Books like 'The Venice Sketchbook'

Readers who enjoyed The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

historical  war  20th century  mystery

  • The Secret Midwife by Soraya M. Lane

    The Secret Midwife by Soraya M. Lane

    Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    London, 1995: When on the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz a news broadcast runs an appeal for information on the identity of a midwife who saved hundreds of lives, Emilia knows it is time to finally tell her story...
  • A Fire Sparkling by Julianne MacLean

    A Fire Sparkling by Julianne MacLean

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    An Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestseller. From the USA Today bestselling author of A Curve in the Road comes a spellbinding novel about one woman’s love, loss, and courage during wartime...
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  • The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley

    The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley

    Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    Spanning four generations, The Midnight Rose sweeps from the glittering palaces of the great maharajas of India to the majestic stately homes of England, following the extraordinary life of a remarkable girl, Anahita Chaval, from 1911 to the present day . .
  • The Violinist of Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood

    The Violinist of Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    Based on the unforgettable true story of Alma Rosé, this novel brings to life one of history’s most fearless, inspiring, and courageous heroines.In Auschwitz, every day is a fight for survival. Alma is inmate 50381, the number tattooed on her skin in pale blue ink. She is cooped up with thousands of others, torn from loved ones, trapped in a maze of barbed wire...
    Categorized as:
    war  20th century  historical  length-medium
  • The Star and the Shamrock by Jean Grainger

    The Star and the Shamrock by Jean Grainger

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    Ariella Bannon has no choice: she must put her precious children, Liesl and Erich, on that train or allow them to become prey for the Nazis. Berlin 1939...
    Categorized as:
    20th century  war  historical  length-medium
  • Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman, Robert Chandler

    Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman, Robert Chandler

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Based around the pivotal WWII battle of Stalingrad (1942-3), where the German advance into Russia was eventually halted by the Red Army, and around an extended family, the Shaposhnikovs, and their many friends and acquaintances, Life and Fate recounts the experience of characters caught up in an immense struggle between opposing armies and ideologies...
  • The Paris Network by Siobhan Curham

    The Paris Network by Siobhan Curham

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    Paris, 1940: He pressed the tattered book into her hands. ‘You must go to the café and ask at the counter for Pierre Duras. Tell him that I sent you. Tell him you’re there to save the people of France...
    Categorized as:
    20th century  war  historical  length-long
  • Where the Sky Begins by Rhys Bowen

    Where the Sky Begins by Rhys Bowen

    Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    A woman’s future is determined by fate and choice in a gripping WWII novel about danger, triumph, and second chances by the New York Times bestselling author of The Venice Sketchbook and The Tuscan Child.London, 1940. Bombs fall and Josie Banks’s world crumbles around her. Her overbearing husband, Stan, is unreachable, called to service. Her home, a ruin of rubble and ash...
  • Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer

    Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 42 ratings
    William Lowell Kane and Abel Rosnovski, one the son of a Boston millionaire, the other a penniless polish immigrant-born on the same day near the turn of the century on opposite sides of the world-are brought together by fate and the quest of a dream. Two men - ambitious, powerful, ruthless - are locked in a relentless struggle to build an empire, fueled by their all-consuming hatred...
  • The Keeper of Stars by Buck Turner

    The Keeper of Stars by Buck Turner

    Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    Who says you can’t rewrite the stars?1962—Twelve years removed from the summer when she first gave her heart away, Dr. Elizabeth (Ellie) Spencer, Professor of Astronomy at Indiana University, receives a mysterious package that has her asking that very question.Inside the unmarked box is a novel written by Ellie’s first love, Jack Bennett...
  • The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester

    The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    From the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Orphan comes an unforgettable historical novel about a secret collection of Dior gowns that ties back to the first female pilots of WWII and a heartbreaking story of love and sacrifice.England, 1939: The Penrose sisters couldn't be more different. Skye is a daring and brash pilot, and Liberty the one to defy her at every turn...
  • Home Sweet Home by Lizzie Lane

