Here are 95 books that The Clockmaker's Daughter fans have personally recommended if you like
The Clockmaker's Daughter.
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I am drawn to books in which family history is never as simple as it first appears. I have always loved fiction about memory, silence, and the choices people make when they discover that something they believed about their past was not entirely true. As a novelist, I keep returning to these themes because I am fascinated by the way family stories shape who we become. I am especially interested in women who have to rebuild their sense of themselves when old explanations stop making sense. The books on this list stay with me because they do more than reveal secrets; they show what happens after the truth is known.
I first loved Rebecca for its atmosphere, but what stayed with me was something more unsettling: how completely another person’s version of the past can shape the present.
I remember finishing it and thinking about how easily we accept a story when everyone around us seems to believe it. As a writer, I keep returning to that idea.
Du Maurier showed me that an absence can dominate a novel as powerfully as a living character, and that what people refuse to say can matter as much as what they reveal. That has stayed with me in my own writing about memory, silence, and family secrets.
* 'The greatest psychological thriller of all time' ERIN KELLY * 'One of the most influential novels of the twentieth century' SARAH WATERS * 'It's the book every writer wishes they'd written' CLARE MACKINTOSH
'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . .'
Working as a lady's companion, our heroine's outlook is bleak until, on a trip to the south of France, she meets a handsome widower whose proposal takes her by surprise. She accepts but, whisked from glamorous Monte Carlo to brooding Manderley, the new Mrs de Winter finds Max a changed man. And the memory…
The Golden Promise of Cripple Creek
by
Mary Ellen Johnson,
When her wealthy politician boyfriend dumps her, disgraced social media influencer Maeve Mooney retreats to her family ranch—only to tumble down an abandoned mine shaft and straight into 1901 Cripple Creek, Colorado.
It's a world of glittering wealth, gritty saloons, and ongoing tensions between miners and powerful mine owners. Using…
Whereas many seek out stories of human triumph and heroic deeds, I have always been captivated by stories that show humanity for what it is–a bastion of innovation and wonder but also a complex and ethically questionable force of nature. I began writing my book when I was twelve years old, and I immediately knew that my characters would not be one-sided, cast in light or shadow. Instead, they would love at times and hate others, try their hardest to do what is right, but sometimes end up doing more harm than good. Remember that a ‘hero’ is a product of perspective when reading these books.
This book takes everything amazing about the mystery genre and transposes it into an endlessly fascinating, well-developed sci-fi world. I was captivated by the web of interconnected plot lines, told from the perspectives of rich and multi-faceted characters throughout the entire story.
Specifically, the fact that all of their seemingly disconnected backstories converge to form the real picture of the story was masterfully done. Furthermore, the final reveal of the story was quite literally the only plot twist in fiction that has given me a verbal “oh my god” moment.
It was a massive inspiration for me and led to my love of a combination of morally gray mystery, sci-fi, and action adventure.
In this Hugo nominated science fiction thriller by Mur Lafferty, a crew of clones awakens aboard a space ship to find they're being hunted-and any one of them could be the killer.
Maria Arena awakens in a cloning vat streaked with drying blood. She has no memory of how she died. This is new; before, when she had awakened as a new clone, her first memory was of how she died.
Maria's vat is one of seven, each one holding the clone of a crew member of the starship Dormire, each clone waiting for its previous incarnation to die so…
I was born in Coatbridge, in the West of Scotland, more years ago than I care to remember. I recently took the big step of moving east to Edinburgh, by way of Birmingham, London, Lagos, Nigeria, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York: a necessary detour because traffic on the direct route is really, really bad. I’m a graduate of Birmingham University and Harvard Law School, and work in the field of counter-terrorist financing, which sounds way cooler than it is. Basically, I write emails, fill in forms, and use spreadsheets to help choke off the money supply that builds weapons of mass destruction, narcotics empires, and human trafficking networks. And sometimes I write murder mysteries.
Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day meets Rashomon in this country house murder mystery where the narrator is as much a puzzle as the murder itself. The narrator lurches into the novel as a witness to a killing so dreadful they’ve lost their memory. Then awakes the next morning to live the same day again as a different character with a different viewpoint: a bizarre twist that repeats itself until we have, as the title suggests, seven different versions of what happened, and enough information, finally, to get to the “truth.” Come for the strange, mind-bending trip, leave with a beautifully constructed conclusion.
WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD WINNER OF THE BOOKS ARE MY BAG NOVEL AWARD A WATERSTONES THRILLER OF THE MONTH SHORTLISTED FOR THE SPECSAVERS NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS DEBUT OF THE YEAR LONGLISTED FOR THE THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR
Gosford Park meets Groundhog Day by way of Agatha Christie and Black Mirror - the most inventive story you'll read
Tonight, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed ... Again
It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks…
When Hannah finds the ring buried in her garden and it gives her a physical shock, she embarks on a quest to discover who had once owned it, and how they lost it. Her research leads her to a woman lost…
I live in a 200+ year old house and have always been drawn to stories with dual timelines where the past and present intersect. Living in an old house where people lived and died, and exploring historic sites for my blog Past Lane Travels, I’m constantly aware of the lives that came before mine. I love the idea that something hidden in the past can still shape the present – and sometimes it seems like it’s just waiting to be uncovered by the right person. When stories are set in real places, it adds even more intrigue—I can visit, walk the same ground, and experience it for myself.
I think I am probably the last person in the world to read this book!
I know it’s received a lot of attention, but somehow it never appealed to me when it first came out. After reading it, I love the way the author blends art history and cryptography within a complex (and believable) conspiracy. It was such a unique plotline when it came out, and now it’s almost its own genre.
I’m drawn to books that have a real setting that you can visit today, and this one takes place at The Louvre.
Harvard professor Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call while on business in Paris: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been brutally murdered inside the museum. Alongside the body, police have found a series of baffling codes.
As Langdon and a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, begin to sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to find a trail that leads to the works of Leonardo Da Vinci - and suggests the answer to a mystery that stretches deep into the vault of history.
Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine code and quickly assemble the…
Growing up, I devoured books from two authors, the grande dame of mystery, Agatha Christie, and the science fiction great, Isaac Asimov. Luckily for me, both were prolific. That combination explains what I write, best described as the sleuth story meets speculative fiction. As a reader, when it comes to mysteries I’m always on the lookout for the out of this world. Which doesn't necessarily mean murder on a spaceship, though it can! What breaks the mold could be an unlikely detective, an inventive premise, an unusual setting, a narrative that surprises… Here are five such tales.
Rob Hart’sThe Paradox Hotel is bursting at the seams with interesting characters. The hotel of the title serves the needs of wealthy time tourists on their way to and from the nearby Einstein port. Working security is one January Cole. Her only friend an AI drone, January is grieving a lost love and fast succumbing to a time-travel illness that has her becoming unmoored from the present. Things go from bad to worse when she stumbles on a dead body that only she can see—turns out, it’s quite tricky to solve a murder that hasn’t happened yet. Surprisingly poignant, with moments that made me laugh out loud, and some inventive time travel shenanigans.
“Time travel, murder, corruption, restless baby dinosaurs, and a snarky robot named Ruby collide in this excellent, noir-inflected, humor-infused, science-fiction thriller.”—The Boston Globe
An impossible crime. A detective on the edge of madness. The future of time travel at stake. From the author of The Warehouse . . .
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, Kirkus Reviews
January Cole’s job just got a whole lot harder.
Not that running security at the Paradox was ever really easy. Nothing’s simple at a hotel where the ultra-wealthy tourists arrive costumed for a dozen different time periods, all eagerly…
I am a Lifetime member of Bordentown Historical Society (NJ) and have written four non-fiction books about Bordentown history. I am a Lifetime member of New Egypt Historical Society (NJ) and have written a non-fiction book about New Egypt history. I have written and published short stories about my ancestors and the part they lived in New Jersey history.
This book proves that real-life factual history taken from Martha Ballard’s diary can be exciting and hold a history lover’s fascinated attention.
Midwives always seemed to hold the pulse of a community. Lawhon’s characters are compelling and keep the plot moving forward. The story is set post-Revolutionary War in New England.
NATIONAL 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 Outlander’s Claire Fraser will enjoy Lawhon’s Martha, who is brave and outspoken when it comes to protecting the innocent. . . impressive."—The Washington Post
"Once again, Lawhon works storytelling magic with a real-life heroine." —People Magazine
Winner of the 2027 Bronze Medal for Southern Fiction by the Independent Book Publishers Awards
A haunting and magical story of a family with hidden gifts and secrets. A young woman begins having memories that are not her own and must find her place in a lineage of women healers…
I live in a 200+ year old house and have always been drawn to stories with dual timelines where the past and present intersect. Living in an old house where people lived and died, and exploring historic sites for my blog Past Lane Travels, I’m constantly aware of the lives that came before mine. I love the idea that something hidden in the past can still shape the present – and sometimes it seems like it’s just waiting to be uncovered by the right person. When stories are set in real places, it adds even more intrigue—I can visit, walk the same ground, and experience it for myself.
First of all, as an author, I love that three different authors wrote about three different characters, and it all melds perfectly. That’s a feat in itself.
Secondly, I’m a fan of dual timelines, history, and family secrets, and this book has it all. Third, it has a setting of a Gilded Age mansion in New York City, and that always makes a great setting.
This novel is a wonderful mix of light romance, history, and mystery, a trifecta for my reading tastes.
