Recommendations based on "Paper Palace: The No. 1 New York Times Bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Bookclub Pick"
Based on your reading history, we think you will also enjoy the following books.
By Ann Napolitano
Best friends and sisters, the four Padavano girls bring loving chaos to their close-knit Italian American neighbourhood. William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So, when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano, it's as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family: Sylvie, the family's dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all. But when darkness from William's past begins to block the light of his future, it is Sylvie, not Julia, who becomes his closest confidante. The result is a catastrophic rift that leaves the family inhabiting two sides of a fault line. Can they find their way back to each other? Can love make a broken family whole?[Bokinfo].
By Evie Woods
'[A] sweet tale about the healing power of kindness' Irish Times In a quiet village in Ireland, a mysterious local myth is about to change everything... One hundred years ago, Anna, a young farm girl, volunteers to help an intriguing American visitor translate fairy stories from Irish to English. But all is not as it seems and Anna soon finds herself at the heart of a mystery that threatens her very way of life. In New York in the present day, Sarah Harper boards a plane bound for the West Coast of Ireland. But once there, she finds she has unearthed dark secrets - secrets that tread the line between the everyday and the otherworldly, the seen and the unseen. With a taste for the magical in everyday life, Evie Woods's latest novel is full of ordinary characters with extraordinary tales to tell. Praise for The Story Collector: 'An engaging story about unsettled grief...the possibility that magic and the fairies are real is dangled tantalisingly before the reader, but not in a way that might make a sceptic roll their eyes' Historical Novel Society 'Woods weaves a great tale of past, present and that timeless other realm, making for a very satisfying read' Sunday Independent Readers have fallen in love with The Story Collector: 'I highly recommend this book if you enjoy historical fiction and want to learn more about Ireland and its folklore history surrounding the faeries.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Romantic and magical, an adventure to be enjoyed.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Painted beautifully.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A bewitching story which I will treasure.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A mystical treasure that echoes with the fairy world power of Ireland. A mesmerising tale told in two timelines where the past unfolds and ripples like a wave into the future.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This is the perfect book to read on a winter afternoon in front of the fire.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A delightful tale of love and loss and magical stories.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Previously published as The Story Collector by Evie Gaughan.
By Mariana Leky
“I loved this novel truly, madly, deeply.” ―Nina George, bestselling author of The Book of Dreams and The Little Paris BookshopIn this international bestseller by the award-winning novelist Mariana Leky, a heartwarming story unfolds about a small town, a grandmother whose dreams foretell a coming death, and the young woman forever changed by these losses and her loving, endearingly oddball communityOn a beautiful spring day, a small village wakes up to an omen: Selma has dreamed of an okapi. Someone is about to die.Luisa, Selma’s ten-year-old granddaughter, looks on as the predictable characters of her small world begin acting strangely. Though they claim not to be superstitious, each of her neighbors newly grapples with buried secrets and deferred decisions that have become urgent in the face of death.Luisa’s mother struggles to decide whether to end her marriage. An old family friend, known only as the optician, tries to find the courage to tell Selma he loves her. Only sad Marlies remains unchanged, still moping around her house and cooking terrible food. But when the prophesied death finally comes, the circumstances fall outside anyone’s expectations. The loss forever changes Luisa and shapes her for years to come, as she encounters life’s great questions alongside her devoted friends, young and old.A story about the absurdity of life and death, a bittersweet portrait of small towns and the wider world that beckons beyond, this charmer of a novel is also a thoughtful meditation on the way loss and love shape not just a person but a community. Mariana Leky’s What You Can See from Here is a moving tale of grief, first love, reluctant love, late love, and finding one’s place in the world, even if that place is right where you started.
By Ellen Wiles
‘A fierce, big-hearted novel.’ Joe Treasure, author of The Book of Air‘Sensitive, affecting’ Francesca Rhydderch, author of The Rice Paper Diaries'A deeply felt novel' Tim Finch,author of The House of Jounalists2nd March 1975In Asmara, Eritrea, Yonas Kelati is born into a world of turmoil. At the same time, on the same day, Jude Munroe takes her first breath in London, England.Thirty Years LaterBlacklisted in his war-ravaged country, Yonas has no option but to flee his home. After a terrible journey, he arrives on a bleak English coast.By a twist of fate, Yonas’ asylum case lands on Jude’s desk. Opening the file, she finds a patchwork of witness statements from those who met Yonas along his journey: a lifetime the same length of hers, reduced to a few scraps of paper.Soon, Jude will stand up in court and tell Yonas’ story. How she tells it will change his life forever.Fearless, uplifting and compelling, The Invisible Crowd is a powerful debut novel about loyalty, kindness – and the brief moments which define our lives.
