Books like Make believe by Diana Athill

Name: Make believe
Author: Diana Athill

In *Make Believe*, Diana Athill recounts her friendship with Hakim Jamal, a young black activist who met her in 1960s London. Jamal, a convert to Malcolm X’s teachings and the subject of a book he wrote, became an eloquent spokesperson for the black underclass and later entered a personal relationship with actress Jean Seberg. Athill documents Jamal’s rise in the activist community, his intellectual pursuits, and the eventual decline that led to a chaotic belief in himself as a deity. She also examines Jamal’s interactions with Gail Benson, the daughter of a British MP, and the tragic murders that ensued involving both Jamal and Benson.

First publish date: 1993

Genre: Memoir/Personal Memoir

Authors: Diana Athill

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 0.0 (0 community ratings)

All books by Diana Athill

How are these books recommended?

The books recommended for Make believe by Diana Athill are shaped by reader interaction. Votes on how closely books relate, user ratings, and community comments all help refine these recommendations and highlight books readers genuinely find similar in theme, ideas, and overall reading experience.

Have you read any of these books?
Your votes, ratings, and comments help improve recommendations and make it easier for other readers to discover books they’ll enjoy.

Books similar to Make believe (17 similar books)

📘 The Color Purple

by Alice Walker

Alice Walker's 1982 novel, The Color Purple, won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, exploring the lives of black women in the South and their experiences of abuse and struggle for independence.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 (81 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like The Color Purple

📘 The Bell Jar

by Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar is the sole novel by Sylvia Plath, a psychologically intense and autobiographical look at a young woman’s decline into mental illness.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 (42 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like The Bell Jar

📘 The Price of Salt

by Patricia Highsmith

A pioneering lesbian romance set in the 1950s, The Price of Salt follows the budding love between two women amid societal stigma and family challenges, offering a hopeful outcome rare for its time.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 (24 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like The Price of Salt

📘 Fingersmith

by Sarah Waters

A cunning con man teams with an orphaned apprentice to swindle a wealthy heiress, but when the apprentice grows attached, the plot spirals into betrayal, deception and unexpected affection in a grim London slum.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 (15 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Fingersmith

📘 Oranges are not the only fruit

by Jeanette Winterson

Jeanette Winterson's debut novel follows a young woman's journey of faith and self-discovery.

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.6 (11 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Oranges are not the only fruit

📘 Tipping the Velvet

by Sarah Waters

Nan King, a young oyster girl, falls in love with glamorous music‑hall performer Kitty Butler, a male impersonator, and together they rise to stardom while exploring their hidden desires.

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.8 (10 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Tipping the Velvet

📘 The Argonauts

by Maggie Nelson

A groundbreaking memoir that blends personal narrative with rigorous theory, charting Maggie Nelson’s queer romance, pregnancy, and the politics of love and family.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 (8 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like The Argonauts

📘 The hours

by Michael Cunningham

Michael Cunningham’s lyrical novel weaves Virginia Woolf’s final days with contemporary tales of love, inheritance, hope, and despair, centering on poet Richard and his friend Clarissa as they navigate fame and personal fulfillment.

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.7 (7 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like The hours

📘 Only Make Believe

by Bethany Campbell

Nikki agrees to impersonate a famous actress for a staged wedding in hopes of leaving a dangerous nightclub and earning a living, but soon questions whether her growing affection for the man she is pretending to marry is real or just a charade.

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.5 (4 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Only Make Believe

📘 The well of loneliness

by Radclyffe Hall

A romantic novel about a talented woman of aristocratic background who defies Victorian expectations and commercial success while pursuing her love for other women.

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.8 (4 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like The well of loneliness

📘 Diana

by Simone Simmons

★★★★★★★★★★ 1.0 (1 rating)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Diana

📘 Don't look at me like that

by Diana Athill

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Don't look at me like that

📘 Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History (Vashti Harrison)

by Vashti Harrison

A vibrant collection of biographies celebrating bold African‑American women who shaped history, from suffragists and civil‑rights leaders to pioneering artists and scientists.

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)

Similar?
✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Books like Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History (Vashti Harrison)