New York Times bestselling authors Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig present a masterful collaboration—a rich, multigenerational novel of love and loss that spans half a century....
1945: When critically wounded Captain Cooper Ravenel is brought to a private hospital on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, young Dr. Kate Schuyler is drawn into a complex mystery that connects three generations of women in her family to a single extraordinary room in a Gilded Age mansion.
Who is the woman in Captain Ravenel’s miniature portrait who looks so much like Kate? And why is she wearing the ruby pendant…
I live in a 200+ year old house and have always been drawn to stories with dual timelines where the past and present intersect. Living in an old house where people lived and died, and exploring historic sites for my blog Past Lane Travels, I’m constantly aware of the lives that came before mine. I love the idea that something hidden in the past can still shape the present – and sometimes it seems like it’s just waiting to be uncovered by the right person. When stories are set in real places, it adds even more intrigue—I can visit, walk the same ground, and experience it for myself.
This novel is a little outside of my usual genre, but Steve Berry never disappoints.
The reason I like this one is because Berry weaves so much factual detail about the real Amber Room’s creation and theft into his fictional suspense plot. Overall, he is really good at blending authentic history with his fictional adventure plots – making it hard for a reader to know what is fact and what if fiction.
This book kept me turning pages (long after I should have stopped).
Rachel Cutler loves her job and her kids, and remains civil to her ex-husband, Paul. But everything changes when her father dies under suspicious circumstances, leaving behind clues to a treasure called the Amber Room, one of the most intriguing mysteries of the last century.
Desperate for the truth, Rachel takes off for Germany, with Paul close behind. Before long, they're in over their heads. Locked into a treacherous game with professional killers, Rachel and Paul find themselves on a collision course with the forces of greed, power and history itself...
While the pacing, suspense, and twists of a well-crafted modern-day thriller can bring their own rewards, I find that when the thriller is enriched by the cultures of the past, the story can become one of powerful depth. Exploring modern-day morals, laws, or customs can be the start of a canvas painted with far more vivid contrasts. Reading some of these mixed-genre marvels inspired me to write The Book of Judges.
This story plays on actual US history, with protagonist, Beecher White, an archivist, finding a hidden artifact leading him to discover that the Culper Ring, a spy network established to provide intel for George Washington, is still operating.
Besides the usual thriller elements, the search for the truth behind the Culper Ring is fascinating.
The darkest secret of the U.S. Presidency is about to be revealed.
Beecher White, a young archivist for the US government, has always been the keeper of other people's stories, never a part of the story himself . . . Until now.
While Beecher is showing Clementine Kaye, his first childhood crush, around the National Archives, they accidentally uncover a priceless artefact - a two-hundred-year-old dictionary once belonging to George Washington. Suddenly Beecher and Clementine are entangled in a web of conspiracy and murder.
Beecher's race to learn the truth behind this mysterious treasure will lead to a code that…
Royal Academy, London 1919: Lily has put her student days in St. Ives, Cornwall, behind her—a time when her substitute mother, Mrs. Ramsay, seemingly disliked Lily’s portrait of her and Louis Grier, her tutor, never seduced her as she hoped he would. In the years since, she’s been a suffragette…
I’ve been an archivist at Canada’s national archives for more than twenty years. I love my job. Archives are, by their very nature, a collection of miscellany that weren’t created to be preserved or remembered. They are the scraps of paper and hurriedly sent emails produced while the world is out making history. As a result, they offer unselfconscious glimpses into the past. Archives are poorly understood, which means that the folks who decide to devote their professional lives to them are often a little quirky and a bit odd. This makes books featuring archivists celebrations of the off-kilter, the overlooked, and the frankly strange.
Bear is a slim, easy-to-read story about an archivist who travels to a remote northern cabin to catalog its contents, discovering surprising insights about herself and the world. It is funny, it is insightful. It is also marketed as “a tale of erotic love between an archivist and a bear.” Yup. I promise you, though, that somehow it’s not weird – just delightful and strange and highly enjoyable.
As a young archivist, did I make my first professional conference presentation about this novel? Yes!
Did it limit my career?
Possibly!
Does that paper hold the record for most times “bestiality” was mentioned in an Association of Ontario Archivists conference?
'A strange and wonderful book, plausible as kitchens, but shapely as a folktale, and with the same disturbing resonance.' -- Margaret Atwood
'Bear,' she cried. 'I love you. Pull my head off.'
Lou is a librarian at the local Heritage Institute who lives a mole-like existence, buried among maps and manuscripts in her dusty basement office.
The chance to escape the monotony of her city life comes when she is summoned to a remote island to inventory the late Colonel Jocelyn Cary's estate. Hoping for an industrious summer of cataloguing, Lou heads north.
