If You Like Jodi Picoult

... you may also like these other "multi-layered" novels of families, relationships and controversy.

Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg
"Sometimes life is so hard and then, bingo, it's like happiness is pushing at your back, waiting to come out of your front...." On the hot Texas army base she calls home, Katie spends the lazy days of her summer waiting: waiting to grow up; waiting for Dickie Mack to fall in love with her; waiting for her breasts to blossom; waiting for the beatings to stop. Since their mother died, Katie and her older sister, Diane, have been struggling to understand their distant, often violent father. Soon an adventure will transform Katie's life. Also try True to Form and Joy School.

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
In the midst of a brutally cold night, cut off from the area hospital and even from the rescue squad by an ice storm that has downed phone lines and made roads impassable, Sibyl Danforth feels she has no alternative except to attempt to save the baby of a woman in her care who she fears has died of a stroke during a long and difficult labor. Later that day, however, the midwife's assistant tells the police that she believes the mother was still very much alive when the cesarean section was performed in the cold and isolated farmhouse. Also try Before You Know Kindness and The Double Bind.

Turtle Moon by Alice Hoffman
Verity, home to more divorced women from New York than any other town in Florida, is where Lucy moves with her son Keith to get away from her ex. But when Keith runs off with a baby, after the child's mother is murdered, the stage is set for mayhem, thrills and unexpected romance. Also try The Probable Future.

Ruby by Ann Hood
After the tragic death of her husband of barely one year, Olivia must begin rebuilding her life. Ordinarily a vivacious and strong woman, she finds herself unable to surmount her grief...until she meets Ruby. Young, pregnant and delinquent, Ruby trespasses and enters the seemingly uninhabited Rhode Island beach house in which Olivia and her late husband had planned to build their life together. An unlikely friendship is forged as Olivia nurtures Ruby and her unborn child and experiences the daily challenges presented by a wayward teen, who may or may not teach Olivia how to live again.

While I Was Gone by Sue Miller
In the summer of 1968, Jo Becker's youthful innocence was shattered when she found her best friend brutally murdered in the communal house they shared in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Now, 30 years later, Jo has everything she ever wanted: a successful veterinary practice, a devoted husband and three grown daughters. But when Eli Mayhew – a former housemate from her bohemian days – settles in her small town, Jo is gradually drawn into a flirtation that returns her to the darkest moment of her past and imperils all she loves. Also try The Good Mother and Family Pictures.

The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard
Watch your brother," says Beth Cappadora to her seven-year-old son, Vincent. She's checking in at her high school reunion in Chicago. Even with a hotel clerk who is, in Beth's estimation, slower than weight loss, it's not more than five minutes before she turns again and asks, "Where's Ben?" It's the moment every mother dreads. Three-year-old Ben is gone. And no one can find him. Despite a police search that will turn into a nationwide obsession, Ben has vanished, seemingly without a trace.

Home Fires by Luanne Rice
Seeking refuge from the pain of a collapsed marriage, Anne Davis returned to Salt Whistle Road, to the house where she grew up. There, she hoped to find solace in the old house that always symbolized security and love. As a fire raged through the house and was about to engulf what little comfort she had left, Anne raced back into the inferno to rescue something more precious than life itself. It was an act that gave birth to a miracle, and, for Anne, a new life. Also try Angels All Over Town.

Digging to America by Anne Tyler
After 30 years in the United States, independent-minded Maryam Yazdan still maintains a quiet sense of otherness. After a chance encounter at the Baltimore airport, she and her family befriend the Donaldsons, and even the guarded Maryam is drawn in by their hospitality. Her attitude becomes more conflicted, though, when she is courted by an older member of the Donaldson clan. Anne Tyler's novel offers gently nuanced insights about identity, privacy and cultural differences. Also try The Amateur Marriage.