Historical Fiction About World War II

[@blane1814]

I enjoy your videos so much🩷🩷🩷

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks so much :)

[@sassygirl5271]

Love your videos Katie. I kept pausing it and checking my library to see if they had books mentioned. My TBR is getting so long.

[@larrymilliken288]

You caused me to think about the value of historical fiction with this video. Woven in these types of novels is the human drama that’s often dryly written in non-fiction history books; these texts follow an outline of what the author believes to be the facts according to extant records. However, when truth is the longitudinal warp and fiction the horizontal woof, you have an excellent tool to keep the reader’s interest, while highlighting an important part of history. Thank you, Katie you always present a facet of reading that’s enjoyable!

[@r.awilliams9815]

If you want to take on a brick of a historical WW2 fiction book (with some fantasy elements), give Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon a try. It's not an easy read by any means, Neal doesn't write easy reads. But you'll learn more about code-breaking that you ever thought possible.

[@kathleencraine7335]

❤❤ All the Light We Cannot See and❤❤ The Book Thief (has an amazing use of language and color)

[@jansmith9391]

Thanks!

[@katiejlumsden]

Thanks so much :)

[@deblawrence8341]

Another fantastic, interesting video filled with more books than I can ever dream of reading! (but you know I'll be visiting the bookstore soon with a new list of things to look for) A book that I recently read that left a rather large impact with me was "Mala's Cat: A Memoir of Survival in World War II" by Mala Kacenberg. It's the true story of a young girl who navigated the forests of Poland, outwitted Nazi soldiers, and survived against all odds with the companionship of a stray cat. Not a dull page in the entire novel! Highly recommend.

[@katiejlumsden]

That sounds really interesting!

[@DebMcDonald]

I recommend Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West and Little Boy Lost by Laski for postwar novels.

[@DebMcDonald]

Sorry. Got carried away. Return of the Soldier is WW l.

[@katiejlumsden]

It is a great book, though! I read Return of the Soldier when studying WWI and its cultural impact at university and loved it.

[@mame-musing]

I recommend Herman Wouk’s big duology “The Winds of War” followed by “War and Rembrance”. Also, Wouk’s stand alone novel “The Caine Mutiny”. Two novels by Eric Maria Remarque “The Arch of Triumph” and “A Time to Live and a Time to Die” (unique in that it is about a German soldier on leave reuniting with his girlfriend in the last days before Berlin fell). Helen MacInnes wrote great espionage novels set before and during WWII two are “Above Suspicion” where music is used to send coded message and “Assignment in Brittany” about the Resistance. (They are all written decades ago and are worth getting from the library.) PS: I would also add Irwin Shaw’s novel “The Young Lions” It was very engaging. Wouk and Shaw served in the military during WW2 which lends their stories authenticity.

[@AlmasBookJourney]

I love reading books set in WW2 especially from different countries/perspectives. I read Amy Harmon's book From Sand And Ash which was about a priest helping a Jewish Italian woman in Italy. Great book!

[@alexshort8055]

I do really enjoy all of Ken Follett’s WW2 thrillers. Robert Harris’ ‘Fatherland’ is another wonderful read. A side point: although set during WW1, Sebastian Faulks’ ‘Birdsong’ is surely one of the very-finest wartime novels.

[@katiejlumsden]

Oh yes, I think Birdsong is great! I need to read Fatherland sometime, as I do love Robert Harris.

[@judybrown1624]

I strongly agree about the Blitz scenes in Life After Life. So Haunting.

