Books like The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

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.

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.

In 1935 England, a young woman’s allegation of a crime sets off a chain of events that devastates families, alters lives during the Second World War, and echoes into a later life of remorse and reflection.

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.

Homegoing is Yaa Gyasi’s debut historical novel that traces generations of an Asante family from 18th‑century Ghana to modern America, exploring the enduring impact of slavery and colonialism.

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.

Claire Randall, a woman from 1945, returns to 18th‑century Scotland where she lies in love with Jamie Fraser. After a decade together, she must decide whether to stay with their daughter in her era or reunite with Jamie amid Scotland’s perilous politics.

The Orphan Master's Son follows a man's journey through propaganda, identity, and state power in North Korea.

In nineteenth‑century China, Lily, a humble farmer’s daughter, discovers her feet will be unbindable—good fortune for her marriage—and meets Snow Flower, an educated classmate, whose nu shu letters deepen a secret friendship that endures the hardships of feudal life.

A love story set against the backdrop of World War II in Greece.

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.

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.

When Scottish convict Duncan McCallum arrives aboard a British ship to New York, a chilling series of murders and suicides among his fellow prisoners sets him on a treacherous path that intertwines with the brutal realities of the French and Indian War.

Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset’s historical epic follows 14th‑century Norwegian woman Kristin Lavransdatter through devotion, love, family, and societal upheaval, set against a richly detailed backdrop of medieval Norway.

A Chinese mother and her adopted daughter, raised by an American couple, discover how a rare native tea links their worlds and transforms their family's destiny across cultures.

Set during World War II, this novel follows surgeon Dorrigo Evans as he struggles to protect his men on the Thailand‑Burma Death Railway, while an earlier love affair haunts his conscience.

During the Blitz, young horticulturist Gwen Davis leaves London for Devon, where she meets Canadian officer Raley and free‑spirited Jane—two women who change her world as war reshapes their lives.

Pulitzer‑winning 1955 novel depicting the horrors of Andersonville Prison, a Confederate concentration camp that walled the lives of Civil War POWs.

Delia Sherman’s debut short‑story collection weaves American historical moments with gentle, uncanny magic—artists, sailors, gardeners, and faeries collide in small, luminous scenes that hint at ghosts and wonder.