Fiction about Women's Lives & Relationships

Romance Reader by Pearl Abraham

The daughter of a Hasidic rabbi, Rachel yearns to experience the secular world of her classmates.

Joy School by Elizabeth Berg

A 13-year-old girl falls in love with a 21-year-old mechanic who saves her life.  From this unrequited love and other sorrows, she learns about the joys of life.

Tara Road by Maeve Binchy

An American woman and a British woman trade houses for the summer in order to remake their lives.
The Mommy Club by Sarah Bird
Sculptor Trudie becomes a surrogate mother for her yuppie boss but then resents the way she is treated and her boss’s “sympathetic pregnancy” symptoms.
Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas
A story of loyalty and friendship in a women’s quilting circle in depression-era Kansas.  The murder of one of the members’ husbands adds suspense.
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
The story of a Haitian girl who must leave her aunt and move to New York City to be with her mother.

Lake News by Barbara Delinsky

Lily, a cabaret singer, retreats to her hometown after a Boston paper fabricates a story about her.
The Saving Graces by Patricia Gaffney

The emotional lives of the four Graces, who have been friends for the past 10 years in Washington, D.C.
Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons

The story of a midwife and her strong-willed daughter and granddaughter in Raleigh, NC during World War II.

Evenings at Five by Gail Godwin

After Christina’s husband, a composer, dies following a long illness she dreads evenings alone.

On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah

Annie goes back to her hometown in Washington after her daughter goes abroad and her husband leaves her for a younger woman at his law firm.

Here On Earth by Alice Hoffman

March travels to New England to settle her childhood housekeeper’s estate.  Before she can get back to her husband she’s seduced by Hollis, her cruel first love.
Places to Stay the Night by Ann Hood
Libby leaves her husband, Tom, for Los Angeles.  At the same time their former classmate Holly is returning to their hometown after living in Manhattan for years.

Any Place I Hang My Hat by Susan Isaacs

A Jewish political reporter in her late 20s goes in search of the mother who abandoned her.

Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

In the 60s, Lily’s nanny Rosaleen must skip town after she angers some whites.  Lily goes with her and they set off to find out more about Lily’s dead mother.

Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

Taylor ends up taking in an abandoned baby and taking a job in a garage when her car breaks down in Tucson.
Patty Jane’s House of Curl by Lorna Landvik
Two close-knit sisters in Minnesota deal with being single again, running a salon, and alcoholism.
 But I Love You Anyway by Sara Lewis
The romantic misadventures of a pair of 40-something sisters, who run a mail and shipping store in San Diego.
The Dearly Departed by Elinor Lipman
The sudden death of a secretly engaged couple brings his son and her daughter back to a small town in NH.
Carolina Moon by Jill McCorkle
Widow Quee Purdy intercedes in the lives of young couples in small town Fulton, N.C.
Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan
Four 30ish black women are bound together by their friendship and dwindling hopes for finding Mr. Right.
Host Family by Mameve Medwed
After Daisy’s husband leaves her for an exchange student who lived with them, she meets Truman, a parasitologist who studies virus-host relationships.
Yesterday by Fern Michaels
Ruby, whose father abused her, comes to terms with her flaws and searches for a man who will love her as she is.
A Theory of Relativity by Jacquelyn Mitchard
When baby Keefer’s parents die, a custody battle breaks out between the 2 sides of her family.
London Holiday by Richard Peck
Three middle-aged friends (designer, socialite, and teacher) take a life-changing trip to London.
Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult
After Delia tells a friend about a disturbing childhood memory she suddenly recalls, her wedding is put on hold and her world is turned upside down.
Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
A teenager, 2 thirty-somethings, and retired actress Elfrida seek emotional and physical refuge from the cold winter at Oscar’s Scottish estate.
The Sight of the Stars by Belva Plain
In the early 1900s, after heading west and working for years, Adam ends up taking over a clothing business and marrying the founder’s daughter.
The Grass Dancer by Susan Power
The interlocking stories of various descendants of 2 Dakota Sioux from the mid-1800s.
Blessings by Anna Quindlen
Skip, the caretaker, and Lydia form an unexpected friendship after Skip takes in a baby abandoned outside the estate’s garage.
Then Came Heaven by LaVyrle Spencer
The story of a young widower and her girls, and the nun whose urge to help them makes her question her vows.
The Gift by Danielle Steel
In 1952, Tommy, a teenager, falls in love with 16-year-old Maribeth, a pregnant waitress who has been rejected by her family.
Kelly Park by Jean Stubbs
Flavia turns a manor house into an inn after her lover and restaurant partner leaves her and their business.
The Cape Ann by Faith Sullivan
Six-year-old Lark narrates the stories of her family and her small Minnesota town during the Depression.
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Four Chinese women have been meeting to play mahjong and to talk, especially about their daughters, for 40 years, ever since they immigrated to San Francisco.
Other People’s Children by Joanna Trollope
Five adults and their 8 children/stepchildren struggle with new family configurations after divorce and remarriage.
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood  by Rebecca Wells
A Seattle playwright and actress must come to terms with her mother’s past and learns about her circle of wild Southern friends, the Ya-Yas.
The Cornish Legacy by Barbara Whitnell
Clare returns to Cornwall after her Aunt Verity dies, and must find out how Verity was mixed up with her old flame, Nick (whom everyone in town distrusts).
The Native Air by Sarah Woodhouse
The romantic adventures of minor gentry in Norfolk, England, in 1803.  Dr. French still longs for Lady Ann, but is also attracted to newcomer Julia Hawksworth.