    Home Sweet Home by Lizzie Lane

    Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Will they meet again? Frances Sweet can’t really remember her real parents. Brought up by her uncle, her cousins Ruby and Mary have always treated her like their little sister.As the war continues to keep her cousins separated from the men they love – Frances is growing up fast enough to catch the eye of dashing American soldier Declan...
  • My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton by Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie

    My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton by Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie

    Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    From the New York Times bestselling authors of America’s First Daughter comes the epic story of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton—a revolutionary woman who, like her new nation, struggled to define herself in the wake of war, betrayal, and tragedy...
  • Shelter from the Storm by Ellie Dean

    Shelter from the Storm by Ellie Dean

    Rated: 4.66 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Nineteen-year-old April Wilton has just enlisted in the WRENs in Portsmouth, where she works servicing engines on ships. She finds herself immersed in dockyard life and surrounded by soldiers - from England and America. The atmosphere is one of spontaneity and impulsiveness, brought on by the unpredictability of war...
  • The Girl with the Diary by Shari J. Ryan

    The Girl with the Diary by Shari J. Ryan

    Rated: 4.52 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    “What if you never come back?” I asked.“I will find you, Amelia. I promise I will find you.”“What if you die trying?”Nazi-occupied Prague, 1942: Amelia is hiding in her closet when flashlights blind her and she’s captured by the SS. Out on the cobblestone street, she is shoved onto a freight train with hundreds of others. Hours pass as they travel in darkness...
  • The Dance Teacher of Paris by Suzanne Fortin

    The Dance Teacher of Paris by Suzanne Fortin

    Rated: 4.52 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    'But how will I look after them? Where can I hide them?' She looked up at me and didn't try to stop the tears from falling. 'I'm begging you. Please, save our children.'Paris, 1942. As the Germans occupy the city she calls home, Adele Basset is determined to keep her pupils' spirits up. Their dance class offers a moment of solace in the dark days of occupation...
  • The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood

    The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood

    Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    “We must die standing up for something.”“And what are we standing up for?”“The most important thing there is. Freedom.”Millions of people walked through Auschwitz’s gates, but she was the first woman who escaped. This powerful novel tells the inspiring true story of Mala Zimetbaum, whose heroism will never be forgotten, and whose fate altered the course of history…Nobody leaves Auschwitz alive...
    Categorized as:
    20th century  war  historical  length-medium
  • Within These Walls of Sorrow: A Novel of World War II Poland by Amanda Barratt

    Within These Walls of Sorrow: A Novel of World War II Poland by Amanda Barratt

    Rated: 4.75 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    "As superbly written as it is haunting in its truth." --Kate Breslin, best-selling author of For Such a TimeZosia Lewandowska knows the brutal realities of war all too well. Within weeks of Germany's invasion of her Polish homeland, she lost the man she loves...
  • All My Tomorrows by Ellie Dean

    All My Tomorrows by Ellie Dean

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    The compelling new Second World War novel from the author of Always in My Heart. In defending herself against her brutal husband, eighteen-year-old Ruby Clark is forced to flee London. She has no idea where Cliffehaven is, or what she will find there, but she knows that she will never be able to return home again. At first it seems she's fallen on her feet...
  • The Bridge to Holy Cross by Paullina Simons

    The Bridge to Holy Cross by Paullina Simons

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    The Bridge to Holy Cross is a powerful story of love and hope -- a passionate and epic love story from the Russian-born author of The Bronze Horseman. The world at war ...two people in love. Tatiana is eighteen years old and pregnant when she miraculously escapes war-torn Leningrad to the West, believing herself to be a widow...
  • The Words We Whisper by Mary Ellen Taylor

    The Words We Whisper by Mary Ellen Taylor

    Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    As a hospice nurse, Zara Mitchell has already seen more death than most people will experience in a lifetime. So when her older sister asks her to help care for their ailing grandmother, Zara agrees—despite strained family relationships.Though pale and tired, Nonna has lost none of her sharp mind...
  • Finding Friends on Beamer Street: The start of a brand new historical saga series by Sheila Riley for 2022 by Sheila Riley

