Books like Belle Cora by Phillip Margulies

Candide: A Tale of Conviviality and Optimism in a Wretched World

Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens’s 1837-39 social novel, follows an orphan raised in a workhouse who flees to London, joins a gang of pickpockets, and uncovers family secrets while exposing child labour and exploitation.

A Fine Balance is Rohinton Mistry's critically acclaimed second novel, set in India in the mid-1970s and focusing on four unlikely individuals who come together in a city apartment during a state of emergency.

Katey Kontent, a Wall Street secretary, meets a charismatic banker on New Year's Eve 1938 and is thrust into 1930s New York high society, forming ties with a shy millionaire, a rebellious elite, and a determined widow.

180 p. ; 21 cm.1010L Lexile

A woman's rise from poverty to political influence, inspired by stories told by a storyteller's daughter.

A Chilean woman embarks on a quest to find her lover in 1840s California's goldfields, facing numerous challenges and adventures along the way.

Natty Bumppo's first journey into frontier life and the challenges of defending his freedom against dangerous Indians and the corrupting influence of a ruthless new lawman, setting the stage for the larger story of The Last of the Mohicans.

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.

Belle Palmer flees slavery in the South, finds freedom in the North, and discovers love with Daniel Best, weaving a poignant romance amid the pre‑Civil War era.

A thrilling tale of betrayal, seduction, and ultimate risk in the world of high society and gambling in London.

A grim portrait of a young Bowery girl, Maggie, whose poverty and isolation force her into a life of prostitution in New York City.

A novel exploring life, love, and the aftermath of 9/11.

An analysis of the recurring "bad belle" figure in white Southern women's fiction, tracing its evolution from 19th‑century domestic novels to contemporary works and showing how this character critiques race, class, and gender in Southern culture.

A sixteen‑year‑old escaped slave finds refuge with a free family in Michigan, discovering freedom and forbidden love while navigating the promises of the post‑slavery era.

A biographical historical novel that follows the budding friendship between a teenage Louise Brooks and a middle‑aged chaperone as they travel to New York City in 1922, showing how the journey reshapes their lives.