Recommendations Please - World War 2 Fiction

[Vistaverde]

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

The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard. The four initial books follow an extended family from 1938 right through to the end of the war. I love them. There is a Fifth book but it is set on 1956. Was written much later. Still work a read but not up to the same standard.
Also All the light we can not see, and a wonderful Ben Elton one about two brothers which the exact name of I can't remember but it might be Two Brothers!

The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton is about a spinster , Enid Roach who moves out of London during the Blitz to a commuter town to live in a guest house with an American army base nearby. Sad and funny

The Nightwatch - Sarah Waters

The Century Trilogy - Ken Follett - the 3 books cover 1st and 2nd world wars and the fall of the Berlin Wall

The Dreaming Suburb and the Avenue at War by RF Delderfield follows the residents of an Avenue in an outer London suburb (Shirley) from just after the first war through the second.

The Pursuit of Love though only the last few chapters are about the war. I still think it has one of the most telling descriptions of Dunkirk though (one paragraph).

Atonement
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
A Town like Alice

If you don't mind a children's book Goodnight Mr Tom is amazing

Thanks for the reminder about RF Deldefield, wormulonian, enjoyed those years ago. Also second All The Light We Cannot See - a brilliant book.
Also:
The Book Thief
A God In Ruins and Life After Life - these will stay with you long after you've finished them
The Bronze Horseman
Empire of the Sun
Good Night Mister Tom and Back Home
Captain Correli's Mandolin
Enigma
The Eagle Has Landed

Enjoy!

Eliza Graham is very good.

Goodnight sweetheart by Annie groves. Not exactly Shakespeare but a good little read none the less!

Ooh, do you like the counterfactual books? I thought Fatherland was really amazing and I liced CJ Sansom's one as well.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Dominion! Excellent book!

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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

Julia Franck is good- German translated to English.

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