By Jill Shalvis
From New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis comes her first women's fiction novelan unforgettable story of friendship, love, family, and sisterhoodperfect for fans of Colleen Hoover, Susan Mallery, and Kristan Higgins. They say life can change in an instant After losing her sister in a devastating car accident, chef Quinn Weller is finally getting her life back on track. She appears to have it all: a loving family, a dream job in one of L.A.'s hottest eateries, and a gorgeous boyfriend dying to slip an engagement ring on her finger. So why does she feel so empty, like she's looking for a missing piece she can't find? The answer comes when a lawyer tracks down Quinn and reveals a bombshell secret and a mysterious inheritance that only she can claim. This shocking revelation washes over Quinn like a tidal wave. Her whole life has been a lie. On impulse, Quinn gives up her job, home, and boyfriend. She heads up the coast to the small hometown of Wildstone, California, which is just a few hours north, but feels worlds apart from Los Angeles. Though she doesn't quite fit in right away, she can't help but be drawn to the towns simple pleasures and the handsome, dark-haired stranger who offers friendship with no questions asked. As Quinn settles into Wildstone, she discovers there's another surprise in store for her. The inheritance isn't a house or money, but rather something earthshattering, something that will make her question everything she thought she knew about herself, about her family. Now with a world of possibilities opening up to Quinn, she must decide if this new life is the one she was always meant to haveand the one that could finally give her the fulfillment she's searched so long for.
By Barbara Keating, Stephanie Keating
In the first years of Kenyan independence, three young women return to the East African highlands where they shared a carefree childhood. Hannah is struggling to preserve her heritage at Langani Farm, where a series of unexplained and violent attacks threaten her security and recent marriage. Sarah is studying elephant behavior in an area made dangerous by armed poachers, using her work as a salve for the death of her childhood sweetheart. Camilla, the international fashion icon, abandons her career in London and is drawn back to Kenya by her love for a charismatic hunter and safari guide. But there is a secret that hangs over Langani, overshadowing their efforts to establish themselves in the volatile circumstances of a new African nation. With the help of an ambitious Indian journalist, the three girls gradually uncover the truth about the murder of Sarah's fiance, and the continuing attacks on the farm and on their lives. The passions and hardships experienced by these unforgettable heroines, united again in their friendship and their love for the country of their childhood, make a magnificent, epic novel. This superb sequel to Blood Sisters confronts catastrophic loss and delirious happiness, savagery and degradation, limitless beauty, soaring hope, and redemption.
By Kelly Rimmer
From the bestselling author of The Warsaw Orphan, this emotionally compelling novel is inspired by real-life female WWII agents including Violette Szabo and Diana Rowden, whose incredible stories have never before been brought to readers.Twenty-five years after the end of the year, ageing British SOE operative Noah Ainsworth is reflecting on the secret agent who saved his life when a mission went wrong during his perilous, exhilarating years in occupied France. He never knew her real name, nor whether she survived war. His daughter Charlotte begins a search for answers. What follows is the story of Fleur and Chloe, two otherwise ordinary women who in 1943 are called up by the SOE for deployment in Frances. Taking enormous risks with very little information or resources, the women have no idea they're at the mercy of a double agent within their ranks who's causing chaos.As Charlotte's search for answers continues, new suspicions are raised about the identity of the double agent, with unsettling clues pointing to her father........................................Praise for Kelly Rimmer:'The German Wife is a heart-wrenching, uplifting story about love and family and the choices we make in impossible situations' CHRISTINE WELLS'Once again, Kelly Rimmer has turned my emotions upside down' SALLY HEPWORTH'A fast-paced, emotional and utterly riveting tale of love, loss and the choices we make to protect our families - a must-read' KRISTIN HARMEL'Kelly Rimmer's heart-stopping rendering of the war in Nazi-occupied Poland-of life, resistance, survival, and love-will captivate readers' LISA WINGATE
By Susan Lewis
