# Family Saga Series????????? Suggestions please!



## Jill1989 (Feb 4, 2010)

I have an older friend who NEVER read prior to a couple years ago when I got her interested and had her read the Emma Harte books by Barbara Taylor Bradford.  She loved them and got hooked on reading.  She has just finished the Outlander series and is asking me for some more suggestions on family saga series.  I am at a loss as these are not necessarily the books I like but want to continue to encourage her to read instead of watching TV all the time.

Any suggestions?


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## melissaj323 (Dec 29, 2008)

I think there were some by Fern Michaels. The first is Texas Rich. (i've taken this list from Fern Michael's website)
Texas
1. Texas Rich (1985)
2. Texas Heat (1986)
3. Texas Fury (1989)
4. Texas Sunrise(1993)
Vegas
1. Vegas Rich (1996)
2. Vegas Heat (1997)
3. Vegas Sunrise (1997)
Kentucky
1. Kentucky Rich (2001)
2. Kentucky Heat (2002)
3. Kentucky Sunrise (2002)


There is one book I just finished reading that is not a series but I loved it. Its called Roses by Leila Meacham.


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## Paegan (Jul 20, 2009)

One of my all time favorites (not available on Kindle, but worth reading in DTB form) :

T_he Forsyte Saga_ by John Galworthy:

* 1.1 The Man of Property (1906)
* 1.2 Indian Summer of a Forsyte (191
* 1.3 In Chancery (1920)
* 1.4 Awakening (1920)
* 1.5 To Let (1921)

Also another book with family themes on my all time favorite list is _The House of Spirits by Isabelle Allende_. Beautifully written!


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

There are a couple by R.F. Delderfield that I absolutely loved.

A Horseman Riding by
1. Long Summer Day (1966)
2. Post of Honour (1969)
3. The Green Gauntlet (196

Swann Family Saga
1. God Is an Englishman (1970)
2. Theirs Was the Kingdom (1971)
3. Give Us This Day (1973)

I'm so excited to see that the Swann Saga is on Kindle! http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=delderfield&x=0&y=0

And as a sidenote, I also loved his last book, "To Serve Them All My Days", which is actually a stand alone book, but when I think of Delderfield that's the first one that pops in my head - it was also on Masterpiece Theater. I read these back in the 80's but I still remember loving them. It's tempting to revisit the Swann family on Kindle....


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## mistyd107 (May 22, 2009)

Nora Roberts-Chesapeake Saga
1.Sea Swept
2.Rising tide
3.Inner Harbor
4. Chesapeake Blue


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## Paegan (Jul 20, 2009)

Meemo,
Thanks for replying to this thread and reminding me about the Swann family. I just went to Amazon and purchased the 3 books. I read them years and years ago but lost my copies somehere along the line. Time to re-visit old friends.

-----
Back to the original question though:

I just thought of another series of books all about the same family. These may be a bit different that what the OP was looking for. But if her friend is a bit adventurous or likes her stories so, she should try reading James Clavell's stories about the Struan family in Hong Kong.

The first one is _Taipan _- set during the middle 1800's
The next is _Gai-Jin_ - set in the early 1900's
The last one set in Hong Kong is _Noble House_ - takes the Struan family into the 1960's.

He wrote another one about the Struan family called _Whirlwind_..but this takes place in Iran - not Hong Kong

James Clavell has to be one of my all time favorite authors.


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## cagnes (Oct 13, 2009)

Loved the Wilderness series by Sara Donati! The 1st 2 aren't available for kindle yet, but I believe they are working on it. Some of the Diana Gabaldon's Outlander characters are mentioned in "Into the Wilderness".

1. Into the Wilderness (199
2. Dawn on a Distant Shore (2000)
3. Lake in the Clouds (2002)
4. Fire Along the Sky (2004)
5. Queen of Swords (2006)
6. The Endless Forest (2009)


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## bvlarson (May 16, 2010)

An interesting and _different _one I found (came up recently on Kindle) is the Ark Chronicles series by Vaughn Heppner. They are Indie (not mine) following the family story of Noah from before the flood until the Tower of Babel (four books). Anyway, it is sort of an historical/fantasy/soap opera. Reminds me of Clan of the Cavebear because the books heavily explain how they use every plant, smelt ore and make yeast from nothing and stuff like that.


