18 books like Go as a River

What to read after Go as a River — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Mystic river Dennis Lehane · 2001 · ★ 4.2 · 496p · ≈ 16h · Moderate When they were children, Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle were friends. But then a strange car pulled up to their street. One boy got into the car, two did not, and something terrible happened -- something that ended their friendship and changed all three boys forever. Twenty-five years later, Sean is a homicide detective. Jimmy is an ex-con who owns a corner store. And Dave is trying to… Shares: Community pick

Prayers for rain Dennis Lehane · 1999 · ★ 4.1 · 478p · ≈ 15h · Moderate The master of the new noir, Dennis Lehane delivers a shattering tale of evil, depravity, and justice that captures the dark realism of Boston’s gritty blue-collar streets.Private Investigator Patrick Kenzie wants to know why a former client, a perky woman in love with life, could, within six months, jump naked from a Boston landmark -- the final fall in a spiral of self-destruction. What he finds… Shares: Community pick

Red Dragon Thomas Harris · 1981 · ★ 4.1 · 415p · ≈ 13h · Moderate Red Dragon is a novel by American author Thomas Harris, first published in 1981. The plot follows former FBI profiler Will Graham, who comes out of retirement to find and apprehend an enigmatic serial-killer nicknamed "The Tooth Fairy". The novel introduced the character Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial-killer, whom Graham reluctantly turns to for advice and… Shares: Community pick

Presumed Innocent Scott Turow · 1987 · ★ 4.0 · 431p · ≈ 14h · Moderate The novel that launched Turow's career as one of America's pre-eminent thriller writers tells the story of Rusty Sabicch, chief deputy prosecutor in a large Midwestern city. With three weeks to go in his boss' re-election campaign, a member of Rusty's staff is found murdered; he is charged with finding the killer, until his boss loses and, incredibly, Rusty finds himself accused of the murder. Shares: Community pick

The Line of Beauty Alan Hollinghurst · 2004 · ★ 3.8 · 501p · ≈ 16h · Moderate It is the summer of 1983, and twenty-year-old Nick Guest has moved into an attic room in the Notting Hill home of the Feddens: conservative Member of Parliament Gerald, his wealthy wife Rachel, and their two children, Toby--whom Nick had idolized at Oxford--and Catherine, highly critical of her family's assumptions and ambitions, who becomes both a friend to Nick and his uneasy… Shares: Community pick

The Mad Wife Meagan Church · 321p · ≈ 10h · Moderate THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERFrom bestselling author Meagan Church comes a haunting exploration of identity, motherhood, and the suffocating grip of societal expectations that will leave you questioning the lives we build—and the lies we live.They called it hysteria. She called it survival.Lulu Mayfield has spent the last five years molding herself into the perfect 1950s housewife.… Shares: Romance

The Frozen River: A GMA Book Club Pick Ariel Lawhon NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GMA BOOK CLUB PICK • AN NPR BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène comes a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history."Fans of… Shares: Romance

The Lion Women of Tehran Marjan Kamali · 2025 A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERFrom nationally bestselling author Marjan Kamali, this perfect book club read is “evocative...and a powerful portrait of friendship, feminism, and political activism” (People) set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran. In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move… Shares: Romance

Daughters of the Sun and Moon Lisa See · ★ 4.2 A New York Times bestseller! From beloved bestselling author Lisa See, the story of three Chinese women whose unexpected friendship helps them survive and, despite the odds, thrive, in the turmoil of post–Civil War Los Angeles. In 1870, three Chinese women arrive in the small, dusty, and violent pueblo of Los Angeles. Dove, the bound-footed daughter of an imperial scholar, is entrancing and… Shares: Romance

The Sweet Blue Distance Sara Donati · 801p · ≈ 26h · Moderate A young midwife travels west to the New Mexico Territory to care for women in need and faces dangers more harrowing than the ones she’s fleeing in this epic tale of survival, redemption, and love from Sara Donati, the international bestselling author of the Wilderness series. 1857: In a bid to outrun her past, Carrie Ballentyne accepts a nursing position with a doctor in the New Mexico… Shares: Romance

A Pair of Aces: Reese's Book Club Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • A gripping novel about two trailblazing women on opposite sides of the law—a prosecutor and a madam—who team up to bring down notorious Mob boss Lucky Luciano in 1930s New York, from the New York Times bestselling authors of the million-copy bestseller The Personal Librarian.Eunice Carter, assistant district attorney for the City of New York and Manhattan’s first Black… Shares: Romance

A Founding Mother Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICKIn time for the 250th Anniversary of the birth of the United States comes a sweeping, intimate portrayal of Abigail Adams—wife of one president and mother to another—whose wit, willpower, and wisdom helped shape the fledgling republic. A stunning historical novel with modern-day implications from the New York Times bestselling authors of America’s First Daughter and My… Shares: Romance

Clytemnestra Costanza Casati · 2023 · ★ 4.4 · 450p · ≈ 15h · Moderate "Fans of Circe and Elektra should pick up this powerful Greek myth retelling." —CosmopolitanFor fans of Madeline Miller, a stunning debut following Clytemnestra, the most notorious villainess of the ancient world and the events that forged her into the legendary queen.As for queens, they are either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her best…You were born to a king, but you… Shares: Romance

All the Broken Places John Boyne · 2022 · ★ 4.5 · 368p · ≈ 12h · Moderate “You can’t prepare yourself for the magnitude and emotional impact of this powerful novel.” —John Irving, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The World According to Garp “Exceptional, layered and compelling…This book moves like a freight train.” —Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of In LoveFrom the New York Times bestselling author John Boyne, a… Shares: Romance

The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau Kristin Harmel · 416p · ≈ 13h · Moderate INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERKristin Harmel, the New York Times bestselling author who “is the best there is at sweeping historical drama” (Kelly Harms, author of The Seven Day Switch), returns with an electrifying new novel about two jewel thieves, a priceless bracelet that disappears in 1940s Paris, and a quest for answers in a decades-old murder.Colette Marceau has been stealing jewels for… Shares: Romance

The Second Mrs. Astor Shana Abé · 2021 · 418p · ≈ 13h · Moderate Special Extended Excerpt Sneak Peek!Be one of the first to read this sneak peek of the latest thrilling historical novel from New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author Shana Abé, an epic story in the tradition of The American Duchess—a sweeping love story between John Jacob Astor, the richest man in America, and teenaged beauty Madeleine Force, set against the backdrop… Shares: Romance

James (Pulitzer Prize Winner) Percival Everett · 321p · ≈ 10h · Moderate PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view • In development as a feature film to be produced by Steven Spielberg KIRKUS PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • SHORTLISTED FOR THE… Shares: Romance

Tom Lake Ann Patchett · 2023 · ★ 3.9 · 320p · ≈ 10h · Moderate 1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICKIn this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers.“Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature.” —The GuardianIn the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern… Shares: Romance

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