15 best-selling historical books like Go as a River by Shelley Read

Cover of Go as a River by Shelley Read

Go as a River

By: Shelley Read

4.28

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

A sweeping, heart-stopping epic of a young woman's journey to becoming, set against the harsh beaut…

"Women endure. That’s what we do."

-Shelley Read, Go as a River

"Women endure. That’s what we do."

-Shelley Read, Go as a River

"Loss has nothing to do with what you do deserve and don’t deserve."

-Shelley Read, Go as a River

"Loss has nothing to do with what you do deserve and don’t deserve."

-Shelley Read, Go as a River

If you liked the historical plot in Go as a River by Shelley Read , here is a list of 15 books like this:

Cover of The Women by Kristin Hannah

1. The Women

By: Kristin Hannah

4.64

Format: 471 pages, Hardcover

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these wor… read more

Similar categories in Kristin Hannah's The Women book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • romance
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • book club
  • audiobook
"Words were creators of worlds; you had to be careful with them."

-Kristin Hannah, The Women

"Love mattered in this ruined world, but so did honor. What was one without the other?"

-Kristin Hannah, The Women

"Love. A thing to be shouted from the rooftops, celebrated, not cultivated in secret and clipped into shape in the dark."

-Kristin Hannah, The Women

Cover of After Annie by Anna Quindlen

2. After Annie

By: Anna Quindlen

4.03

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her four young children and her closest friend are lef… read more

Similar categories in Anna Quindlen's After Annie book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of The Berry Pickers by Amanda    Peters

3. The Berry Pickers

By: Amanda Peters

4.14

Format: 307 pages, Hardcover

A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a tragic mys… read more

Similar categories in Amanda Peters's The Berry Pickers book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

4. First Lie Wins

By: Ashley Elston

4.05

Format: 340 pages, Hardcover

Evie Porter has everything a nice, Southern girl could want: a perfect, doting boyfriend, a house w… read more

Similar categories in Ashley Elston's First Lie Wins book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • adult
  • book club
  • fiction
  • audiobook
"Blunt honesty has more value than blind worship"

-Ashley Elston, First Lie Wins

"It’s because you’re not ready to tell me the truth and I’d rather you not lie to me."

-Ashley Elston, First Lie Wins

"There’s an old saying: The first lie wins. It’s not referring to the little white kind that tumble out with no thought; it refers to the big one. The one that changes the game. The one that is delibe…"

-Ashley Elston, First Lie Wins

Cover of The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel

5. The Paris Daughter

By: Kristin Harmel

4.25

Format: 384 pages, Hardcover

From the bestselling author of The Book of Lost Names comes a gripping historical novel about two m… read more

Similar categories in Kristin Harmel's The Paris Daughter book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • historical
  • family
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
"This isn't a decision I make lightly, but being a parent is not about doing what is right for ourselves, is it? It's about sacrificing all we can, big and small, to give our children their best chanc…"

-Kristin Harmel, The Paris Daughter

Cover of The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

6. The Frozen River

By: Ariel Lawhon

4.43

Format: 432 pages, Hardcover

A gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-cen… read more

Similar categories in Ariel Lawhon's The Frozen River book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • book club
  • audiobook
Cover of Go as a River by Shelley Read

7. Go as a River

By: Shelley Read

4.28

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

A sweeping, heart-stopping epic of a young woman's journey to becoming, set against the harsh beaut… read more

Similar categories in Shelley Read's Go as a River book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • romance
  • literary fiction
  • coming of age
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • family
  • adult
  • book club
  • audiobook
"Women endure. That’s what we do."

-Shelley Read, Go as a River

"Loss has nothing to do with what you do deserve and don’t deserve."

