Good Reads - Fiction

World War II

FICTION/BINDING
Binding, Tim - Lying with the Enemy - 1998, 360p.
The occupation by German officers on the British island of Guernsey begins in 1940 and by 1943, when this story opens, the residents have arrived at a tolerable living arrangement. All is changed, however, when German officer Major Lentsch's island lover Isobel is found dead, her mouth and nose having been filled with cement. This historical novel studies how people react to everyday situations in a time of unimaginable terror.

FICTION/CIRINO
Cirino, Linda D. - Eva's Story - 1997, 167p.
An understated and quietly told tale about a German farm wife during World War II. Eva's life is very ordinary from the time her father finds her a farm husband through the years she is raising a son and daughter. All this changes when her husband is drafted and she is left to tend the farm while he is on the front lines, and her children are either in school or attending Hitler youth activities. Unaware of what is actually happening in the war, Eva naively helps a young Jewish man she finds hiding in her barn, but she is unprepared for the emotions and personal dangers that choice involves.

FICTION/DAVIS
Davis, Don - Appointment with the Squire - 1995, 327p.
Filled with historical details, Davis weaves a hypothetical tale of what might have happened. In this version of history, Hitler devises a plan to assassinate President Roosevelt, and the Fuhrer orders Wilhelm Mueller, an embittered SS member, to carry out this mission. Hunting down Mueller is Jack Cole, the only American who can identify the assassin. Cole, who was almost murdered by Mueller, is determined to find him and kill him before it is too late. The hunt is on—from Europe to Washington to Georgia—with twists all along the way.

FICTION/DE BERNIERES
de Bernieres, Louis - Corelli's Mandolin - 1994, 436p.
Early in World War II on the Greek Island of Cephallonia, Dr. Iannis observes and chronicles the everyday life of the villagers. Even after the Italians invade the island, things are not so bad. The commanding officer, Captain Corelli, loves life and shares that joy, with Dr. Iannis' daughter Pelagia in particular. As the war progresses, however, life becomes much more difficult for the island inhabitants as they must all face the hardships of day-to-day living. People change and so do their relationships—permanently altering lives. Written on several levels, de Bernieres combines a tragic love story with political satire.

FICTION/DENNY
Denny, Robert - Night Run - 1992, 387p.
This story of romance and adventure features the relatively unknown Russian women pilots, especially those who flew old biplanes that could glide undetected over German lines. Subtitled "A Novel in Honor of the Famed Night Witches of World War II," this novel incorporates historical events from the war on the Eastern front.

FICTION/FAULKS
Faulks, Sebastian - Charlotte Gray - 1998, 399p.
In 1942 twenty-five-year-old Charlotte Gray moves from Edinburgh to London to take a job as a doctor's receptionist. What she really wants, though, is to help with the war effort, but before she can be recruited she falls in love with a pilot. After Charlotte's lover crashes in France and is presumed dead, she is even more determined to go to France and work with the French resistance. In France her life takes on new meaning when she tries to save two Jewish boys from the concentration camps. A very realistic view of occupied France.

FICTION/FURST
Furst, Alan - The World at Night - 1996, 257p.
Set in 1940 German-occupied Paris where film producer Jean Casson and his wife have a very interesting marriage arrangement. They have separate apartments and allow each other to enjoy the company of others. And even while it is wartime, Casson still lives the romantic life of a Parisian. Now poised to make his first big film, he may be caught between the British Secret Service and the Nazis invading his beloved Paris.

FICTION/GANNON
Gannon, Michael - Secret Missions - 1994, 354p.
Soon after the U.S. enters World War II, Nazi spy Peter Krug arrives in America by German U-boat and attempts to learn the potential of the new American aircraft that is soon to be used against the Axis powers. A Catholic priest learns of Krug's involvement, but because of his vows he cannot divulge the plan and, with the help of a young woman pilot, must find a way to thwart the spy. A tale of espionage that also offers a look at the Catholic Church and its politics during the war.

FICTION/GOBBELL
Gobbell, John J. - The Last Lieutenant - 1995, 360p.
Lieutenant Todd Ingram is already exhausted and approaching starvation, but he and eleven other men decide to try an escape rather than face sure death at the hands of the invading Japanese as Corregidor is being captured. But even more frightening than the battle going on around them is his knowledge that a Nazi spy is hiding onboard the last remaining evacuation submarine. Attempting to avoid Japanese ships, planes and mines, as he leads his men on a 36-foot boat away from the island, Ingram must find the traitor who only needs seconds to radio the Japanese fleet. Based on a true story, this will certainly appeal to W.E.B. Griffin readers.