[@mrsmarfaasmr3259]

Love your videos. I was wondering if you could make a video recommending books about British colonisation in India either classics or historical fictions. Thank you 🤗🫶

[@kevinrussell1144]

That's a great idea. Since Katie reads so much and so widely, I, too, would love to hear her recommends. I'm not Katie but know that the amount of material written (in English) about India is....staggering. You can start with Kipling, Clive, and EM Forester, but you'll also want to read about the Mutiny, Gandhi, the subcontinent during WW2, and Independence, and immerse yourself with all the Indian writers covering the same ground plus partition. I always wanted to make it to India but am too old now, but if you have the curiosity, India (may be more so than China) is more likely to be driver of the world's economy in the second half of the current century. I'll gladly envy you if you go (as said the P.O. clerk in the opening scene of the movie version of A Passage to India). I suspect you're correct to put your finger there.

[@mrsmarfaasmr3259]

Thank you so much. I’ll look it up 😊

[@mame-musing]

@mrsmarfaasmr3259: “The Jewel in the Crown” is the first of Paul Scott’s Raj Quartet. It was also adapted as a wonderful TV series (I think BBC) maybe in the 1980’s. It was a really big deal when it was broadcast- to get a flavor of it you can probably find some clips on You Tube.

[@mrsmarfaasmr3259]

Thank you 😊

[@katiejlumsden]

Hi! I don't know if I have enough recommendations for a whole video, but - for classics, I'd say that A Passage to India by E.M. Forster is very interesting, as is The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore. I'd also recommend Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand - less about colonisation and more about the caste system in India in the 1930s, but it's really very interesting, and does touch on the colonial system.

[@davebonello1944]

(Melanie) Great video, Katie, I will definitely check some of these out.

[@jackiesliterarycorner]

I want to read The Whalebone Theater. I'm currently reading When Elephants Dance by Tess Uriza Holthe about the Philippines during WWII.

[@AlmasBookJourney]

I just finished All The Light We Can Not See last month. I really enjoyed it. Thank you so much for all these recommendations. More for my TBR!

[@clarepotter7584]

Thanks for this, more books to add to the TBR! I love 'An Artist of the Floating World' and 'Life After Life'. I also liked 'A God in Ruins' - I wish she'd made it a trilogy and written one in Germany, as I found the German section of 'Life After Life' fascinating. I also found 'The Fourth Shore' by Virginia Baily interesting. I didn't know much about the Italian empire in Libya.

[@Books-Are-Brilliant]

Thanks so much for this list, and for reminding me to dive into _The Book Thief_. It's been on my TBR list forever but, believe or not, I haven't read it yet!

[@ReadtoFilth]

Yes ! One of my favorite theme for historical fiction!

[@kompas29]

Great selection of books! The Night Watch is my absolute favourite of Sarah Waters. I believe you've recently read the Mother's Boy by Patrick Gale, I found his description of the war in the Mediterranean and in Gibraltar very interesting. I would add Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan as an interesting WWII story focused on the girl who works in the docks as a diver and fixes the war ships. And Helen Humphreys has a tender novel The Lost Garden about a women who is in charge of the repurposing of the old mansion in rural England to grow food and makes a surprising discovery there.

[@katiejlumsden]

I haven't read Mother's Boy yet, but I definitely want to! I love Manhattan Beach - I'm annoyed I forgot it!

[@Rosiemayj]

Small Island , The Nightwatch and The Book Thief are all time favourites, and I absolutely loved The Whalebone Theatre, I'm looking forward to reading some of the others on your list this summer 😊

[@JacquelineCaron]

alot of good books here! want to add the Bronze Horseman trilogy by Paullina Simons.

[@lisasstitchingandsuch]

I have read 4 of the books you mentioned and all 4 I would highly recommend too so I will definitely seek out the others you recommended! WWII books I would recommend are Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis. It was supposed to be one book but got too big so it was split into two but should be read as one. It's about time travelling historians who get separated and have to get on with living in Britain during the war - very fun but good historical fiction at the same time.

[@jensreadinglife]

I loved that you highlighted lesser known books in this video. I’m adding a bunch of these to my TBR. And thank you for reminding me of The Whalebone Theatre. I have been wanting to read it for ages and I’ve just put a hold on the audiobook from my library. 😊

[@katiejlumsden]

It's really so great!