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## tlshaw (Nov 10, 2008)

Peyton Lee wrote the Geneva series

Geneva's Hope
Geneva's Promise and there are about 4 more. They are all about the same family. I found them free and converted them using Mobipocket Converter from PDF.

The website containing the whole series is: http://www.paytonlee.com/Free.htm
This site will take you to the books on Lulu.com so you can download.


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## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

Paegan said:


> One of my all time favorites (not available on Kindle, but worth reading in DTB form) :
> 
> T_he Forsyte Saga_ by John Galworthy:
> 
> ...


When I first started reading this threaed, The Forsyte Saga was the first to come to my mind. I loved the books and the PBS series.


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## tlrowley (Oct 29, 2008)

The Forsyte Saga is public domain - Galsworthy died in the thirties- and is available at Project Gutenberg. There is a mobi file available for download.


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## Thalia the Muse (Jan 20, 2010)

The Forsyte saga is also on Amazon, either for free, or for 95 cents you can get a Mobi file with indexing and active table of contents.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

The Forsyte Saga is wonderful, and I enjoyed _Into the Wilderness_ too.

Another classic is George Eliot's _Middlemarch_ that really feeds my jones for family saga type stuff. I probably read it once a year, ha.

James Michener's _Hawaii _can't be beat.


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## purplepen79 (May 6, 2010)

I'm in the middle of _Middlemarch _ (ha-too many middles!) and enjoying it so far. The dialogue is full of intellectual debate, which I enjoy reading a great deal in small doses.

My favorite family saga books are probably Susan Howatch's _Cashelmara_, _Penmarric_, and _The Wheel of Fortune_, which are set in 19th and early 20th century Great Britian. She loosely based the characters in the books off of various royal personalities--i.e. Edward in _Cashelmara_ is based off of Edward I and Janna in _Penmarric_ is based off of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Interesting concept.

Howatch also wrote a series following various families involved in the Church of England, starting with _Glittering Images_, which are great romances and fascinating exposes of church politics.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

Another family saga is *North and South*, *Love and War*, and *Heaven and Hell* by John Jakes - set before, during, and after the Civil War. Loved the miniseries, but the books were much better. Not available on Kindle, but since your friend wasn't much of a reader before maybe she doesn't have a Kindle. Yet.


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## dnagirl (Oct 21, 2009)

Speaking of John Jakes, I really enjoyed the Kent Family Chronicles.  They aren't on Kindle though.


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## Kindle Convert (Nov 8, 2008)

mistyd107 said:


> Nora Roberts-Chesapeake Saga
> 1.Sea Swept
> 2.Rising tide
> 3.Inner Harbor
> 4. Chesapeake Blue


Great series!


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

Meemo said:


> There are a couple by R.F. Delderfield that I absolutely loved.


I haven't read them, but I really enjoyed the TV series of A Horseman Riding By and _To Serve Them All My Days_. I can imagine they'd make fine reads.

Jill, maybe your friend might enjoy a series set in New Zealand.  The first one's free - link in my sig.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

purplepen79 said:


> I'm in the middle of _Middlemarch _ (ha-too many middles!) and enjoying it so far. The dialogue is full of intellectual debate, which I enjoy reading a great deal in small doses.
> 
> My favorite family saga books are probably Susan Howatch's _Cashelmara_, _Penmarric_, and _The Wheel of Fortune_, which are set in 19th and early 20th century Great Britian. She loosely based the characters in the books off of various royal personalities--i.e. Edward in _Cashelmara_ is based off of Edward I and Janna in _Penmarric_ is based off of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Interesting concept.
> 
> Howatch also wrote a series following various families involved in the Church of England, starting with _Glittering Images_, which are great romances and fascinating exposes of church politics.


Ah, finally, another Howatch fan. I'm so disappointed that only the second and third books in the St. Benet Trilogy are available on Kindle and none of her family sagas. I keep clicking, but no luck yet.