    Finding Friends on Beamer Street: The start of a brand new historical saga series by Sheila Riley for 2022 by Sheila Riley

    Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    The start of a brand new series from Sheila Riley, bestselling author of the Reckoner's Row saga series!Liverpool 1921 Pregnant, Mary Jane Starlings secret wedding to Paddy Redfern ends in disaster when her fiancé is murdered on the way to the church. Paddy’s wayward twin ‘Red’ intercepts Mary Jane and warns that they must flee Ireland for fear of reprisals from her family, never to return...
  • The Parisians by Marius Gabriel

    The Parisians by Marius Gabriel

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Paris, 1940. The Nazis have occupied the city—and the Ritz. The opulent old hotel, so loved by Parisians, is now full of swaggering officers, their minions and their mistresses.For American Olivia Olsen, working as a chambermaid at the hotel means denying her nationality and living a lie, every day bringing the danger of discovery closer...
  • The Ops Room Girls: An uplifting and romantic WW2 saga by Vicki Beeby

    The Ops Room Girls: An uplifting and romantic WW2 saga by Vicki Beeby

    Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    When Evie’s dreams come crashing down, she’s determined to still make something of herself in these trying times…It is 1939 and working class Evie Bishop has received a scholarship to study mathematics at Oxford when tragedy turns her life upside down...
  • The Skylark's Secret by Fiona Valpy

    The Skylark's Secret by Fiona Valpy

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    Loch Ewe, 1940. When gamekeeper’s daughter Flora’s remote highland village finds itself the base for the Royal Navy’s Arctic convoys, life in her close-knit community changes forever. In defiance of his disapproving father, the laird’s son falls in love with Flora, and as tensions build in their disrupted home, any chance of their happiness seems doomed...
  • The German Midwife by Mandy Robotham

    The German Midwife by Mandy Robotham

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    For readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Kate Furnivall comes a gritty tale of courage, betrayal and love in the most unlikely of places. Germany, 1944. Taken from the camps to serve the Fuhrer himself, Anke Hoff has been assigned as midwife to one of Hitler’s inner circle. If she refuses, her family will die...
  • Murder in an Irish Castle by Verity Bright

    Murder in an Irish Castle by Verity Bright

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Irish whiskey, rolling green hills, a traditional Christmas feast and… a murder? Lady Swift will need the luck of the Irish to survive this holiday season!Christmas, 1924. Lady Eleanor Swift has received a rather unexpected invitation to the village Christmas party in the tiny, rural hamlet of Derrydee in the west of Ireland...
  • A Gentleman Fallen on Hard Times by Grace Burrowes

    A Gentleman Fallen on Hard Times by Grace Burrowes

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    A man dwelling in darkness...Lord Julian Caldicott has come home from the war in ragged health and with a reputation in tatters. All he wants is to recuperate in private without bringing any further scandal on the family’s good name...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  war  historical  regency  suspense  length-medium
  • When the World Goes Quiet by Gian Sardar

    When the World Goes Quiet by Gian Sardar

    Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    In the final days of World War I, an aspiring artist’s courageous journey is just beginning in a powerful novel about love, danger, and survival by the author of Take What You Can Carry.It’s 1918 in German-occupied Bruges, Belgium. With luck, Evelien will make it to the end of the war and be given what she was a prized painting in exchange for safeguarding her employer’s possessions...
    Categorized as:
    war  20th century  historical  length-medium
  • When the World Goes Quiet: A Novel by Gian Sardar

    When the World Goes Quiet: A Novel by Gian Sardar

    Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    In the final days of World War I, an aspiring artist’s courageous journey is just beginning in a powerful novel about love, danger, and survival by the author of Take What You Can Carry . It’s 1918 in German-occupied Bruges, Belgium. With luck, Evelien will make it to the end of the war and be given what she was a prized painting in exchange for safeguarding her employer’s possessions...
    Categorized as:
    war  20th century  historical  length-medium
  • The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham

