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Original poster

I fancy reading something set in the 1940s- any recommendations?

71 replies

tethersend · 13/09/2012 22:09

Please?

OP posts:
RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 14/09/2012 16:58

And 'Brideshead Revisited' though a lot of that is pre-war memories.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 14/09/2012 16:56

The End Of The Affair - Graham Greene

Orangesarenottheonlyfruit · 14/09/2012 16:50

Oh oh me, me!!!!
Persephone Classics have reissued some forgotten early c20th writers that are BRILLIANT.
Have just finished Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple, about a husband and wife... and the au pair..., fantastic book. Amazingly deftly written, I really enjoyed it and it will stay with me for a long time. www.amazon.co.uk/Someone-at-Distance-Persephone-Classics/dp/1906462003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347637736&sr=8-1

Also Mariana by Monica Dickens (Charles' granddaughter). A 30's/ 40's tale of growing up but fabulous and with a little more 'edge' than in I Capture the Castle. A great forgotten book. www.amazon.co.uk/Mariana-Monica-Dickens/dp/0953478017/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347637787&sr=1-3

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 14/09/2012 16:44

I couldn't read 'The Night Watch' - just found it painfully slow and didn't engage with the characters at all.

'A Town Like Alice' is one of my favourite books ever - it's just lovely.

'Breakfast At Tiffany's' is 1940s, I think.

'Goodnight Mr Tom' - I bet you've read that though!

Bunbaker · 14/09/2012 16:40

Another vote for The Cazalet series (4 books). I watched in on TV several years ago and it was brilliant.

NatashaBee · 14/09/2012 16:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

maltravers · 14/09/2012 16:15

The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard (totally fab) and I second The Night Watch too.

thepeanutsparent · 14/09/2012 16:06

Mary Wesley war trilogy - Camomile Lawn, A Sensible Life & Part of the Furniture.
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford.

TheLightPassenger · 14/09/2012 15:56

The Fortunes of War sequence by Olivia Manning - Balkan Trilogy and Levant Trilogy

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

All that I am by Anna Funder (more 30s than 40s)

clippityclop · 14/09/2012 14:41

Shellseekers by Rosamund Pilcher.

Themumsnot · 14/09/2012 14:39

Angela Thirkell's books. They start off in the 1930s and go right through the war and the post war period. A lot of them are out of print now but some of them have been republished. The first two are High Rising and Wild Strawberries.

Seeline · 14/09/2012 14:31

I was going to suggest the Delderfield books too. A bit old fashioned in their style now but I love them (and all his other books Horsemand Riding By series, To serve Them All my Days etc)

shrinkingnora · 14/09/2012 14:30

A Town like Alice - Nevil Shute
Coming Home - Rosamund Pilcher

Portofino · 14/09/2012 14:17

I love the Camomile Lawn.

DuchessofMalfi · 14/09/2012 14:13

How about Mary Wesley?

Or The Report by Jessica Francis Kane which is about the Bethnal Green Tube Station disaster.

janesnowdon1 · 14/09/2012 11:56

Oh yes I would second highlandcoo's books (both excellent especially Nourishment - funny and sad and also add the following:

The Slave's of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton - about a late 30's/40 year old unmarried woman who moves from London during the blitz to a sleepy commuter town boarding house (for increased safety) . There are some very strange paying guests and oversexed American GI's. It may not sound good but is terrific.
www.amazon.co.uk/The-Slaves-Solitude-Patrick-Hamilton/dp/1845294157/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347619818&sr=8-1

The Dreaming Surburb and the follow up The Avenue Goes to War by R.F. Delderfield follows the fortunes of the residents of a surburban avenue in Outer South London and is very enjoyable
www.amazon.co.uk/The-Dreaming-Suburb-R-Delderfield/dp/034096376X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1347619965&sr=1-2

www.amazon.co.uk/Avenue-Goes-War-R-Delderfield/dp/0340963786/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347620050&sr=1-1

Finally- London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins is about the tenants of a building on the eve of the second world war
www.amazon.co.uk/London-Belongs-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0141442336/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347620141&sr=1-1

misspollysdolly · 14/09/2012 11:56

Some good books from this time from Persephone books Smile

highlandcoo · 14/09/2012 11:07

22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson and Nourishment by Gerard Woodward.

Both deal with the effect of a husband's absence during WW2 but are very different in tone. The first is more sensitive and disturbing; the second is quirkier with moments of black humour.

Original poster
tethersend · 13/09/2012 22:24

Thanks Smile

Was The Night Watch televised recently or am I thinking of something else?

OP posts:
NormanTheForeman · 13/09/2012 22:17

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters.

flubba · 13/09/2012 22:16

The Soldier's Return by Melvyn Bragg. Post-war story. Apparently very much liked by a number of book clubs (I personally didn't enjoy it, but that's not to say you wouldn't - obviously! :o)