Books Set In WW2

[LouReidPark]

What are your favourite books set in WW2?

I liked a few as a child - Carrie's War, the Judith Kerr series and I've read a couple I liked as an adult - Dear Mrs Bird, The Frequency Of Us and The Night Watch.

Looking for recommendations for more. TIA

All the light we cannot see - Anthony Doerr.

oh my word, what a book!

The Book Thief

Also really enjoyed “yours cheerfully” - AJ Pearce. A very different book!

The New Mrs Clifton by Elizabeth Buchan.

I enjoyed The Code Girls and The Bomb Girls series by Daisy Styles plus The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. Oh and of course Goodnight Mister Tom

Another vote for All The Light We Cannot See!

Goodnight Mr Tom
Number the Stars

Both children's books.

Never forget you. About Noor the first Muslim woman who became a SOE in France.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Probably a bit old fashioned now but RF Delderfield wrote several books that covered the period of the second World War.
Diana
The Avenue Goes to War and The Dreaming Suburbs - both based around the same characters living in the suburbs of South London.

Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher. Lots of detail about life in the war, great plot and just the right level of trauma (ie not ignoring the difficulties but not trauma porn)

Definitely All The Light We Cannot see!

I have recently listened to the Josephine Fox series by Claire Gradidge and really enjoyed them.
I liked the details of the social mores and norms of the time and always think a bit of detective work adds to a story.

I read The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear this week, it covers both world wars.

Lissa Evans wrote a trilogy of books set in wwii: V for Victory, Crooked Heart and Old Baggage. They are among my favourite books. Just brilliant.

Dolphin Crossing - Jill Paton Smith
Machine Gunners - Robert Westall

Both children’s books I read in ‘Fourth year juniors’ which I love (and still have.

Secret Hunters - Ranulph Fiends - this book has stayed with me, as it shows how ordernary people acted during the war in Germany and let or were powerless to prevent the horrors happening.

Blitz on Balaclava street - read when I was 16 about a 17 year old during the war - loved it and just purchased the book to re-read. Haven’t read it since I was around twenty (now middle aged).

In addition to the Lissa Evans trilogy above, she also wrote Their Finest (Hour And A Half) about the making of a morale-boosting war film in 1940. It’s very funny in places but doesn’t pull any emotional punches.

I second Coming Home and Goodnight Mr Tom. Also, Back Home by Michelle Magorian...not sure of spelling

I love all the Elizabeth Elgin books, mostly set around the women's roles during that time & have recently been reading a series by Fenella J Miller which is also quite good (not as good as Elgin though in my opinion).

Catch 22

The German War by Nicholas Stargardt
Stargardt is a historian, his book describes life in Germany during the war from documents newspapers and letters written by the German people as they lived their ordinary lives.
He also wrote about The German Children, mostly from their letters I think.
Very Challenging!

Does Life After Life count? So much of it is set in WW2. Adore that book.

Mary Wesley’s Camomile Lawn.

Tom Palmer has written some excellent ww1 and ww2 fiction for kids. Highly recommended.

Trust Me by Lesley Pearce. It's set just after ww2 and is a story about the children sent to Australia for a better life after the war. It's fiction but such a good read.