FICTION/GREIG
Greig, Andrew - The Clouds Above - 2000, 254p.
Len Westbourne is an RAF pilot and Stella Gardam is studying to be a radar operator when they meet at a RAF dance and their unlikely romance unfolds. Derived from a diary his mother kept during World War II relating her love for a RAF pilot, Scottish poet Greig's novel is told from different perspectives and shows the day-to-day hardships in the midst of wartime. It details the training and fears of young pilots, especially during their first missions, without romanticizing their efforts.

MYSTERY/JANES
Janes, J. Robert - Mirage - 1992, 272p.
This first in a series of mysteries taking place in France during World War II pairs Hermann Kohler of the Gestapo and Jean-Louis St-Cyr of the Surete Nationale on a murder case in the Fontainebleau Forest. Investigating the case of a young man at first thought to have been thrown from his bike and dead from a head injury, the two investigators instead come across black market dealings, tainted religion, and sex—all strong motives. Even though it is the middle of the war, ordinary crime persists.

FICTION/JONES
Jones, Tristan - Dutch Treat - 1979, 271p.
In June of 1940, as Nazi Panzer divisions are working their way through northern Europe, a group of British commandos steal the Dutch crown treasure from the Royal Palace and plan to get it back to England. This novel, written in journal form, takes place within one month's time. Filled with action, it's reminiscent of Alistair MacLean's adventure stories.

FICTION/KATZENBACH
Katzenbach, John - Hart's War - 1999, 486p.
The only survivor from his bombing crew, POW Tommy Hart is spending the rest of the war in Stalag Luft 13, keeping to himself and studying law books he gets through the Red Cross. Having been a third year law student when he enlisted, he doesn't plan on wasting his time now. That changes pretty quickly, however, when African-American pilot Lincoln Scott is brought into the Stalag. As he's the only African-American prisoner and since it's the 1940s, there is abundant prejudice, and after one of the prisoners is murdered, Scott becomes the prime suspect. Hart is chosen to defend him, but he soon realizes he's being set up to fail, but not before he gives it his best shot.

FICTION/LAKER
Laker, Rosalind - The Fragile Hour - 1997, 456p.
From early childhood, Anna has spent every summer in Norway with her Aunt Rosa, developing an affection for the people and a command of the language. In 1939 after her father's ship is torpedoed and all on board lost, she finishes boarding school and immediately volunteers at the Women's Royal Naval Service. Soon after, she is posted to Norway to work in the underground which was just as dangerous as the more familiar war zones. This novel offers another viewpoint of World War II, about a lesser known, but important front.

FICTION/MCCORMICK
McCormick, John - The Right Kind of War - 1992, 333p.
An old-fashioned story of newly trained Marines ready to fight for their country and never let their buddies down. Expert-rated machine-gunner Private Moe narrates this engrossing novel of the Marine Corps' Raiders who fought in the forefront in gaining control of the Pacific. These are young Marines who suffer through terrible battles, but who make fun when time permits. Follow these ordinary young men as they become Marines and fight island by island, leading up to the battles on Okinawa and Guam.

FICTION/MACMILLAN
MacMillan, Ian - Village of a Million Spirits - 1999, 257p.
Secret death camp Treblinka processed and killed between 600,000 and 1.2 million Jews. Told through different voices, this is the story of the uprising of the Treblinka concentration camp in August, 1943. Even though the prisoners knew there was little if any hope of succeeding, their will was strong that they had to fight this fight. Afterwards forty remained of the 600 who escaped. Written in a spare, matter-of-fact style, the author conveys the horrors of World War II without being maudlin.

FICTION/TROLLOPE
Trollope, Joanna - The Brass Dolphin - 1997, 320p.
In the beginning of World War II narrator Lila Cunningham learns that her so-called artist father has lost everything, including their house in England, and they accept the loan of a house on the island of Malta. Lila and her father arrive in Malta and after coming to terms with how dilapidated the house is, they settle into a totally different way of life in a new culture. Lila takes a job with a count, falls in love with his son, and watches him go off to war. Malta takes a terrible beating from the Nazis; the island is bombed repeatedly, surrounded by the German fleet, and almost starved. As Lila works at the local hospital and watches her friends suffer and die, she is forced to learn a lot about life and living.

SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY/YOLEN
Yolen, Jane - Briar Rose - 1992, 185p.
This retelling of the classic Sleeping Beauty uses the Holocaust as its setting. As she lays dying, Becca's grandmother (nicknamed Gemma) confesses that the fairy tale she has told so many times to her family is really true, that she is the Briar Rose of the story. When Becca then comes into possession of Gemma's memorabilia box, she vows to trace the fairy tale. As Becca travels to Poland she discovers the town of Chelmno and the horrors her grandmother survived. A fascinating and frightening twist on an old fable.

Prepared by Lynn McCullagh, September 2002