WWII Fiction

annis · Post by **annis** » Sat December 6th, 2008, 7:13 am

WorldCat is great, but unfortunately not a lot of use to me, because if the only copies of something I want are only available in the States, for example, I'll be out of luck, though I can mostly get what I want through the New Zealand inter-library loan service.

I agree about sometimes needing to be a bit pushy about getting I/Ls. Sometimes it not just the money, but that a library staff member just can't be bothered.

I was horrified when my sister (who lives in Australia) told me she'd asked about a book at her local library, only to be told "We don't have that and I doubt whether anyone else does either" Without even checking the Australian Libraries national database ! Being a polite person and not knowing any better, my poor sister meekly went away feeling quite dejected. As a librarian myself, I can't believe that a library staff member would be so unhelpful - very poor service

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Fri March 13th, 2009, 12:13 am

The Spanish Civil War ended in 1940, overlapping a bit with World War II, and giving the British a good deal of worry over whether Franco would become an open ally of Hitler. Surprisingly, given the massive numbers of novels set during World War II, Spain has been neglected. However, C.J. Sansom's Winter in Madrid is an excellent addition, reminiscent of Graham Greene and John Le Carré, I thought. I've reviewed it at http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Winter-in-Madrid.html. It came out in 2006 in the U.K., but has only just been published in the U.S. this January 2009.

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Thu March 19th, 2009, 4:08 am

C.J. Sansom was kind enough to give me an interview about Winter in Madrid for my blog.

diamondlil · Post by **diamondlil** » Thu March 19th, 2009, 7:51 am

I am currently reading Night of Flames by Douglas W Jacobson, and I am really enjoying it! There are possibly a few too many points of view, but the storyline itself is very interesting.

MrsMorland · Post by **MrsMorland** » Mon March 23rd, 2009, 10:08 pm

Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher is one of my favorite books ever, and is set during the second world war.

Laura · Post by **Laura** » Tue March 24th, 2009, 4:24 pm

Margaret:
Great link!! But what about The Road to Flandres by Claude Simon and The Blue Bycicle by Regine Deforges?

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Wed March 25th, 2009, 3:49 am

Both The Blue Bicycle and The Road to Flanders were written by authors about events (WWII) that occurred during their own lifetimes, so they are not actually historical novels. For readers, the distinction between contemporary novels and historical novels about the same events can be subtle, but such a vast number of novels have been written about World War II that I'm not attempting to keep a comprehensive list of all World War II novels, just historical novels written by authors born after the war's end.

Laura · Post by **Laura** » Wed March 25th, 2009, 10:44 am

Thanks for the clarification Margaret!!

diamondlil · Post by **diamondlil** » Mon August 10th, 2009, 8:45 am

You can listen to an interview with Charles McCain, author of An Honourable German here. The interview is kind of long, but it was pretty interesting.

love_uk · Post by **love_uk** » Thu September 24th, 2009, 11:11 pm

[quote=""Ash""]I loved Atonement. Its slow at first, but by about page 30, I so related to Briony that I was hooked.[/quote]

Ash,

I totally agree. Interestingly, I saw the movie 1st, then read the book, then finally, listened to the unabridged books-on-tape version over a several day car trip. The audio version was stunning ... so beautifully & heartbreakingly articulated that I found myself weeping for both Briony & the lovers as I zoomed along ... already knowing the plot so well, I was captured anew by the power of its language.