Book picks similar to
Beneath Us the Stars by David Wiltshire
historical-fiction
wwii
historical-fiction-ww2
historicals
Crooked Heart
Lissa Evans - 2014
Always desperate for money, she's unscrupulous about how she gets it. Noel's mourning his godmother, Mattie, a former suffragette. Brought up to share her disdain for authority and eclectic approach to education, he has little in common with other children and even less with Vee, who hurtles impulsively from one self-made crisis to the next. The war's thrown up new opportunities for making money but what Vee needs (and what she's never had) is a cool head and the ability to make a plan. On her own, she's a disaster. With Noel, she's a team. Together they cook up an idea. Criss-crossing the bombed suburbs of London, Vee starts to make a profit and Noel begins to regain his interest in life. But there are plenty of other people making money out of the war and some of them are dangerous. Noel may have been moved to safety, but he isn't actually safe at all…
Turn Left At The Daffodils
Elizabeth Elgin - 2007
But as war escalates, she defies everyone and joins the ATS. Nan Morrissey is leaving her troubled past behind to join the forces. Awaiting the two new arrivals is Evie. Together the three women will help each other through the trials and tribulations of war.
Debutante
Anne Melville - 1999
Bidding childhood farewell, the debutantes will find themselves thrust into a world of balls, dancing, and young gentlemen, glamorous but fraught with rivalry. Ronnie, Peggy, Isabelle, and Anne could not be more different; four girls from four different worlds. But when their lives crash together, they find themselves relying on each other in ways they could never have imagined. But as war fast approaches, it soon becomes clear that this Season will be unlike any before. The world is changing, and all four girls find their lives irrevocably changed along with it. Love, loss, heartbreak: who will make it out unscathed?
Consequences
Penelope Lively - 2007
James's Park begins young Lorna and Matt's intense relationship. Wholly in love, they leave London for a cottage in a rural Somerset village. Their intimate life together—--Matt’'s woodcarving, Lorna's self-discovery, their new baby, Molly—--is shattered with the arrival of World War II. In 1960s London, Molly happens upon a forgotten newspaper--—a seemingly small moment that leads to her first job and, eventually, a pregnancy by a wealthy man who wants to marry her but whom she does not love. Thirty years later, Ruth, who has always considered her existence a peculiar accident, questions her own marriage and begins a journey that takes her back to 1941 —and a redefinition of herself and of love. Told in Lively's incomparable prose, Consequences is a powerful story of growth, death, and rebirth and a study of the previous century--—its major and minor events, its shaping of public consciousness, and its changing of lives.
Killing the Hangman
Ellie Midwood - 2019
Two Czechoslovakian patriots who are ready to risk their own lives to stop him. The most daring assassination of WW2. “You are tasked with a mission of the utmost importance. As you know, Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich is one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany as of now. He’s efficient in his methods, ruthless, extremely intelligent, and can’t be underestimated. A man like him will give you only one chance to kill him; if you don’t use it, he’ll kill you and it won’t be a fast and merciful death.” The Gestapo chief and the man, whom Hitler himself calls The Man with the Iron Heart, arrives in Prague and soon earns himself the name of The Hangman among its population. When the order comes from London calling the Czech resistance to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, they have to decide fast, what is stronger - self-preservation or heroic death in the name of freedom. “We can’t die tonight. Fate wouldn’t allow us to die before we complete our mission. Heydrich’s appointment as the Protector has perverted the very sense of the word. He’s not the Protector; we are. We are coming to restore the correct order of things, how they should be. When the strong protect the weak, not when the strong bully everyone who goes against them into blind submission, or hangs them regardless of age, sex, class or origin. No, we can’t die. Otherwise, this whole world won’t make sense to me anymore.” Based on true events, “Killing the Hangman” follows Josef Gabčík’s and Jan Kubiš’s training in Britain, their parachute drop into Czechoslovakia, and the eventual planning and carrying out of the assassination itself. It also provides an intimate glimpse into the life of Heydrich himself, his recent appointment, the infamous Wannsee Conference, and his eventual death. (Formerly a part of a USA-Today bestselling anthology “The Darkest Hour”)
Blackpool Evacuee
Maggie Mason - 2018
Clara is worked like a dog, but the warmth of her Blackpool friendships will go far to save her. Julia just wants to find her beloved daughter - but the trials of war will keep them far apart. They will meet again - but the war will change everything for mother and daughter...
