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Recommendations Please - World War 2 Fiction

33 replies

Vistaverde · 31/07/2017 12:10

Looking for some inspiration as to my next one to read. So far I have read and enjoyed:-

Charlotte Gray
Resistance
Suite Francais
The Nighingale
Everyone Brave is Forgiven
Mussolini's Island

Thank you

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MadamWillYouTalk · 02/09/2017 21:03

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - not sure if this quite fits what you're looking for as it's set very soon post-war, but many of the conversations deal with events that happened during the war.

ThursdayLastWeek · 02/09/2017 20:56

Oh god yes and Maus.

I did a module at uni on Holocaust Fiction which featured a lot of these and was incredibly moving.

ThursdayLastWeek · 02/09/2017 20:54

Auld I love Carries War, thank you for reminding me of it!

I have just bought the audio version of the first Cazalet Chronicke thanks to this thread Smile

hackmum · 02/09/2017 20:45

Night watch by Sarah Waters
A god in ruins by Kate Atkinson
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada
Their finest hour and a half by Lissa Evans

All excellent but completely different.

AuldHeathen · 02/09/2017 15:05

Has anyone said Umberto Eco yet? I think of him with Eli Wiesel but not sure why except l think both survived Ausschwitz and wrote books.

MazDazzle · 02/09/2017 15:01

The German English Girl
Random Acts of Heroic Love
Once, Then, Now, After - a set of books
Maus (autiobiographical graphic novel)

AuldHeathen · 02/09/2017 15:00

The Glass Room and The Girl who fell from the Sky, and its sequel. All by same author. Have forgotten author. Rubbish memory for names these days but whilst looking in vain for that, l found another. The Italian Chapel by Philip Paris.

AuldHeathen · 02/09/2017 14:47

Another children's book but very good. Carrie's War by Nina Bawden. I don't know if any of her other books are st in ww2.

woman12345 · 01/09/2017 08:21

The Night Ellie Wiesel
Exodus Leon Uris
The Silver Sword Ian Serrailler ( children's book, but great)
Life and Fate Vasily Grossman

AuldHeathen · 31/08/2017 15:47

Julia Franck is good- German translated to English.

NullaG · 25/08/2017 22:19

Gone to Soldiers - Marge Piercy
Winds of War - Herman Wouk

NotMeNoNo · 25/08/2017 22:15

Sorry, I'm talking garbage. The novel is PASTORAL by Neville Shute. (the song "a nightingale sang in Berkely Square" features in it). One glass of wine too many!

NotMeNoNo · 25/08/2017 22:13

Not quite fiction but I do love Paul Brickhill: The Great Escape, The Wooden Horse etc. I came on to suggest The Nightingale. They dramatized it once for the Saturday afternoon play on Radio 4, I was sobbing by the end! Also Requiem for a Wren (again by Neville Shute) is very moving.

Armi · 25/08/2017 22:09

Another 'The Night-Watch' by Sarah Waters recommendation here. Kay is one of my favourite literary characters, so brave and kind.

Original poster
Vistaverde · 24/08/2017 14:30

Thanks to this thread I have recently read All the Light We Cannot See which I really enjoyed. I also happened to stumble upon Aftermath in the library, set in Hamburg immediately post war which was interesting for gaining a different perspective.

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BikeRunSki · 22/08/2017 19:58

I have just finished From Sand and Ash by Amy Harmer, set in Italy, just before, and during WW2.
I was gripped and yes, it did make me cry, right at the end. I learnt a lot too.

AuldHeathen · 22/08/2017 19:54

Philip Kerr's Bernie Guenter books need a mention. They give WW2 from a German angle written by a Scot!

MegBusset · 20/08/2017 18:23

HHhH - divides opinion on the 50 Books threads but a stunning book imo

PotteringAlong · 20/08/2017 18:22

Dominion! Excellent book!

Whatshouldmyusernamebe · 20/08/2017 18:19

God in ruins is wonderful IMO. following this thread so can come back later and make a note of some of these. Loved the Nightwatch.

Wormulonian · 08/08/2017 13:39

Vista thanks for coming back. I haven't started a God in Ruins either as it has such mixed reviews.

Original poster
Vistaverde · 08/08/2017 11:06

Sorry for only coming back to this now.

Thank you all for your suggestions which I have already started checking out.

RMC I keep hearing about the Cazalet's so that is definitely one to try.

Worm I really enjoyed Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth so will be adding the Century Trilogy to my to read list.

Joey I currently have All The Light We Cannot See reserved at the library. I enjoyed Life after Life but have heard mixed opinions about God In Ruins so haven't yet read it but maybe I need to give it a try.

Annandale I have recently finished Fatherland and I really liked it. I have been meaning to try C J Sansom as I enjoy historical fiction generally and Dominion looks like a good place to start.

Lady Westwood sounds right up my street, thanks for the suggestion.

Cool I didn't realise Home Fires had been cancelled. I will keep an eye out for the book.

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CoolCarrie · 04/08/2017 13:27

Home Fires,
the television series is being published in Ebook format, so if you enjoyed the tv series the writer Simon Block is continuing the story after ITV stupidity cancelled it! I think it wil be published in book form at the end of this year.

elkiedee · 04/08/2017 02:37

Miss Ranskill Comes Home by Barbara Euphan Todd is reprinted by Persephone - Miss R has been stranded on a desert island for a few years and has just got back to England to find all kinds of incomprehensible changes as it's now 1941 or 42.

LadyOfTheCanyon · 03/08/2017 05:54

Another vote for Life after Life and The Nightwatch.
Westwood by Stella Gibbons has some wonderfully atmospheric descriptions of London during the Blitz.

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