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Christina Baker Kline

Christina Baker Kline is a novelist, nonfiction writer, and editor. Her novels include The Way Life Should Be, Desire Lines, and Sweet Water. She is co-author, with Christina L. Baker, of The Conversation Begins: Mothers and Daughters Talk about Living Feminism and editor of Child of Mine: Original Essays on Becoming a Mother; Room to Grow: 22 Writers Encounter the Pleasures and Paradoxes of Raising Young Children; and Always Too Soon: Becoming an Orphan at Any Age, also published by Seal Press. She is currently Writer in Residence at Fordham University.

Genres: Literary Fiction, Historical

Novels

   Sweet Water (1993)
   Desire Lines (1998)
   The Way Life Should Be (2007)
   Bird in Hand (2009)
   Orphan Train (2013) (with Christine Baker Kline)
     aka Orphan Train Girl
   A Piece of the World (2017)
   The Exiles (2020)

Novellas and Short Stories

The Scenic Route (2023)

Non fiction show

Christina Baker Kline recommends

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club (2024)
Helen Simonson
"With cinematic verve and a keen eye for detail, Helen Simonson captures a vibrant group of unconventional women who defy social norms in their determination to forge their own futures. Beautifully written and brimming with charm, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is both a fizzy escape and a moving portrait of a nation on the cusp of change."

Akmaral (2024)
Judith Lindbergh
"A gripping saga, a love story, and a convincing portrait of a time and people lost to history."

Library for the War-Wounded (2024)
Monika Helfer
"A poignant, captivating, beautifully woven family saga. As honest as Elena Ferrante, with the folkloric intensity of Tea Obreht."

A True Account (2023)
Katherine Howe
"This sweeping, ambitious novel secures Katherine Howe's place as one of today's best historical fiction writers. Combining a fast-paced, rollicking 18th-century story about a female pirate and a 20th-century mystery set in academia, Howe touches on identity, ambition, history, class, and culture. Filled with unexpected twists and turns, A True Account is a wild ride. I loved this book."

Morning in This Broken World (2023)
Katrina Kittle
"With compassion, candor, and humor, Katrina Kittle explores how a ragtag group of people on the verge can redefine what it means to be a family, in all its messy unpredictability. Told through multiple perspectives, this life-affirming, heartwarming novel captures the unlikely friendships and connections that can emerge out of perilous circumstances - and ultimately make life worth living."

Pete and Alice in Maine (2023)
Caitlin Shetterly
"Pete and Alice in Maine is a tender, big-hearted, clear-eyed portrait of a marriage, and a family, in crisis - set during the plague years when the entire world was in crisis. As she investigates the insidious effect of lies, betrayal, fear, and anger, not to mention the mundane joys and wrenching heartaches of everyday life, Caitlin Shetterly gets to the heart of what it means to be a family."

Little Monsters (2023)
Adrienne Brodeur
"Wrenching, psychologically complex, and emotionally satisfying, Little Monsters is an immersive pleasure. This sprawling, big-hearted family saga is about the lies we tell each other and ourselves that enable us to maintain alliances - and what happens when we start telling the truth."

Banyan Moon (2023)
Thao Thai
"A beautifully written, page-turning novel that explores the traumatic legacy of war, the complexity of cultural assimilation, and the intimacy of family conflict with fierce grace and psychological acuity. Banyan Moon is a celebration of life in all its forms and a joy to read."

The Secret Book of Flora Lea (2023)
Patti Callahan Henry
"Two sisters, dual time periods, a magical secret place, an abiding mystery--The Secret Book of Flora Lea is an enchanting story of survival against all odds. With her trademark warmth and a feather-light touch, Patti Callahan Henry weaves together events both real and imagined. Transporting, heartfelt, and atmospheric."

Paper Names (2023)
Susie Luo
"With a keen eye for detail, a strong sense of pacing, and a deep understanding of human nature, Susie Luo crafts a moving portrait of two families whose fates intertwine. Deftly moving back and forth in time, she explores race, class, assimilation, loyalty, betrayal and ambition. Paper Names is a sensitive and timely novel."

Good Night, Irene (2023)
Luis Alberto Urrea
"A heart-wrenching wartime drama, a rich portrait of friendship, and an exploration of the trials and triumphs of the human spirit, Good Night, Irene is historical fiction at its finest. Using the little-known true story of women who worked behind the front lines for the Red Cross during World War II, Luis Alberto Urrea weaves a novel about the enduring bonds, devastating losses, and heroism of ordinary people who put their lives on the line for freedom. This is a story that needed to be told and remembered."