The Lieutenant's Nurse
Sara Ackerman - 2019
She’s never even seen the ocean before, but Eva Cassidy has her reasons for making the crossing to Hawaii, and they run a lot deeper than escaping a harsh Michigan winter. Newly enlisted as an Army Corps nurse, Eva is stunned by the splendor she experiences aboard the steamship SS Lurline; even more so by Lt. Clark Spencer, a man she is drawn to but who clearly has secrets of his own. But Eva’s past—and the future she’s trying to create—means that she’s not free to follow her heart. Clark is a navy intelligence officer, and he warns her that the United States won’t be able to hold off joining the war for long, but nothing can prepare them for the surprise attack that will change the world they know.In the wake of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Eva and her fellow nurses band together for the immense duty of keeping the American wounded alive. And the danger that finds Eva threatens everything she holds dear. Amid the chaos and heartbreak, Eva will have to decide whom to trust and how far she will go to protect those she loves.Set in the vibrant tropical surroundings of the Pacific, The Lieutenant’s Nurse is an evocative, emotional WWII story of love, friendship and the resilient spirit of the heroic nurses of Pearl Harbor.
The Runaway Sisters
Ann Bennett - 2020
I saw the first glimmers of daylight over the roofs from the window before I heard it. We were used to air raids by then and I recognised German engines, but something felt different this time. They were closer than I’d ever heard them before…Devon, 1940: When fifteen-year-old Daisy is evacuated from her home in London, she knows she must look after her younger sister Peggy. She is the only one who can reassure Peggy that life will go back to normal, reading to her from their one battered children’s book, ensuring she takes the cough medicine their mother tucked in the pocket of her gas mask bag.But when the sisters’ new home is suddenly bombed, they are taken into the countryside, and Daisy quickly realises that not everyone at home is on the right side of the war. Forced to work in fields alongside orphan children, she finds herself drawn to a young boy called John, who has tried and failed to escape many times before.Then Peggy gets sick and Daisy knows that, to save her life, they must run away. But now Peggy is not the only one Daisy is desperate to protect. As war rages all around, Daisy learns that sometimes you have to sacrifice everything if you want to save the people you love. And that the choices you make in your darkest days will affect your family for generations to come…Perfect for fans of Lisa Wingate, Diney Costeloe and Shirley Dickson, The Runaway Sisters is a tale of heartwrenching loss and uplifting courage. It’s a story about family, and the light that can be found in the dark clouds of war.
Three Sisters: A True Holocaust Story of Love, Luck, and Survival
Celia Clement - 2020
Fire Weed
Terry Montague - 1992
Living with her father, sister, and brother in a cramped apartment in Berlin, the small family shares what seems to be an unbreakable spirit of love and security. However, with the rise of the Nazi party and approaching dark clouds of war, any kind of future grows increasingly uncertain. Knowing little of hate and destruction, Lisel is ill prepared as the storms of battle erupt in full fury and loved ones are taken from her as her beautiful city is reduced to rubble. With fear and despair rising within, it is through her quiet, compassionate father that Lisel discovers faith and hope. Now, in a desperate journey to find her sister, Lisel and her neighbor flee Berlin and the advancing Russians for Frankfurt, a city under the protection of the Allies. But their flight to safety is filled with pain, hunger, and terror. However, with spiritual lessons and blessings from her father, the support of departed loved ones, and her tried but undying faith in a loving Heavenly Father, perhaps Lisel can emerge like the fireweed—rising strong and beautiful from scorched ground—transforming bitterness and despair into a charity that never faileth.
Wartime Christmas Tales: A WWII Flash Fiction Anthology
Dianne AscroftGenevieve Montcombroux - 2020
This collection of short stories is our gift to bring you something positive and joyful with which to end the year.Soldiers stumbling upon mercy and miracles; children sharing gifts of friendship and love; romance finding its way into lonely, war-weary hearts; resistance fighters; spies; families on the home front—all bringing their own ray of hope in the darkest of times.For this holiday season, we offer you this collection of short stories to lift your spirit, and to remember a time when love and the strength of human spirit prevailed.We hope you will enjoy stepping back into the wartime Christmases in these stories with us.