[@KierTheScrivener]

I have wanted to read Circus Train for awhile. I had no idea that Half Blood Blues was partly about jazz musicians in WWII. Really cool! I can definitely confirm it is a market issue. If I look at historical fiction at my library, I scroll by dozens of dozens of WWII fiction and then can never find the Victorian historical fiction you or other Brits reccomend.

[@katiejlumsden]

This is interesting! And I really do recommend Half Blood Blues - it's great!

[@crazee4books]

When I was in high school I read Anya by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer which follows the main character Anya Savikin, a Polish Jew and her life both before and during WWII. It was based on the true life experiences of someone that the author knew and it was my first real introduction to the events of the Holocaust. A powerful and fascinating book. I loved The Whalebone Theatre and The Circus Train too but wasn't as impressed with The Book Thief.

[@marthajumartins]

What a nice list of books. Thank you!

[@BookishTexan]

Great list. Thank you for sharing.

[@thaiziono96]

Hello Katie, amazing list. I want to read "Life After Life" by Kate Atkinson for ages and "These Days", I was aware by Goodreads. I also read "The Book Thief" a long time ago and then I saw the movie, the book and the movie are amazing. If I would recommend a Historical fiction of WWII, it will be "Sarah's Key" by Tatiana de Rosnay, it is beautifully written. "The English Patient" by Michael Ondaatje is also great ;). I know it is a silly coincidence but in "An Artist on a Floating World" by Kazuo Ishiguro (13:32), there is a character with my last name, Mr. Masuji Ono, the main character. I know, it is a silly coincidence 😆. This book is great and in my opinion, it is the most Japanese book by Ishiguro. Does it make sense? ;)

[@katiejlumsden]

Weird coincidence! I definitely find it very strange when I come across a character with my last name in a novel!

[@thaiziono96]

@@katiejlumsden isn't it?! 😆. Recently I saw that there is a movie adaptation of this book with Ken Watanabe (actor) in the main part. I think I will watch to compare with the book 😉

[@novellenovels]

I love books set in the Second World War and need to do a video of my own for recommendations. I tend to love the saga books set in World War Two so love Elaine Everest books. Small island is going on my summer TBR so even more excited now 😊

[@jansmith9391]

Thanks Katie for a few new titles to add to my search. Wasn’t My Father’s House just great?!

[@katiejlumsden]

It really was!

[@sarah-roadworthy]

American here. I often feel there's a lot of historical fiction set in WW2, specifically set in Europe, involving Brits or Americans. I'm always on the hunt for WW2 books set some where else - Africa, Asia or the Pacific and/or not from a British or American perspective. A video of recommendations for those books would be a public service!

[@katiejlumsden]

I really do recommend Rose and the Burma Sky and An Artist of the Floating World.

[@davidmccalip5759]

Hello Katie! I hope you are doing well. Would you consider The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin historical fiction about WWII? If so, have you read it and what were your thoughts? Have a great day!

[@katiejlumsden]

Not one I've read!

[@michaeldedalus1039]

For my money, Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman is the best novel about World War II.

[@kevinrussell1144]

Thanks for the comment. That book has been sitting on our bookshelf for 15 (?)+ years, and I've never read it. I was told it's another War and Peace. Perhaps I'll get to it before they throw dirt on my virtual coffin.

[@harmonyln7]

Have you read "Rowan The Strange"? I can't remember the author since I read it back in 2010. It's a story about a boy who gets taken to a mental hospital without being told that's where he's going, at least until he's told so when he gets there. Basically a story of skizofrenia during the second world war. I was asked to review it by the library I was doing work experience at at the time.

[@sandra7319.]

Actually, I hear more British book tubers say they are "over" WWII books.

[@jamesduggan7200]

Have you read Sophie's Choice? A beautiful blonde, blue-eyed, Polish mother-of-two ends up in Auschwitz. She survives the ordeal and resurfaces in Post-War Brooklyn, where she enters into a crazy love affair with a Jewish man who has been badly damaged by the idea of Holocaust. Although he neither served or directly suffered, he is less able than she to deal with life day after day.

