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Original poster

Books set in other cultures

56 replies

FairyPenguin · 12/02/2017 15:19

I really enjoy reading books that are set in other cultures and ways of life, both current and historical. I love finding out about how other people live/lived.

For example, I have liked:

The Kite Runner
The Help
Memoirs of a Geisha
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Wild Swans
Plain Truth (Amish community)
Faye Kellerman books (Jewish family)
Clan of the Cave Bear series by Jean Auel
Nothing To Envy (North Korea true stories)

Also, I read a book set within a Quaker community which I was very interesting (I can't remember the title!).

Can anyone recommend other books that I might like, please? Thanks!

OP posts:
DelphineCormier · 13/02/2017 13:42

Princess- Jean Sasson
Frozen in History- Curt Brown
Across the Nightingale Floor- Lian Hearn
Apples are from Kazakhstan- Christopher Robbins

FoxInABox · 13/02/2017 15:03

I've just read Homegoing, it's a brilliant book set in Africa, uk and America, following two siblings and their future generations- one sold into slavery and one not.
Also loved Purple Hibiscus and half of a yellow sun.

FoxInABox · 13/02/2017 15:04

Calling me home is another great book- if you enjoyed the help you will love it!

TheWayYouLookTonight · 13/02/2017 15:18

Chowringhee by Mani Shankar is really good - its about the staff and guests in a hotel in Calcutta.

TheWayYouLookTonight · 13/02/2017 15:19

Oops might be Sankar not Shankar.

Offred2 · 13/02/2017 16:12

Those of you who have recommended Orhan Pamuk - what is a good book of his to start with? I've browsed his books in bookshops before but then couldn't decide which to buy so didn't buy anything!

Like the OP I love any book that transports you to a different time or place or culture.

applecatchers36 · 13/02/2017 16:51

Captain Corelli's mandolin
The last train to Trieste (Romania set during communism)
Americanah ( Nigeria & Us, a lot about cultural displacement)

n0ne · 13/02/2017 17:51

I adore the Latin American trilogy by Louis de Bernieres. He's not from that part of the world so it might be complete nonsense but it's so evocative.

Whineforwine · 13/02/2017 20:53

Tiny Sunbirds Far Away

SatsukiKusakabe · 14/02/2017 13:08

Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga - Zimbabwe, fantastic book about the effects of postcolonialism and patriarchy.

Love Haruki Murakami for Japan, start with Norwegian Wood.

TheWayYouLookTonight · 14/02/2017 14:38

Another good one for Japan:

The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide

Kai1977 · 15/02/2017 17:12

Midnight's Children
A Hundred Years of Solitude
Love in the Time of Cholera
Snow Falling on Cedars (set in the US but focuses on the Japanese immigrant families who were interned during the war there)
Like Water for Chocolate
Life of Pi
Small Island (mainly set in the UK but also talks about life in Jamaica)
The Shadow of the Wind
The Minituarist
Burial Rites
Various novels by Isabel Allende

I've not reas it but heard good things about A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding.

Kai1977 · 15/02/2017 17:14

Oh and The Red Tent

mugglebumthesecond · 15/02/2017 19:13

Currently reading The Poisonwood Bible. Set in the Congo in the 50s. Loving it!

Original poster
FairyPenguin · 15/02/2017 20:20

Thank you for all the recommendations. I have started reading Like Water For Chocolate and am enjoying it so far, especially the delicious-sounding recipes.

OP posts:
perfectlybroken · 15/02/2017 20:24

Oh I love the red tent! Need to read them again. I really enjoyed the butterfly mosque and alif the unseen by g. Willow Wilson.

Littleelffriend · 15/02/2017 20:53

The glass blower of murano

HappydaysArehere · 03/03/2017 00:37

The Gift of Rain. Set in Malaysia before and during the Japanese invasion. This is one lovely book.

slightlyglitterbrained · 05/03/2017 11:08

Do you like SF or magical realism OP? I tend to read more science fiction than literary fiction, and have been reading a lot more SF written from/drawing on non-Western perspectives & cultures recently.

Murine · 14/03/2017 05:19

I really enjoyed Zoe Ferraris' Night of the Miraj (also titled Finding Nouf depending when it was published), set in Saudi Arabia. It gave an insight into a culture which I knew little about and was a very engaging read. There are another two books in the series which I'm in the lookout for too.

JonesyAndTheSalad · 14/03/2017 05:24

www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2016/02/12-books-every-australian-should-read

other great Australian reads.

sunita77 · 14/03/2017 06:01

Marking place

hellokittymania · 14/03/2017 06:04

They are heavy breathing but the books bye Loung Ung Who lived through the years of Pol Pot's regime are very good . You will probably need tissues though .

Short girls and other books by Bich Nguyen. It's pronounced as Bik by the way . There is a brilliant interview with her on NPR { National public radio }. One of her memories of coming to the US was how everybody at school kept miss pronouncing her name . Grin

There are some wonderful children's books by an author called Minfong Ho that are based on historic events in Thailand and Cambodia .

Xin Ran is another good author who often discusses girls in China and what their life is like .

The mayor of Mogadishu was very good .

There is another author from Somalia named Noruddin Farah Who writes a lot of books .

Beyond the beautiful forever's by Katherine Boo about India and I hope the title is correct .

The book based on the film that will be released this year called lion was very very good and a true story . I bought it in Australia but I am sure you will be able to find it in the UK.

Reading lolita in Tehran

I just bought a book on iBooks called Aussie midwives I believe it's about midwives who work in very rural Australia

The lightless Sky which is a book about a teenage refugee making his way from Afghanistan to the UK on his own .

The books by James Michener were very good but quite long .

WorldWideWish · 14/03/2017 06:04

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra

Love your list OP!

hellokittymania · 14/03/2017 06:11

Sorry for the mistakes but I am using dictation as I am visually impaired and it's quicker than writing

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