Books like Before and after by Rosellen Brown
Set in the small New England town of Hyland, Before and After centers on the Reiser family. Carolyn, a pediatrician, and Ben, a sculptor, raise two children—17‑year‑old Jacob, whose quiet demeanor masks darker impulses, and Judith, who senses her brother’s growing secrecy. The family's calm is disrupted when police question Jacob for the fatal bludgeoning of his teenage girlfriend.
The novel explores the ripple effects of a brutal crime of passion, pitting parents against each other and each sibling against the other, while examining the conflicts between family loyalty and legal duty. Brown’s prose offers realistic dialogue, deep character insight, and an unflinching look at violence within ordinary lives.
First publish date: 1992
Genre: General Fiction/General Fiction
Authors: Rosellen Brown
★
★
★
★
★
0.0 (0 community ratings)
How are these books recommended?
The books recommended for Before and after by Rosellen Brown 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 Before and after (24 similar books)
Pride and Prejudice is a classic novel by Jane Austen.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
The beloved classic of American literature, Little Women, narrates the adventures of four March sisters as they grow up during the Civil War era.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks follows the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor black tobacco farmer whose cancer cells were taken in 1951 without her consent and later became the first immortal human cell line, HeLa, driving major scientific breakthroughs while raising questions of ethics, race, and medical exploitation.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In the orderly suburb of Shaker Heights, a new family’s arrival and a custody dispute ignite tension, revealing secrets, art, and the complex pull of motherhood in a tightly knit community.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A sweeping historical novel that traces the Biafran War through the intertwined lives of Nigerian characters Olanna, Ugwu, and Richard.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A vision of post‑disaster society where gene‑spliced creatures roam and a fragile social order struggles to survive.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi’s poignant memoir chronicles his battle with stage IV metastatic lung cancer and his reflections on life, medicine, and mortality.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
C.S. Lewis’s personal journal of grief following his wife’s death, offering reflective meditations on loss, faith, and the quest for meaning.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
On Beauty explores a New England family’s life as they confront love, identity, and cultural divides over three decades, weaving personal struggles with broader conversations about race and belonging.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Celestial and Roy, a young couple embodying the American Dream, are torn apart when Roy is wrongfully convicted and sent to prison. Five years later, his conviction is overturned, forcing Celestial to confront the fractured life she must rebuild.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Susannah Nelson, 50, returns to the garden she loved as a teenager, but the past she's trying to escape is still there, leading her to question everything about her life and relationships with her loved ones.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
When famed contract killer Ricky Lozada goes on trial, Dr. Rennie Newton sits on the jury and finds herself both acquitted and pursued by a deadly obsessive killer.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Penelope Keeling reflects on a bohemian childhood, wartime romance, and a priceless family portrait as her children debate its future.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Two college friends discover that love can span continents and a decade when they reunite after life‑changing choices thrust them apart.
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
Lacey Kincaid, a self‑made New York entrepreneur, must outwit a treacherous uncle to reclaim her inherited fortune after her childhood sweetheart resurfaces with a secret plan.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In wartime Rockaway, Lily befriends Hungarian refugee Albert as they share secrets and care for a lost kitten, illuminating courage and friendship amid World War II uncertainty.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In Maine, a family of middle‑aged women confronts the cost of caregiving as Alzheimer’s disease takes hold, while the sandwich generation juggles work, parenting and lingering shadows of past choices.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In the Arizona town of Grace, Codi Noline returns home and confronts a dying father, an environmental threat, and her own hidden past, all while navigating dreams, flashbacks, and Native American lore.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
The Bright Hour is a moving memoir in which poet Nina Riggs chronicles her life with terminal breast cancer, exploring how to live fully amid death, illness, and the emotional landscape of being a mother and patient.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In Anita Brookner’s *A Family Romance*, Jane Manning confronts the arrival of her glamorous aunt Dolly into her modest family circle, exposing the shifting attitudes toward identity, gender and family power.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
David Brown shares a lively collection of personal anecdotes from his long career in motion picture production, offering humorous insights on health myths, relationships, and the pitfalls of expert advice.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Ailey Pearl Garfield, named after Alvin Ailey and her great‑grandmother Pearl, navigates the legacy of Double Consciousness while uncovering her Georgia family’s intertwined Black, Indigenous, and white ancestry, confronting identity, trauma, and heritage.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Some Other Similar Books
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan DidionThe Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying by Nedra Tollison
Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
The Long Goodbye by Herbert Mitgang
Losing a Parent by Ellen Brazer
The Second Time Around by Judy Bloom
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
A Peculiar Grace by Ann Napolitano
Have a similar book in mind? Let others know!
Please login to submit books!