Book that has a character that’s very kind and selfless but never celebrated until right before the end

(Long post)

I’m looking for a book that has a character where he/she is almost one-dimensionally a benevolent person who is never celebrated until right before the end. Open to any genre.

Basically somebody who is 100% selfless, always helps others, generous, humble, always puts others first, silently sacrifices for others, and nobody praises them, they’re mostly used and then ignored the rest of the time, their kindness is never significantly acknowledged, they’re rarely thanked, people talk over them, people are inconsiderate towards them. In short, they’re very righteous martyrs, but right before the book ends, they get praise, honor, recognition, reward, validation etc.

Again please only give ones where the character is celebrated BEFORE the book ends or before the character dies or slips into a coma forever or something. Please give me something where the character actually enjoys the recognition and not only recognized after it’s essentially too late.

I’m asking with all my heart. This is for a friend who’s like this in real life, which is admittedly quite unbelievable. I’ve watched her be so selfless and help people to literal safety, to keep them afloat, to show them they matter, and yet she’s NEVER recognized for that.

She’s done everything she’s done thanklessly. Even with her family and her friends. I have painfully severe social anxiety so it’s hard for me to talk to people about it, even to her. Recently, she started to feel depressed and what I’m guessing is burnout or compassion fatigue. She started to really see how used and abused she was, and it hit her hard. That’s not to say she stopped though. She is still unrelentingly kind.

Last year was a big deal. Long story short, her friend, whom she literally rescued from life-threatening situations more than once, blindsided and betrayed her by suddenly abandoning her and the animal rescue, sanctuary, and shelter they built together. After all the times she was used and taken for granted and dismissed, this one hit her HARD. Maybe because she’s not the only victim anymore. They/she has 80+ animals in their care, and now the entire responsibility of keeping them alive and healthy is now entirely on my friend.

She’s hurt and confused. She’s asked about a hundred times what she did to deserve this. It doesn’t make sense to her for her to go through this. She wants clarity but all she gets is silence and invalidation. She’s even started to ask for help — which is comically but depressingly so foreign to her because she’s always the one helping — but not many people have really stepped up to be there for her. Her hopelessness and despair have gotten so bad to the point of s*****al distress.

This has gotten so long, I’m sure it’s enough context now. I’m looking for books to recommend to her for her to have hope that things will be all right. I don’t know if she’ll get the help and validation she needs to be okay soon, but I hope she’ll at least feel a little bit at ease and have hope if she reads books (and maybe watch movies) with characters like her who do get their recognition at the end of the book.