[@kevinrussell1144]

Here we are again, James. No, I've not read Sophie's Choice nor even seen the movie, but perhaps I should? Thanks for the vote of encouragement. Have YOU read under the Volcano, M. Lowry's strange novel about a day in Mexico just before the war? The John Huston movie made from it is not bad, but the book contains so much more. I read much more history about WW2 than fiction, but I will cross the line if my curiosity is sufficiently piqued. My son gave me "All the Light that Failed" a few years back and I found it dreadful and poorly written. Go figure. There is just no accounting for taste.

[@jamesduggan7200]

@@kevinrussell1144 Yes, I used to read a lot of history. I did my MA in European History and for my thesis wrote on law in Modern Germany. I've always enjoyed Malcolm Lowry and recall having read several things tho tbh it was years and years ago and while it's possible I've read the title you mention, if I do I've forgotten it. John Huston made many great films. As for the Sophie's Choice film, I think it works well with the novel, which is too long for casual readers. In the novel we spend far more than two hours before we learn Sophie's entire backstory without which the ending is incomprehensible. Of course I'm biased toward beautiful heroines, especially those in distress. On a related note, I tend to find heroic male characters a little comical, except Nick Rostov in War and Peace, when he rescues Princess Maryia.

[@kevinrussell1144]

@@jamesduggan7200 Thanks for the reply. Interesting that you're mentioning comical or wooden heroic male characters. I've noted before on 'Tube that I ask guys who have read W&P which male character (Andrei, Pierre, or Nick) they most identify with. Most seem to say Andrei or Pierre (the Everyman), but I, too, like Nicholas. I suspect he is the real Tolstoy. The writer obviously loved Natasha (as a character) and I've read that Marya is a recreation of his mother, so what can that tell us about Leo and Frued? In "Anna", Levin is so much the star that most of the women (even Kitty) tend to retreat into the woodwork. I always guessed that Kitty must be a close version of Tolstoy's own wife. Hardy, another observant writer who probably understood women about as much as it's possible for any male to do, presents several admirable male characters but only a few females (the idealized Tess, for example). Eustacia is very much a mixed bag (although lovely and in distress), Tamsin is a victim, and the two in Jude are true pieces of work. I fear to bring up Cathy wandering the heather, pining for the Bad Boy, and making trouble in the West Riding, but if I don't, she may knock on the window. It's raining outside (again).

[@jamesduggan7200]

@@kevinrussell1144 It is refreshing to read a new perspective on Tolstoy's women, who are for the most part IMHO 'difficult.' I haven't got much biographical information at my fingertips so I rely on the characterization of young women who can't be caged up the way some men would like their wives to be. The idea that women could have imagination and desires can be difficult to accept. Therefore, your perspective - with modeling on the mother - is less harsh. Also, it sounds as if you know something about it, which adds weight. Are you familiar at all with his Kreutzer Sonata? I'd be interested to learn where that female protagonist fits in the basic Holy Mary/Magdalene perspective.

[@kevinrussell1144]

@@jamesduggan7200 Thanks again, JD. I admit I've read a LOT of Tolstoy and I know I read TKS many years ago, but you've given a good reason to grab it off the shelf and re-read. It must not have made a huge impression at the time. The last novels/long works I read of his were Hadji Murad and Resurrection; the latter had some saint/victim/soiled dove female characters in it. I believe that work is from his religious rather than artistic phase. Tolstoy was a VERY complicated individual. I'll get back to you on TKS. But if you ask me about Dostoyevsky, you'll find me very much a poorly-informed rube. For flip-side comparison, I always wonder what Jane Austin REALLY thought about her female characters, and contrast that with the presentations of Willa Cather. Then I'm very much into the dark woods.