The Dig (2023)
Anne Burt
"Mesmerizing, twisty, and beautifully written, The Dig combines the propulsive pacing of a thriller with the intimacy of a family drama."

Daughters of Nantucket (2023)
Julie Gerstenblatt
"Julie Gerstenblatt brings a 19th-century New England coastal town to life in this dramatic, meticulously researched, beautifully paced novel. A moving story of hope, loss, perseverance, and survival."

Community Board (2023)
Tara Conklin
"Sometimes we're not ready to jump. We need a little push. When Darcy Clipper - a heroine for the ages - gets a major shove, she finds herself in a brave new world of second chances, radical decisions, and transformative change. Funny, cinematic, and heartfelt, Community Board is a propulsive delight."

My Last Innocent Year (2023)
Daisy Alpert Florin
"Gripping, nuanced, and thought-provoking, My Last Innocent Year is an intimate portrait of a woman on the cusp of adulthood grappling with the thorniest of issues: agency and consent, ambition and jealousy, loyalty and betrayal. This beautifully written novel reverberated in my bones."

A Dangerous Education (2023)
Megan Chance
"Long-buried secrets, agonizing choices, dangerous obsessions: this thought-provoking historical mystery is destined to become a book-club favorite. Its timely emphasis on women's autonomy (or lack thereof!), not to mention its twists and turns, will keep you reading all the way to its unpredictable, but fully earned, ending."

Gilded Mountain (2022)
Kate Manning
"Kate Manning is a master storyteller. Gilded Mountain is so immersive, so richly imagined, that reading it feels akin to time travel. Manning writes historical sagas like no one else; the dreamers, strivers, and opportunists who populate this tale possess a uniquely American desire to reinvent themselves, whatever it takes. An epic story of love, hope and perseverance."

Hester (2022)
Laurie Lico Albanese
"A rich tapestry of a novel. In dreamlike yet vivid prose, Albanese weaves a story about 19th century Salem, a place with a dark history where secrets still abound, and conjures the life of Hawthorne's muse, a woman whose skill and imagination are both the key to her survival and the source of others' mistrust and envy. Vivid, complex, and intricately detailed."

The Real Mrs. Tobias (2022)
Sally Koslow
"With a shrewd eye and a light touch, Sally Koslow weaves a story about three strong women whose memories, dreams, and desires conflict and intersect as they navigate a series of family crises. Warm, witty, and heartfelt, The Real Mrs. Tobias is a cinematic, fast-paced treat."

The Many Daughters of Afong Moy (2022)
Jamie Ford
"Lyrical and profound, poignant and original, this sweeping saga explores the love that binds one family across generations. For Jamie Ford fans both old and new, The Many Daughters of Afong Moy is an unmitigated pleasure."

Joan (2022)
Katherine J Chen
"An epic novel with the mythic power of a fairytale."

Fellowship Point (2022)
Alice Elliott Dark
"Fellowship Point is a marvel. Intricately constructed, utterly unique, this novel set on the coast of Maine is filled with insights about writing, about the perils and freedoms of aging, about the great mysteries, as well as the pleasures, of life. The story about the relationships between three women unfolds, as life does, through joys and losses, confrontations and confessions, with twists along the way that change your perception of all that came before. This is a world is so closely and acutely observed that I felt I lived in it. I was sorry to leave."

Any Other Family (2022)
Eleanor Brown
"Funny, wise, heartbreaking, and heart-mending, Any Other Family explores what it means to be a family, in all its messy complication. Emotionally complex, immensely readable, and deeply affecting."

Take My Hand (2022)
Dolen Perkins-Valdez
"Moving, important, and timely, Take My Hand is both a poignant personal story and a riveting courtroom drama. By refusing to accept the status quo, big-hearted, idealistic Civil Townsend sets events in motion that eventually change hearts, minds, and lives, including her own. A perfect book-club pick."

Her Last Affair (2022)
John Searles
"In this inventive, deftly woven novel, John Searles conjures a world populated by eccentrics and dreamers who are desperate for a second chance and willing to do almost anything to get it. Genre-bending, cinematic, and darkly funny, Her Last Affair ends with a series of shocking twists that will leave you breathless."

The Magnolia Palace (2022)
Fiona Davis
"Fiona Davis is at the top of her game in this intriguing, high-stakes novel about an iconic New York City landmark, the Frick mansion, and two women, fifty years apart, whose stories intersect within it. A family saga and historical thriller in one, The Magnolia Palace is a fast-paced, immersive delight."

