Books like Benjamin Franklin's bastard by Sally Gunning

In Dickens’s sweeping novel, the protracted Jarndyce and Jarndyce case in the Court of Chancery pulls together a disparate cast— from heirs torn by legal costs to a mysterious ward, a cunning lawyer, and a destitute street sweeper— exposing London’s social decay.

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 first‑century‑turn English novel by E. M. Forster that explores social conventions, class distinctions, and the relationships among families and sisters.

After losing her little boy Joey, Arden Gentry turns to the son she had given up at birth, hoping his presence might fill the void left by grief.

David McCullough’s *1776* chronicles the human drama surrounding the American Revolution’s pivotal year, tracing ordinary soldiers, notable leaders, and British forces as they shape the fate of the fledgling nation.

A richly detailed biography that traces John Adams’s rise from Revolutionary patriot to the United States’ second President, highlighting his political convictions, marriage to Abigail Adams, and lasting impact on American governance.

Julia Springer, a newly wealthy widow in a small Southern town, finds her quiet life shattered when a church member announces a scandal—her late husband’s illegitimate child is now under her care.

A famed heart‑stringsingly innovative memoir collection that examines uncertainty, identity, and the weight of choices.

A kid‑friendly biography of Benjamin Franklin, highlighting his achievements as a statesman, inventor, and printer during America’s early years.

Raphael explains the central purpose of his "people's history" thusly: "By uncovering the stories of farmers, artisans, and laborers, we discern how plain folk helped create a revolution strong enough to evict the British Empire from the thirteen colonies. And by digging deeper still, we learn how people with no political standing -- women, Native Americans, African Americans -- altered the shape of a war conceived by others." After carefully reconstructing the histories of all these groups, he concludes: "The story of our nation's founding, told so often from the perspective of the 'founding fathers,' will never ring true unless it can take some account of the Massachusetts farmers who closed the courts, the poor men and boys who fought the battles, the women who followed the troops, the loyalists who viewed themselves as rebels, the pacifists who refused to sign oaths of allegiance, the Native Americans who struggled for their own independence, the southern slaves who fled to the British, the northern slaves who negotiated their freedom by joining the Continental Army". Raphael's account rings true: these people made the American Revolution. - Marcus Rediker, University of Pittsburgh.

Juvenile Clara Walpole climbs out of poverty and violence, seeking independence through relationships with four men—her resentful father, the protective Lowry, the steady Revere, and her son Swan—while grappling with the psychological weight of her ambitions.

A fictional portrait of Jiang Ching, the unwanted daughter of a concubine, tracing her journey from Shanghai actress to wife of revolutionary Mao Zedong and her role in the turbulent Communist era of China.