Books like Academy street by Mary Costello
Mary Costello’s *Academy Street* offers an intimate, hypnotic glimpse into the life of Tess Lohan, a quiet single mother and nurse who feels emotions with acute intensity. The novel follows Tess from her girlhood in western Ireland, through her relocation to America, and the vibrant, steadily mounting emotional journey that unfolds in New York City. A moving reencounter with her Irish family after forty years of exile brings the story to a resonant close. The narrative captures the rhythm and intensity of inner life while exploring themes of family, identity, and the impact of the last half‑century’s events on an individual’s path.
First publish date: 2014
Genre: Literary Fiction/Contemporary Literary Fiction
Authors: Mary Costello
★
★
★
★
★
0.0 (0 community ratings)
How are these books recommended?
The books recommended for Academy street by Mary Costello 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 Academy street (16 similar books)
Jennifer Egan’s interlocking narratives weave the lives of Bennie Salazar, a former punk rocker turned record executive, and Sasha, a restless young woman, across decades and continents, exploring music, memory and the fragile threads that bind us.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A Jewish American teen travels to Ukraine with a tattered photograph, seeking the woman who saved his grandfather during the Holocaust, guided by a quirky translator, a blind veteran, and an oddly named guide dog.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland traces two brothers—Subhash, who settles in America, and Udayan, who joins a political uprising in Calcutta—and their divergent paths until a tragic event forces a return to India and a quest to mend family bonds.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A diary-like portrait of Anna, a young single mother, writer, and Communist Party member, whose inner and outer lives collide amid domestic upheaval and political turmoil, marking a watershed moment for the Women’s Movement.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A contemporary family drama in which a mother‑child relationship is complicated by a companion chimpanzee, raising questions of identity, secrecy and moral responsibility.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
During the Great Depression and WWII, young Anna Kerrigan becomes Brooklyn’s first female naval diver, supporting her family while uncovering the mystery of her vanished father and the enigmatic Dexter Styles.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Jende Jonga’s dream of a new life in New York turns into a struggle as his family faces the rigors of immigration law and the hidden dangers of working for a powerful executive.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Two newcomers—an older man and a boy—arrive in a new land, learn Spanish, and are assigned new names. They navigate a desert camp, a relocation center, and the city of Novilla while the man searches for the boy’s mother, all amid themes of immigration, family, and fate.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A bustling Chinese immigrant family’s fortune crashes, forcing them on a cross‑country road trip that tests their bonds and redefines what home means.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A Brooklyn-born Irish‑American woman’s life—her family, neighborhood, and daily trials and triumphs—is traced from childhood through old age in this coming‑of‑age bildungsroman.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A multigenerational family saga of American radicals, following two women—Rose Zimmer, the “Red Queen” of Sunnyside, and her daughter Miriam in Greenwich Village—through the shifting tides of 20th‑century political movements.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
An artist in Paris and London attempts to win back his wife after a brief affair, but his past infidelity and the sale of a personal painting threaten to unravel their marriage.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A contemporary fiction collection that explores intimate aspects of family life.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Midnight, a powerful war‑torn underworld lieutenant, arrives in America with his mother to protect his family, reclaim his empire, and defend his wealth using African wisdom and a strong Muslim mindset.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Greta Cahill leaves rural Ireland for New York, defying her family's expectations. She finds love, work, and a new life, but a buried secret keeps her worlds divided—and her family on a collision course decades later.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In a New York‑set family torn by an ancient curse, three Owens siblings must navigate their unique gifts while obeying strict rules that forbid love—yet love keeps pulling them back toward one another.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Some Other Similar Books
The Little Dog by Joyce Carol OatesThe Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante
The Quiet Girl by Peter Carver
The End of the Ocean by Mira Matthew
Have a similar book in mind? Let others know!
Please login to submit books!