Books with: Fiction - (Mostly) Secret Sacrifice - Character sacrifices/protects/looks out for others but it is unknown to others (who may even dislike the self-sacrificing character)

[Jenna]

I know I come up with some weird plots /tropes when I post in the "suggest books for me" section. I've usually read something/thought of something and think "Oh that's interesting, are there any more like it?"

(Mostly) Secret Sacrifice - A Character sacrifices/protects/looks out for others but it is unknown to others (who may even dislike the self-sacrificing character)

TYPE: I personally prefer Historical or Fantasy, but really whatever you think fits the trope

Examples
May Contain SPOILERS

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None of these are perfect fits, but when I think of this trope:

- Valjean in "Les Miserables' - saving Marius. If Thénardier hadn't tried to blackmail Marius over his FIL, Marius would never have known who saved him the night the barricades fell

- Audrey (?) the Mom in Barbara Taylor Bradford's "Act of Will" - she takes all these extra jobs so her daughter can have a good life at college and nearly kills herself with overwork - only reason her daughter finds out (Mildred Pierce might also fit then?)

- I think both in two Francine Rivers' books (possibly "Leota's Garden" and "Marta's Legacy" characters find out years later things their mother/grandmother did something to help save the family, but at the time they just thought their mother/grandmother was distant/worked too much, etc. (I think in one the mom (DIL) was actually the one paying the mortgage but her MIL didn't know it and continued to treat the DIL horribly. Grand-daughter finds out 50 years later.)

- I'll come back and add more; I had 2 more examples and now I cannot remember them LOL

[Elizabeth]

Hi Jenna,

What an interesting request! Here are some you might enjoy:

Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell. Published in 1848. There is a great deal of sacrifice here, but I don’t know that it’s all clear to the reader until a good portion of the way through.

The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritson. There are two timelines happening here, and the one set in the 19th century may meet your request. It isn’t a perfect fit, since the character’s suffering isn’t necessarily intended specifically to help others, but the character is quite noble, and he endures quite a bit.

The Story of the Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke. This novella is historical fiction inspired by the Biblical account of the magi. He fails in something that’s dear to him because he is trying to help/protect others.

[Aerulan]

The Last Hour of Gann is pretty brutal, but a great read.

Not a huge spoiler, so much as just info about an ongoing plot element, but spoiler tags just in case.
(view spoiler)[the heroine spends the whole book trying to help the other survivors when their spaceship crashes, everybody treats her like crap, even though she's usually the only one making good decisions. She's lower class and overweight and opinionated and that engenders a lot of resentment, especially whenever she's proven right.

Amber definitely fits the self sacrificing and being resented/disliked by the ones she's sacrificing for elements.
Personally, she drove me nuts because of that quality, I wanted her to leave the other asshole characters to die.
But I'm petty.
And it was still a good book.

R. Lee Smith actually has a bunch of books that explore that sort of dynamic, Cottonwood, Olivia, and The Scholomance in particular should work for this theme.
(hide spoiler)]

[Jenna]

Elizabeth wrote: "Hi Jenna,

What an interesting request! Here are some you might enjoy:

Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell. Published in 1848. There is a great deal of sacrifice here, but I don’t know that it’s all ..."

Thank you!

I have read the Other Wiseman (wasn't there some animated one hour version on TV for kids at time?) but hadn't thought of that. I definitely should read more of the lesser-known Victorian authors so thanks for that suggestion!

Thanks also for not thinking my trope was completely insane or obscure (even though I know it kind of is, LOL)

[Jenna]

Aerulan wrote: "The Last Hour of Gann is pretty brutal, but a great read.

Not a huge spoiler, so much as just info about an ongoing plot element, but spoiler tags just in case.
the heroine spends ..."

Thank you. I liked your spoiler/comments too. Reminded me of my love/hate relationship with Melanie with "Gone with the Wind" 0 not so much a secret per se, but....

[...cats?]

Maybe Great Expectations and Daddy-Long-Legs? In both books, a character secretly provides financial support to another character

[Elizabeth]

Hi Jenna,

Are you still looking for books that fit this plot/trope? I just finished reading the Rai-Kirah trilogy by Carol Berg, and that's a running theme in all three of those novels. A character gets hated/abused/tormented by the very characters he's protecting because no one is aware of the things he done for them. In the first two books, it's the characters who are unaware. In the third book, some of the self-sacrifice is even hidden from the readers until the very end.

[Pamela]

Is YA okay? If so, The Horsemasters by Don Stanford, which was written/set in the 1950's, so it's historical by now. The Horsemasters

[RabbitMilitia]

Mildred Pierce fits this trope somewhat. I'm not sure how secret her sacrifice is to Veda- but she certainly doesn't appreciate her mother's efforts!