-Shelley Read, Go as a River

"I learned from their subtle relations... that love is a private matter, to be nurtured, and even mourned, between two beings alone. It belongs to them, and no one else, like a secret treasure, like a…"

-Shelley Read, Go as a River

"Try as we might to convince ourselves otherwise, the moments of our becoming cannot be carefully plucked like the ripest and most satisfying peach from the bough. In the endless stumble toward oursel…"

-Shelley Read, Go as a River

Cover of Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See

8. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women

By: Lisa See

4.36

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

* NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!* An immersive historical novel inspired by the true story of a woma… read more

Similar categories in Lisa See's Lady Tan’s Circle of Women book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • book club
  • audiobook
Cover of Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

9. Tom Lake

By: Ann Patchett

3.99

Format: 309 pages, Hardcover

In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again prov… read more

Similar categories in Ann Patchett's Tom Lake book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • romance
  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • book club
  • audiobook
"You can’t pretend this [Covid] isn’t happening,"

-Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

"In the summer the pear trees were fine. In the summer, all that is hideous about a pear tree is hidden by leaves and pears. But once those disguises were removed they were nothing but acres of murder…"

-Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

"Hazel, listen to me. I'm going to tell you something important, you need to be brave.' I then explained to the dog how I have told myself for so many years that my career fell apart because I wasn't …"

-Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

"It's as if someone bought all the diamonds at Tiffany's, and crushed them into dust, then spread that dust across the water so that it sifts down evenly, filtering through the shards of light that cu…"

-Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

Cover of The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

10. The River We Remember

By: William Kent Krueger

4.29

Format: 421 pages, Hardcover

In 1958, a small Minnesota town is rocked by the murder of its most powerful citizen, pouring fresh… read more

Similar categories in William Kent Krueger's The River We Remember book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • audiobook
"Finally, she wrote: The most frightening thing we do in our lives is to love."

-William Kent Krueger, The River We Remember

"People who make other people happy are generally pretty unhappy themselves," she said."

-William Kent Krueger, The River We Remember

"Bluestone said, " Hihanni waste ." "He honnay washtay?" Sam gave him a bewildered half smile. "I'm afraid I don't understand." "Exactly my point," Bluestone said. "I've lived in a white man's world a…"

-William Kent Krueger, The River We Remember

"[Scott] heard the clock on the living room mantel strike midnight, and he could no longer lie there suffering. He slipped from his bed, dressed, and so quietly that he might not even have existed--an…"

-William Kent Krueger, The River We Remember

Cover of Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner

11. Only the Beautiful

By: Susan Meissner

4.47

Format: 400 pages, Hardcover

A heartrending story about a young mother’s fight to keep her daughter, and the winds of fortune th… read more

Similar categories in Susan Meissner's Only the Beautiful book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • book club
  • audiobook
Cover of The Covenant of Water by Abraham   Verghese

12. The Covenant of Water

By: Abraham Verghese

4.45

Format: 724 pages, Hardcover

From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial ep… read more

Similar categories in Abraham Verghese's The Covenant of Water book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • family
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • book club
  • audiobook
Cover of James by Percival Everett

13. James

By: Percival Everett

4.54

Format: 303 pages, Hardcover

A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , both harrowing and f… read more

Similar categories in Percival Everett's James book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • audiobook
Cover of The Little Liar by Mitch Albom

14. The Little Liar

By: Mitch Albom

4.59

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

Beloved bestselling author Mitch Albom returns with a powerful novel that moves from a coastal Gree… read more

Similar categories in Mitch Albom's The Little Liar book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
"Dead men tell no lies, but their truths must be unearthed."

-Mitch Albom, The Little Liar

"But the lies you tell by daylight leave you lonesome in the dark."

-Mitch Albom, The Little Liar

"The sad thing is, by the time you share what a loved one wants to hear, they no longer want to hear it."

-Mitch Albom, The Little Liar

"...a lie told once is easy to expose, but a lie told a thousand times can look like the truth. And destroy the world."

-Mitch Albom, The Little Liar

Cover of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James   McBride

15. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

By: James McBride

4.00

Format: 385 pages, Hardcover

In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new housing de… read more

Similar categories in James McBride's The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • book club
  • audiobook
Cover of Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

16. Hello Beautiful

By: Ann Napolitano

4.16

Format: 416 pages, Kindle Edition

An emotionally layered and engrossing story of a family that asks: Can love make a broken person wh… read more

Similar categories in Ann Napolitano's Hello Beautiful book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • romance
  • literary fiction
  • family
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • book club
  • audiobook
"The child inside Julia lay wide-eyed in the dark, knowing that she was Jo, but only because Sylvie was Beth."