The Orphan of Salt Winds
Elizabeth Brooks - 2018
Ten-year-old Virginia Wrathmell arrives at Salt Winds, a secluded house on the edge of a marsh, to meet her adoptive parents—practical, dependable Clem and glamorous, mercurial Lorna. The marsh, with its deceptive tides, is a beautiful but threatening place. Virginia’s new parents’ marriage is full of secrets and tensions she doesn’t quite understand, and their wealthy neighbor, Max Deering, drops by too often, taking an unwholesome interest in the family’s affairs. Only Clem offers a true sense of home. War feels far away among the birds and shifting sands—until the day a German fighter plane crashes into the marsh, and Clem ventures out to rescue the airman. What happens next sets into motion a crime so devastating it will haunt Virginia for the rest of her life. Seventy-five years later, she finds herself drawn back to the marsh, and to a teenage girl who appears there, nearly frozen and burdened by her own secrets. In her, Virginia might have a chance at retribution and a way to right a grave mistake she made as a child. Elizabeth Brooks’s gripping debut mirrors its marshy landscape—full of twists and turns and moored in a tangle of family secrets. A gothic, psychological mystery and atmospheric coming-of-age story, The Orphan of Salt Winds is the portrait of a woman haunted by the place she calls home.
The Promise
Ruth Saberton - 2019
Drawn to Cornwall in search of answers, a neglected garden and crumbling Second World War fortifications offer some explanation, but does anyone remain who might remember the truth? And whose promise was broken with devastating consequences?As her world turns upside down, Nell must face her own past and confront secrets deeper and darker than she could ever imagine. From the bestselling Winston Graham Historical Prize for Fiction shortlisted author, comes a haunting and beautiful new novel.What Amazon readers and reviewers are saying about The Promise:
"One of my books of the year,"
"If you like Kate Morton, this is the book for you!"
"I loved every word and had to ration myself"
"A truly captivating and well told story"
"My favourite book of the year"
"Compelling and enchanting."
"A heartwrenching story that will live long in the memory"
Trapped in East Germany
Carolyn Twede Frank - 2016
She is not alone—in wartime Berlin, it seems that everyone has been swept up in the frightening transformation of their city. No more than a child, Karin is far too young to understand the Nazi presence or the drone of air-raid sirens or the absence of her beloved Pappa, a soldier in the German army. But when a bomb destroys their home, Karin is forced to grow up far too soon as her family joins the tens of thousands displaced in the raids on the city. Relying on their faith as Latter-day Saints, Karin and her family begin a journey that will prove the indomitable strength of the human spirit.What follows is the sweeping narrative of one young girl's journey through war and beyond—from her childlike observations of World War II in Germany to her changing view of the world as she grows up in a land divided by war. Now, driven by starvation and the perilous existence of refugees, Karin and her family must draw upon a deep reservoir of strength and faith to sustain them through the harrowing escape ahead . . .
Burma Victory: Imphal and Kohima, March 1944 to May 1945
David Rooney - 1992
In 1942, following their lightning strikes on Pearl Harbor and Hong Kong, the Japanese invaded Burma. British forces were rapidly driven out, following a swift and total defeat. The British and Indian forces retaliated with limited offences and with mixed results. The Japanese advance continued, driving victoriously for the domination of Asia. Then came the Japanese attack of Imphal and Kohima, starting one of the most ferocious campaign of the war. Burma Victory portrays the “forgotten war” and the Allied fight to push the Japanese out of Burma. David Rooney – who saw war service in India and West Africa – tells the story of the campaigns of the new Fourteenth Army, under the command of the remarkable General Slim. Rooney captures the ebb and flow of battle and the roles of Wingate, Stilwell and the Chindits. In doing so, he offers a new analysis of the role of airpower and highlights the influence of British, American, Japanese and Chinese thinking at the highest level. Burma Victory is essential reading for anyone interested in General Slim, the Second World War and how defeat can be turned into victory. Recommended reading for fans of Max Hastings, Antony Beevor and Andrew Roberts.