Books like Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles

Charles Dickens’ classic bildungsroman follows an orphan named Pip as he grows from humble beginnings in Kent to London society, encountering wealth, poverty, love, and moral triumph.

During World War II, a foster girl in Nazi Germany steals books to share with neighbors and a hidden Jewish man, proving literature’s power to nourish the soul amid darkness.

A 1930s wartime tale of a blind French girl and a German boy whose lives intersect in occupied France, weaving themes of survival, friendship, and the moral choices people make amid World War II.

A sweeping late‑nineteenth‑century cattle drive from Texas to Montana follows former Texas Rangers Augustus McCrae and William F. Call as they confront the American West's myths, love, and violence in this epic of adventure and friendship.

Americanah follows Ifemelu, a Nigerian student who moves to the United States for university, exploring her life and love across continents while reflecting on identity, immigration, and cultural belonging.

Set in 1970s Los Angeles, Daisy Jones & The Six follows the rise and fall of a legendary rock band and its pop‑star singer, exploring fame, love and the hidden reasons behind their explosive split.

Sisters Vianne and Isabelle are pulled into the turmoil of World War II, each forging a path of courage and resistance against the Nazi occupation of France.

A woman born on a snowy night in 1910 dies and is reborn repeatedly, each life giving her the chance to alter history as the world heads toward another global conflict.

Rudyard Kipling’s classic novel follows Kim, an orphan raised in colonial India, as he navigates loyalties to his native land, his Irish‑English heritage, and the British Secret Service.

After the Civil War, a veteran newspaper‑reader, Captain Jefferson Kidd, journeys through Texas and agrees to escort an orphaned Kiowa girl, Johanna, to San Antonio—a perilous trek that tests their survival and trust.

Thomas Hardy’s bleak final novel follows Jude Fawley, a stonemason from rural Wessex, whose search for faith, love and independence collides with society’s harsh conventions and leads to tragedy.

A young woman fleeing her home finds herself in Tombstone, Arizona, where she must confront a demanding suitor and question her own values.

James Salter's 'All that is' is a captivating and sometimes devastating labyrinth of love and ambition. A deeply intimate portrait of the emotional and physical experiences of being alive. Set during the golden decades following World War II, the book captures Salter's lifelong obsession with capturing the intimate, ephemeral spaces that all of us hold and leave behind on paper. After serving as a young officer in Okinawa during the war, Philip Bowman returns home to a small publishing house in New York. The frenetic social scene of New York in the post-war era is a backdrop for the story, where Bowman feels at home. However, his enduring love seems to elude him. When he meets a woman who captivates him, Bowman embarks on a journey that he never intended to take. The book is celebrated for its lyrical evocation of a post-war world imaginatively rendered and beautifully written.

In the Dust Bowl era, Elsa Wolcott marries a man she barely knows to escape an unyielding society, only to find herself fighting for her family and farm against drought and disaster.

It is 1974 when Leni Allbright's impulsive father Ernt decides the family is moving to Alaska. But the Alaskan winter is just as unforgiving as Ernt, and life quickly becomes a struggle for survival.

Set in the 1850s, this romance follows Nicole Renard, a debutante struggling to hold her heart in check as she navigates society’s expectations while falling for the enigmatic Darius Thornton.