The Christie Affair (2022)
Nina de Gramont
"A delight: intriguing, fast-paced, and elegantly written. Nina de Gramont takes you on an adventure through the English countryside with as many twists and turns as, well, an Agatha Christie novel. The unlikely alliances, complex motivations and jaw-dropping surprises will keep you riveted until the very last page."

The Postmistress of Paris (2021)
Meg Waite Clayton
"A sweeping tale of perseverance and courage set against the backdrop of Nazi-era Europe, The Postmistress of Paris is the very best kind of historical fiction: a complex and intriguing story that both highlights a little-known moment in the past and resonates powerfully in the present, reminding us that bigotry can only be vanquished when people are willing to take a stand."

The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven (2021)
Nathaniel Ian Miller
"The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven is pure delight. From the first page, I was transported to a world unlike any I've experienced or even read about--a bleak and unforgiving landscape where ice bears, subzero temperatures, and Sven's own worst impulses conspire against him, where loneliness and terror coexist with his growing appreciation for the flinty beauty of life. Only in such a place, I came to understand, could such a solitary man--emotionally stunted, misanthropic, self-pitying, disfigured--discover the bonds of friendship, and find family in a ragtag band of misfits. This novel's hard-won wisdom, droll humor, and offhanded insights about human nature will pierce you to the core."

Fight Night (2021)
Miriam Toews
"FIGHT NIGHT is a headlong rush of a novel narrated by a precocious nine-year-old girl who is doing everything she can to keep her troubled mother from falling apart and her irrepressible grandmother alive. Tender, heart-wrenching, darkly funny, and ultimately joyful, this novel pulses with life."

Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket (2021)
Hilma Wolitzer
"With her trademark dry wit and abiding compassion, Wolitzer explores the telling details of everyday life in ways that are unsettling, insightful and wholly original. These stories will linger in your mind and get under your skin. They shimmer with life."

Songs in Ursa Major (2021)
Emma Brodie
"Songs in Ursa Major takes us on a propulsive journey: the rocky rise to stardom of a young singer songwriter who is as talented as she is beautiful, as vulnerable as she is ambitious, and as complicated as she is charismatic. Sexy, atmospheric, and entertaining — this novel is pure joy on the page."

When the Stars Go Dark (2021)
Paula McLain
"With this breathtaking novel, Paula McLain proves she can do anything. Exquisitely written, immersive, and atmospheric, When the Stars Go Dark is a tour de force of literary suspense."

Eternal (2021)
Lisa Scottoline
"With characters who change and grow and enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, Eternal is blockbuster with cinematic intensity."

Send for Me (2021)
Lauren Fox
"Send For Me is a rare and beautiful novel. In luminous prose, with great economy and precision, Lauren Fox twines together two stories: one that explores both the menace and the day-to-day ordinariness of life in Germany under Hitler, and its aftermath, and one that captures the yearning and intensity of youth in the present day. While sorrow may be inevitable, Fox seems to say, life is also threaded with hope and joy and human connection. I loved this book."

Daughter of Black Lake (2020)
Cathy Marie Buchanan
"In this evocative, meticulously researched novel, Cathy Marie Buchanan creates a world of dark magic and haunting mystery, brutality and beauty. History comes to life on every page."

Shiner (2020)
Amy Jo Burns
"In spare yet lyrical prose, Amy Jo Burns brings to life a brutal landscape and its dangerous, alluring inhabitants. A haunting glimpse into a strange, mystical world with its own laws and customs, filled with fiercely independent people, this novel combines a memoir-like intimacy with the mythic power of a fable. Burns is a writer to be watched."

The Paris Hours (2020)
Alex George
"Like All the Light We Cannot See, The Paris Hours explores the brutality of war and its lingering effects with cinematic intensity. The ending will leave you breathless."

Queen of the Owls (2020)
Barbara Linn Probst
"A nuanced, insightful, culturally relevant investigation of one woman’s personal and artistic awakening, Queen of the Owls limns the distance between artist and muse, creator and critic, concealment and exposure."

Writers & Lovers (2020)
Lily King
"Writers & Lovers is a portrait of the artist as a young woman. Lily King writes masterfully about desire and loss, creativity and inspiration, and how each overlaps and influences the other. I found myself reading slowly, underlining phrases, wanting to linger in the world of this novel. Her insights about love ? how it is elusive and ineffable ? and about grief ? how it is something that you live inside ? took my breath away."