-Ann Napolitano, Hello Beautiful

"You and your sisters have so many reference points, such a dense history," William said. "I never get used to it."

-Ann Napolitano, Hello Beautiful

"She was Julia's wild hair, she was the lake her husband had once been carried out of, and no matter what happened next, she was love."

-Ann Napolitano, Hello Beautiful

"You’re depressed, not crazy. It’s not insane to be depressed in this world. It’s more sane than being happy. I never trust those upbeat individuals who grin no matter what’s going on. Those are the o…"

-Ann Napolitano, Hello Beautiful

Cover of Weyward by Emilia Hart

17. Weyward

By: Emilia Hart

4.07

Format: 416 pages, Paperback

I am a Weyward, and wild inside. 2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackl… read more

Similar categories in Emilia Hart's Weyward book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
" Altha . A strange name. Soft and yet powerful. Like an incantation."

-Emilia Hart, Weyward

"It took skill, Violet thought, to make even your handwriting look angry"

-Emilia Hart, Weyward

"She named me Altha, after all. Not Alice, meaning noble woman, nor Agnes, lamb of God. Altha. Healer."

-Emilia Hart, Weyward

"I thought he loved me for myself. But you were right. To him I am but an animal, like those he hunts and puts on display"

-Emilia Hart, Weyward

Cover of The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry

18. The Secret Book of Flora Lea

By: Patti Callahan Henry

4.07

Format: 355 pages, Hardcover

When a woman discovers a rare book that has connections to her past, long-held secrets about her mi… read more

Similar categories in Patti Callahan Henry's The Secret Book of Flora Lea book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • audiobook
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
"The heart can hold much joy and great sorrow at the same time. It's a mystery. And it's also true."

-Patti Callahan Henry, The Secret Book of Flora Lea

"What a fairy tale is meant to do," she said, "if it's meant to do anything at all, Tolkien says, is give us new perspective on our world, the consolation of a happy ending. A recovery of sorts. Like …"

-Patti Callahan Henry, The Secret Book of Flora Lea

Cover of Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash

19. Beyond That, the Sea

By: Laura Spence-Ash

4.24

Format: 351 pages, Hardcover

A sweeping, tenderhearted love story, Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash tells the story of t… read more

Similar categories in Laura Spence-Ash's Beyond That, the Sea book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • romance
  • coming of age
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • family
  • audiobook
Cover of The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing by Lara Love Hardin

20. The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing

By: Lara Love Hardin

4.46

Format: 319 pages, Kindle Edition

No one expects the police to knock on the million-dollar, two-story home of the perfect cul-de-sac … read more

Similar categories in Lara Love Hardin's The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • adult
  • book club
  • audiobook
Cover of All the Colors of the Dark by Chris  Whitaker

21. All the Colors of the Dark

By: Chris Whitaker

4.44

Format: 608 pages, Hardcover

From the New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an e… read more

Similar categories in Chris Whitaker's All the Colors of the Dark book and Shelley Read's Go as a River

  • romance
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook

20 Top fiction books like Go as a River by Shelley Read

Transform Your Habits

The Women

Kristin Hannah

4.64

Transform Your Habits

After Annie

Anna Quindlen

4.03

Transform Your Habits

The Berry Pickers

Amanda Peters

4.14

Transform Your Habits

First Lie Wins

Ashley Elston

4.05

View all the books

7 best-selling novels books like James by Percival Everett

Transform Your Habits

Night Watch

Jayne Anne Phillips

3.79

Transform Your Habits

James

Percival Everett

4.54

Transform Your Habits

North Woods

Daniel Mason

4.15

Transform Your Habits

Martyr!

Kaveh Akbar

4.24

View all the books

Never miss a story from us, get weekly updates in your inbox.