In this follow-up to the riveting international bestseller No Child of Mine, author Susan Lewis delivers an emotionally complex novel—perfect for readers of Jodi Picoult—of reinvention, reconnection, and the deepest love that can bind two people together.Charlotte Nicholls can hardly believe it, but it seems she’s landed in paradise. Living in a cottage in a shady cove on the beautiful Bay of Islands, surrounded by the splendor of New Zealand, Charlotte revels in her new life. She and her nearly four-year-old daughter, Chloe, have started over, with the help of Charlotte’s birth mother, Anna, who has recently reentered Charlotte’s life after a twenty-six-year absence. Little Chloe is thriving in her new home, and despite lingering effects from a terrible trauma Chloe has suffered, Charlotte is hopeful that love will pull her through. And though their relationship is tentative, Charlotte and Anna are slowly rebuilding their trust after nearly a lifetime apart. But the horrors of the past—both recent and long buried—are never far from Charlotte’s mind. And then their idyll is suddenly shattered, as a series of events is set in motion that Charlotte can neither control nor comprehend. It will take all of Charlotte’s strength to keep her little family together, in the face of a world that will do everything it can to tear them apart.Praise for Don’t Let Me Go “An emotionally complex novel.”—USA Today“Unputdownable . . . a compelling blend of family dynamics, courtroom drama, and love story.”—Booklist“You know you’re in the hands of a master storyteller when you can’t bear the tension. Susan Lewis drops you into a nightmare where the best interests of a child collide with the law designed to protect her. The endearing little girl at the center of this poignant and gripping tale, as well as the brave protagonist, will win your heart.”—Diane Chamberlain, internationally bestselling author of The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes“A gripping tale that pulls you in from the first chapter to the end, Don’t Let Me Go is a read that will remind you just how precious children are.”—Romance Reviews TodayLook for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more.
By Susan Lewis
From internationally bestselling British author Susan Lewis comes an unflinching, thoroughly suspenseful novel—perfect for readers of Jodi Picoult—about the darkest secrets a family can hide. Alex Lake’s life is centered on helping people. Her job as a social worker in a British seaside town is more than a career: It’s the very essence of who she is. And though there are frustrations, Alex takes to heart the rewards of placing a child in a safe and loving home. But when she encounters three-year-old Ottilie Wade, Alex is completely unprepared for the effect the sweet, shy little girl has on her. Though on the surface Ottilie seems to want for nothing—she’s perfectly healthy and lives in a very nice home—she’s mysteriously silent and asocial. Alex knows that something is not right in the Wade house. And the deeper she looks into the case, the more Alex comes to feel that she and Ottilie are being drawn together by fate. As disturbing evidence mounts and Alex’s superiors seem unwilling to help, Alex knows she will have to risk everything—her job and the life she loves—to save Ottilie. But Alex will also have to wrestle the demons of her own past before she can secure a future for this child in need.Praise for No Child of Mine “Spellbinding . . . The atmosphere grows more intense with the turn of each page, right up to the dramatic climax.”—Fredericksburg Free Lance–Star “Susan Lewis’s storyline is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. . . . Susan writes with sensitivity, compassion and hope.”—Fresh FictionLook for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more.
By Melissa Albert
An intoxicating, haunting new novel from New York Times bestselling author Melissa Albert, in which the estranged adult children of a legendary author, written into their dead mother’s beloved fantasy series, contend with the vine-like creep of legacy, memory, and magicGuinevere Sharpe has two childhoods.In one, she lives in the wooded shadow of her family's isolated Vermont farmhouse; in the other, the pages of her mother’s world-famous Ninth City books, where her magical adventures have made her a household name. In reality, Guinevere's childhood isn't the enchanted idyll her mother’s readers imagine: she and her older brother are growing up near-feral, unwashed and underfed, escaping each day to the lichen-clotted woods they’ve made their playland. As Edith Sharpe’s books explode into epic popularity, the threats of a rural childhood give way to the escalating perils of fame—until the night it all goes up in flames, leaving Edith’s series unfinished and her children the sole survivors.Now an adult coasting on her mother's name, Guinevere is mid-promotion for a ghostwritten memoir when her estranged brother, an artist who has until now spurned his family's legacy, announces an upcoming installation titled Mother. As rumors swirl around a death connected to his last show, unsettling recollections from Guinevere’s childhood begin to surface. Her public facade starts to crack, forcing her to confront the questions she's spent the last twenty years running from: What really happened the night of the fire? And what dark history lies behind their mother’s creative genius?Wise to the mythic weight childhood memories gather over time, The Children whispers to you from the hallway outside your bedroom, lights flickering as you turn the pages of a book that didn't seem so scary a moment ago. It's a story for anyone who's ever revisited an old favorite and found it cast in a darker light, the line separating magic and memory blurring as the gap widens between the authors we imagined and the people they turn out to be.