The Jetsetters (2020)
Amanda Eyre Ward
"Witty, insightful, and full of heart . . . Defined by a long-ago tragedy and long-held grudges, grievances, and resentments, the Perkins clan has plenty of reasons to keep secrets from one another—secrets that inevitably, over the course of their forced family fun vacay, spill out. . . . The perfect novel to read in a pool lounger as you sip a colorful cocktail. Mediterranean sunset optional."

A Good Neighbourhood (2020)
Therese Anne Fowler
"Relentlessly paced, stylishly written, and perfectly timed, Therese Anne Fowler's latest is a sharp, moving portrait of an American neighborhood on the brink of change. You'll be thinking about A Good Neighborhood long after you've left it."

The Weight of a Piano (2019)
Chris Cander
"At the heart of this novel is an old German upright piano whose music reverberates through the stories of two seemingly unconnected people: a man on an inexplicable quest to photograph it, and a woman who, despite being unable to play it, can't let it go. Elegantly twisting the strands together, Cander explores how art and music change and enrich our lives, often in wondrous and remarkable ways, and also touches on love and loss, memory and forgetting, perseverance and self-discovery. Like a powerful melody, The Weight of a Piano is haunting, evocative, and impossible to forget."

Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen (2018)
Sarah Bird
"An epic page-turner, Daughter of a Daughter of aQueen is the real-life story of the feisty and fearless Cathy Williams,the first woman to serve in the U.S. military. Weaving fact and fiction, Sarah Bird dances between humor and heartbreak as she takes this American heroinefrom forgotten to unforgettable."

Tiffany Blues (2018)
M J Rose
"Fascinating…an enchanting glimpse of Jazz Age New York."

The Last Cruise (2018)
Kate Christensen
"From the first page of The Last Cruise, it’s clear that you’re in the hands of a masterful storyteller. With wit and precision, Kate Christensen wrangles a large cast of characters on a cruise in Hawaii that undergoes a disastrous series of calamites, deftly turning what appears to be a comedy of manners into an intimate and moving story about how human beings relate to each other in times of stress and upheaval – with plenty of sensuous details about food, sex, and drink along the way. This novel is a delight."

Ecstasy (2018)
Mary Sharratt
"Terrific…An intimate, absorbing portrait of a complicated woman whose talents and passions propelled her to the center of fin de siècle Vienna."

Halsey Street (2018)
Naima Coster
"An exceptional debut that explores how to find meaning within the shifting emotions and tangled webs of connection."

What to Say Next (2017)
Julie Buxbaum
"This novel is so compulsively readable that you’ll be surprised how deeply your emotions are stirred."

Grit (2017)
Gillian French
"Touching, funny, and wise, Grit takes you on a journey you’ll remember long after turning the last page."

The Hearts of Men (2017)
Nickolas Butler
"A wry, tender-hearted novel about men: their families and friendships, their vulnerabilities and foibles, their secrets and lies. Part coming-of-age narrative, part meditation on masculinity, part war story, this novel had me spellbound all the way to its riveting conclusion."

Sisters One, Two, Three (2017)
Nancy Star
"An extraordinary moving, beautifully written novel... I was riveted from the first page."

The Tumbling Turner Sisters (2016)
Juliette Fay
"Filled with energetic prose and colorful characters-you won't soon forget the Turner girls!."

Whiskey & Charlie (2015)
Annabel Smith
"A sharp, perceptive novel about family and forgiveness. Whiskey & Charlie will stay with me for a very long time."

Her Name Is Rose (2015)
Christine Breen
"A lyrical debut with characters who live and breathe and teach each other how to love."

The Weight of Blood (2014)
Laura McHugh
"In this riveting debut, Laura McHugh weaves together the stories of two women, separated by a generation, who each reveal pieces of a story that gains momentum and power as its shape becomes clear. This novel will keep you up all night."

So Happy Together (2009)
Maryann McFadden
"In So Happy Together, Maryann McFadden deftly weaves a story of three generations of women and the men who orbit around them. With a sure touch, she writes about the mother-daughter bond, the simple pleasures to be found in cooking, the pervasive nature of guilt, and the power of forgiveness. Ultimately she explores the ways that growth is possible at every stage in life, if only we remain open--and how unexpected changes can lead us to places we never imagined."

More recommendations

Books containing stories by Christina Baker Kline

Stories from Suffragette City (2020)
edited by
Fiona Davis and M J Rose

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