Don't forget The Rich are Different and Sins of the Fathers following Ceasar, Antony and Cleopatra. Fantastic books.

She is absolutely my favorite author and I can't believe she retired.


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## purplepen79 (May 6, 2010)

@Gertie Kindle

Howatch retired!  Wow, I didn't know that.  Also, thanks for the info about her books mostly not being on Kindle--I thought about that after I posted.  The copies I have are all well-read paperbacks that I inherited from my mom, who loved Howatch too.  Howatch's style, particularly how she alternates between different 1st person POVs to show multiple facets of the same situation, has been a big influence on my own writing.  She's one of a kind, and I'm sad that she's retired . . .


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## AlexJouJou (May 16, 2010)

Here are a couple I've got on my Kindle .. they are older though. I'm rediscovering my Scandinavian roots 

The Emigrant Novels by Moberg
First one:











And this one (although it's a compilation of several books covering one woman from early on to death)


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

purplepen79 said:


> @Gertie Kindle
> 
> Howatch retired! Wow, I didn't know that. Also, thanks for the info about her books mostly not being on Kindle--I thought about that after I posted. The copies I have are all well-read paperbacks that I inherited from my mom, who loved Howatch too. Howatch's style, particularly how she alternates between different 1st person POVs to show multiple facets of the same situation, has been a big influence on my own writing. She's one of a kind, and I'm sad that she's retired . . .


I had to have all of Howatch's books in hardcover. She's the only author I'll read in paper. If they ever kindleize, I'll buy them all immediately.


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## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

Oh, I loved Susan Howatch's books and keep checking.  I want them for Kindle, too.

Another great series, in my opinion, was Barbara Taylor Bradford's series beginning with WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE.  They're not available for Kindle either.


I NEED ALL OF THE ABOVE ON MY KINDLE!!!!


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## egh34 (Jan 11, 2009)

No one has mentioned the Outlander series


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## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

One book probably doesn't count as a family saga, especially if it's shorter than MIDDLEMARCH, but I just read Richard Russo's BRIDGE OF SIGHS and was sucked into the lives of this particular family.









Also, if you're the kind of reader who delves into children's lit from time to time, there's always Maud Hart Lovelace's BETSY-TACY series (follows Betsy from age 5 through early marriage) and Sydney Taylor's ALL-OF-A-KIND-FAMILY series. Both are absolute treasures that I read multiple times myself and now read with my daughters.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Family sagas:

"The House of the Spirits" and "Portrait in Sepia" by Isabelle Allende.  I cannot recommend these highly enough.  Must reads.

I also recommend "The Prince of Tides".  The book is infinitely better than the movie.


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## purplepen79 (May 6, 2010)

@Gertie Kindle
@Candee15

This is why I love Kindleboards! It's so nifty to find other fans of Howatch. I do have a few of hers in hardcover and will probably eventually get all in hardcover. It's just I remember my mom reading the paperbacks that I have, places where she dog-earred pages, and so those battered paperbacks are sentimentally valuable to me.

@DArenson

_The Prince of Tides_ is wonderfully lyrical and an amazing story, Conroy's best work in my opinion. _Beach Music_ is great too, but the story lacks the focus of _Prince of Tides_. Incidentally, the movie version of _The Great Santini_ with Robert Duval and Blythe Danner (I think that's the actress's name) is a compelling adaptation to film of the book if you haven't seen it.


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## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

Would Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches be considered a family saga?  (Not available in Kindle.)


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## tlshaw (Nov 10, 2008)

egh34 said:


> No one has mentioned the Outlander series


Oh, how could we forget Jamie and Claire? I am so embarrassed!!!


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## 4Katie (Jun 27, 2009)

mistyd107 said:


> Nora Roberts-Chesapeake Saga
> 1. Sea Swept
> 2. Rising tide
> 3. Inner Harbor
> 4. Chesapeake Blue


What she said!

Also good is Elizabeth Lowell's Donavan series:
1. Amber Beach
2. Jade Island
3. Pearl Cove
4. Midnight in Ruby Bayou


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