    The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    The Home for Unwanted Girls meets Orphan Train in this unforgettable novel about a young girl caught in a scheme to rid England’s streets of destitute children, and the lengths she will go to find her way home—based on the true story of the British Home Children...
    Categorized as:
    20th century  war  historical  abuse  length-medium
  • The Midwife of Berlin by Anna Stuart

    The Midwife of Berlin by Anna Stuart

    Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Auschwitz, 1943: I stroke my beautiful baby's hair. It's a miracle it's blonde because it will keep her alive, it will keep her safe. Soon they will come and take Pippa out of Auschwitz-Birkenau - and out of my arms. But while there's life, there's hope I might find my daughter again..
    Categorized as:
    20th century  war  historical  length-long
  • The Girl Who Survived by Ellie Midwood

    The Girl Who Survived by Ellie Midwood

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    “It was very dangerous for him, and he knew it. But his love for me was stronger than fear.” - Ilse Stein This novel is based on the inspiring and moving love story of Ilse Stein, a German Jew, and Willy Schultz, a Luftwaffe Captain in the Minsk ghetto, who risked his life to save the one he loved the most...
    Categorized as:
    20th century  war  historical  length-medium
  • Right Ho, Jeeves: Jeeves & Wooster Series by P.G. Wodehouse

    Right Ho, Jeeves: Jeeves & Wooster Series by P.G. Wodehouse

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    Bertie returns to London from several weeks in Cannes spent in the company of his Aunt Dahlia Travers and her daughter Angela...
  • Sea of Memories by Fiona Valpy

    Sea of Memories by Fiona Valpy

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    When Kendra first visits her ailing grandmother, Ella has only one request: that Kendra write her story down, before she forgets… In 1937, seventeen-year-old Ella’s life changes forever when she is sent to spend the summer on the beautiful Île de Ré and meets the charismatic, creative Christophe...
  • Tears of Amber by Sofía Segovia, Simon Bruni

    Tears of Amber by Sofía Segovia, Simon Bruni

    Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    From the bestselling author of The Murmur of Bees comes a transportive novel of two families uprooted by war and united by the bonds of love and courage.With war looming dangerously close, Ilse’s school days soon turn to lessons of survival. In the harshness of winter, her family must join the largest exodus in human history to survive...
    Categorized as:
    20th century  war  historical  length-long
  • The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken

    The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken

    Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Beekeeper of Aleppo.In the 1930s, Stalin’s activists marched through the Soviet Union, espousing the greatness of collective farming. It was the first step in creating a man-made famine that, in Ukraine, stole almost 4 million lives...
  • The Girl From the Island by Lorna Cook

    The Girl From the Island by Lorna Cook

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    A world at war.One woman will risk everything.Another will uncover her story.1940: When the island of Guernsey is invaded by the Nazis, two sisters are determined to rebel in any way they can. But when forced to take in a German soldier, they are shocked to find a familiar face on their doorstep – a childhood friend who has now become their enemy...
  • Marriage and Mayhem for the Tobacco Girls by Lizzie Lane

    Marriage and Mayhem for the Tobacco Girls by Lizzie Lane

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Discover the brand new instalment in Lizzie Lane's bestselling Tobacco Girls series! War is fleeting, but true love last forever...May 1944Hope and excitement is in the air when news breaks of the allied forces landing in Normandy. D Day has arrived. However, the day-to-day struggles for the Tobacco Girls continue.Carole Thomas wants her old life back...
  • People Like Us by Louise Fein

    People Like Us by Louise Fein

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    For fans of The Nightingale and All the Light We Cannot See, a spellbinding story of impossible love set against the backdrop of the Nazi regime.As the dutiful daughter of a high-ranking Nazi officer, Hetty Heinrich is keen to play her part in the glorious new Thousand Year Reich...
    Categorized as:
    war  20th century  historical  military
  • The Girls in Blue by Fenella J. Miller

