of  Winter’s Tale and A Soldier of the Great War , returns with a fast-paced, beautifully written novel about the majesty of the sea; a life dedicated to duty, honor, and country; and the gift of falling in love...
  • The Orphans of Berlin: The BRAND NEW heartbreaking World War 2 historical novel by Jina Bacarr for 2022 by Jina Bacarr

    The Orphans of Berlin: The BRAND NEW heartbreaking World War 2 historical novel by Jina Bacarr for 2022 by Jina Bacarr

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    'A moving novel of strength and resistance in the face of evil but also an inspiring journey of resilience after loss.' Erin Litteken, bestselling author of The Memory Keeper of KyivA heartbreaking World War 2 novel that tells the story of two women’s fight for love, family and hope, as the world crumbles around them...
  • The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer

    The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    In the spring of 1942, young Elzbieta Rabinek is aware of the swiftly growing discord just beyond the courtyard of her comfortable Warsaw home. She has no fondness for the Germans who patrol her streets and impose their curfews, but has never given much thought to what goes on behind the walls that contain her Jewish neighbors...
  • Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

    Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 51 ratings
    In 1960s Nigeria, a country blighted by civil war, three lives intersect. Ugwu, a boy from a poor village, works as a houseboy for a university professor. Olanna, a young woman, has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos to live with her charismatic new lover, the professor. And Richard, a shy English writer, is in thrall to Olanna's enigmatic twin sister...
  • Virgins of Paradise by Barbara Wood

    Virgins of Paradise by Barbara Wood

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings
    From New York Times bestselling author Barbara Wood: A magnificent coming-of-age saga about two sisters from an aristocratic Egyptian family who rebel against tradition.Inside a beautiful mansion on Virgins of Paradise Street in post-World War II Cairo, Jasmine and Camelia Rasheed grow to womanhood under the watchful eyes of their grandmother and the other women of the prominent Rasheed family...
  • Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar

    Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar

    Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    An aspiring photographer follows her dreams and faces her fears in a poignant novel about finding beauty, promise, and love amid the chaos of war-torn Kurdistan.It’s 1979. Olivia Murray, a secretary at a Los Angeles newspaper, is determined to become a photojournalist and make a difference with her work...
  • 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...
  • A Chance in a Million by T.A. Williams

    A Chance in a Million by T.A. Williams

    Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Having left the army to recover from a traumatic experience, Captain Jane Reed is on her way to Venice to assist Lady Veronica Cooper , a world-famous writer who has lost her mojo. Plagued by grief and sleepless nights, Jane soon finds a kindred spirit in Veronica, coping with her own loss after the death of her husband...
    Categorized as:
    war  contemporary  military  length-medium
  • 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...
  • Jessica by Bryce Courtenay

    Jessica by Bryce Courtenay

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 37 ratings
    Jessica is based on the inspiring true story of a young girl's fight for justice against tremendous odds.A tomboy, Jessica is the pride of her father, as they work together on the struggling family farm. One quiet day, the peace of the bush is devastated by a terrible murder...
    Categorized as:
    war  historical  contemporary  length-epic
  • 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...
  • Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher

    Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 36 ratings
    Against the backdrop of an elegant Cornwall mansion before World War II and a vast continent-spanning canvas during the turbulent war years, this involving story tells of an extraordinary young woman's coming of age, coming to grips with love and sadness, and in every sense of the term, coming home..
  • Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

    Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

    Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars
    · 59 ratings
    From the author of the smash-hit bestseller Firefly Lane and True Colors comes a powerful, heartbreaking novel that illuminates the intricate mother-daughter bond and explores the enduring links between the present and the past. Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can be...
  • 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 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...
  • The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

    The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 72 ratings
    Rosamunde Pilcher's The Shell Seekers is "a huge warm saga...A deeply satisfying story written with love and confidence" (Maeve Binchy in The New York Times Book Review).An instant bestseller when it was first published, The Shell Seekers is an enduring classic which has touched the hearts of millions of readers worldwide...
  • Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams

    Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams

    Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars
    · 37 ratings
    From the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives comes another riveting novel of the Schuyler sisters—where the epic story of star-crossed lovers in pre-war Europe collides with a woman on the run in the swinging '60s...In the autumn of 1966, Pepper Schuyler's problems are in a class of their own...
  • 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...
  • When We Meet Again by Dean Hughes

    When We Meet Again by Dean Hughes

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    The Thomas family members face ongoing challenges in the dark years at the close of WW2. Alex's values are tested as he works to complete an intelligence assignment in Germany while wondering if he'll ever see his beloved Anna and their son again. Wally struggles to survive the torture he endures as a POW, and Bobbi has to make a difficult choice between the men in her life...
    Categorized as:
    war  contemporary  christian  length-long
  • Rumors of War by Dean Hughes

    Rumors of War by Dean Hughes

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 35 ratings
    "Every era has its own refiner's fire, and World War II put general Church membership and Utah to a test," Dean Hughes explains. In Children of the Promise, his first historical fiction series for adults, Dean shows through the eyes of the Thomas family how LDS families were tested to the limit. "Most people agree it was a fascinating time in world and American history...
    Categorized as:
    war  contemporary  christian  length-long
  • 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...
  • Remi by Annabella Stone, Bella Stone

    Remi by Annabella Stone, Bella Stone

    Rated: 4.66 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    War doesn't forge heroes, it reveals them!Former Navy SEAL and communication specialist for The Four X’s Group—a paramilitary organization he runs with his brothers, Remi *Zipper* McKinley has slammed the lid shut on the box he stuffed his heart into. He chained that puppy up, slapped on a padlock, and tossed the key away with prejudice...
    Categorized as:
    war  contemporary  military  length-medium
  • 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 Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

    The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 81 ratings
    Pat Conroy has created a huge, brash thunderstorm of a novel, stinging with honesty and resounding with drama. 'Spanning forty years, this is the story of turbulent Tom Wingo, his gifted and troubled twin sister Savannah, and the dark and violent past of the extraordinary family into which they were born...
  • 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...
  • Champagne Widows: First Woman of Champagne, Veuve Clicquot by Rebecca Rosenberg

    Champagne Widows: First Woman of Champagne, Veuve Clicquot by Rebecca Rosenberg

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    Champagne, France, 1800. Twenty-year-old Barbe-Nicole inherited Le Nez (an uncanny sense of smell) from her great-grandfather, a renowned champagne maker. She is determined to use Le Nez to make great champagne, but the Napoleon Code prohibits women from owning a business...
    Categorized as:
    war  contemporary  historical  length-medium
  • Something Dangerous by Penny Vincenzi

    Something Dangerous by Penny Vincenzi

    Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    The dazzling Lytton twins, Adele and Venetia, are born into the great Lytton publishing empire. In 1928, on their eighteenth birthday, they are rich and admired, with a confidence verging on arrogance. But the spectre of Nazi Germany is growing... Gradually their privileged world darkens in unimaginable ways - but it is not just the twins whose lives have been irrevocably changed...
  • 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 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...
  • 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 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...
  • Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt

    Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt

    Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 1 of 5
    Glimpses and kisses [?] · 42 ratings
    Midwesterner Gary D. Schmidt won Newbery Honor awards for Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boys and The Wednesday Wars, two coming-of-age novels about unlikely friends finding a bond. Okay For Now, his latest novel, explores another seemingly improbable alliance, this one between new outsider in town Doug Swieteck and Lil Spicer, the savvy spitfire daughter of his deli owner boss...
  • We Shall Remember by Emma Fraser

    We Shall Remember by Emma Fraser

    Rated: 4.52 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    1939. Irena is a young medical student living in Warsaw when the German army invade Poland. Those closest to her are dying and when Irena realises that no one is coming to Poland's aid, it's clear that she is alone. Forced to flee to Britain, Irena meets Richard, a RAF pilot who she's instantly drawn to and there's a glimmer of happiness on the horizon...
  • Across the Winding River by Aimie K. Runyan

    Across the Winding River by Aimie K. Runyan

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 35 ratings
    A woman unlocks the mystery of her father’s wartime past in a moving novel about secrets, sacrifice, and the power of love by the bestselling author of Daughters of the Night Sky.Beth Cohen wants to make the most of the months she has left with her elderly father, Max...
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