    The Girls in Blue by Fenella J. Miller

    Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Jane Hadley has nothing to lose when she runs away to join the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. Whatever faces her in war-torn London can't be any worse than staying at home with her abusive father...The city is nothing like she could have imagined, but she's soon on the move, travelling from base to base for her top-secret training...
    Categorized as:
    war  20th century  historical  length-medium
  • Paris at First Light by Amanda Lees

    Paris at First Light by Amanda Lees

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    Paris, 1944: secret agent Juliette is on her most dangerous mission of the war so far. But then her children are kidnapped, and to get them back she may have to commit the ultimate betrayal – that of France itself…Four years ago, when France fell to the Nazis, Juliette made the ultimate sacrifice, leaving behind her two precious children to join the Resistance and defend her country...
    Categorized as:
    20th century  war  historical  length-medium
  • The Girl from Guernica by Karen Robards

    The Girl from Guernica by Karen Robards

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Inspired by Picasso’s great masterpiece Guernica, New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards returns with a riveting story of love, intrigue, deception and bravery in the face of war…On an April day in 1937, the sky opens and fire rains down upon the small Spanish town of Guernica. Seventeen-year-old Sibi and her family are caught up in the horror...
  • Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada, Michael Hofmann

    Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada, Michael Hofmann

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    Inspired by a true story, Hans Fallada's Alone in Berlin is the gripping tale of an ordinary man's determination to defy the tyranny of Nazi rule. This Penguin Classics edition contains an afterword by Geoff Wilkes, as well as facsimiles of the original Gestapo file which inspired the novel. Berlin, 1940, and the city is filled with fear...
    Categorized as:
    20th century  war  humor  historical  length-long
  • Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash

    Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    “Spence-Ash has written the novel in eight points of view, but each character is utterly three-dimensional and distinct. This debut novel captivated me from start to finish...
  • Half in Shadow by Gemma Liviero

    Half in Shadow by Gemma Liviero

    Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    From the bestselling author of In a Field of Blue comes an unforgettable novel about courage, love, and consequences at the dawn of World War I.1915. In German-occupied Belgium, a tragic loss forces Josephine Descharmes to navigate dangerous new territory. By day it’s compliance, serving German officers at the Hotel Métropole...
    Categorized as:
    war  20th century  historical  length-medium
  • Blind Tiger by Sandra Brown

    Blind Tiger by Sandra Brown

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    The year 1920 comes in with a roar in this rousing and suspenseful novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown. Prohibition is the new law of the land, but murder, mayhem, lust, and greed are already institutions in the Moonshine Capitol of Texas.Thatcher Hutton, a war-weary soldier on the way back to his cowboy life, jumps from a moving freight train to avoid trouble . .
  • Night Angels by Weina Dai Randel

    Night Angels by Weina Dai Randel

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    From the author of The Last Rose of Shanghai comes a profoundly moving novel based on the true story of a diplomat and his wife who risked their lives to help Viennese Jews escape the Nazis.1938. Dr. Ho Fengshan, consul general of China, is posted in Vienna with his American wife, Grace...
    Categorized as:
    war  20th century  historical  length-medium
  • The Winemaker's Wife by Kristin Harmel

    The Winemaker's Wife by Kristin Harmel

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · 37 ratings
    The author of the engrossing international bestseller The Room on Rue Amélie returns with a moving story set amid the champagne vineyards of northern France during the darkest days of World War II, perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale.Champagne, 1940: Inès has just married Michel, the owner of storied champagne house Maison Chauveau, when the Germans invade...
    Categorized as:
    war  mystery  20th century  historical  length-long
  • The Woman in the White Kimono by Ana Johns

    The Woman in the White Kimono by Ana Johns

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Oceans and decades apart, two women are inextricably bound by the secrets between them.Japan, 1957...
The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen
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