I love history. One of my favorite things to do is to snuggle into a good piece of historical fiction, and over the past year I have found myself increasingly drawn to novels that take place in Europe during World War 2.
What interests me most about WW2 may seem obvious to say, but it's that so many different countries were involved, and each country's people have very diverse perspectives on the events that occurred. An English Royal Air Force pilot making drops over France will have a completely different tale to tell from the Greek villager living under the Italian occupation. And what it really all comes down to me is the people. After all, history is nothing more than a collection of people's stories.
Below I've listed some of the better historical novels whose events take place during WW2 that I have read over the past year. An interesting side note: not a single one of these writers is an American, and many were translated into English from the writer's native language. This speaks all the more better for the translator's talents, as these novels are profoundly, and beautifully written.
The list, in the order that I read these books in, is as follows:
1. Winter in Madrid by C.J. Sansom. I picked up this book in Amsterdam last year, where it was a bestseller in Britain. It takes place in post-Civil War Spain, and follows the tale of Harry Brett, who finds himself over his head, and far from home in this thrilling tale of love, betrayal, and espionage.
2. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. While it's not technically "a WW2 novel", large parts of it take place in the years immediately leading up to, and during the war. A young boy, growing up in Barcelona during the 1950's loses himself in a book, and gets caught up in the intrigue, mystery, and danger that surrounds the novel's origins.
3. Tamar by Mal Peet. This novel is actually intended for a young adult audience, but once I read it's description in the Barnes & Noble "Discover Great New Writers" brochure for Spring 2007, I could hardly resist picking it up at my local library. It tells that tale of two of two young Englishmen assisting the Dutch Resistance effort in Holland during the last years of the war. What adds to the novel's mystery, is its parallel narrative structure. It's a compelling and brilliantly written novel.
4. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. A heart-wrenching international bestseller that you have no doubt heard of. It consists of two novellas, but they come together so seamlessly. The first half, entitled "Storm in June" describes the 1940 exodus of thousands of French citizens fleeing Paris when the Nazi German occupiers arrive. The individual chapters are short; each illustrates the individual crises and situations affecting several different families. The second half, "Dolce" narrates the story of a French village under German occupation following the armistice in 1940, and how each villager comes to grips with the choices they make in a time of fear, uncertainty, and desperation. Nemirovsky intended her novel to continue further into five parts, but her life came to an abrupt end when she, a Russian Jewish immigrant, residing in France, was deported to, and perished in Auschwitz in 1942.
5. Atonement by Ian McEwan. Readers hoping for meaty military battles and despondent war widows will have to look elsewhere. This haunting and gritty read focuses on perceptions of reality, and the elasticity of truth. The story takes place at a country estate during pre-war England, and later in war-time London. The feelings that McEwan's lush narrative evokes in the reader are unparalleled.
6. Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks. A rarity among wartime novels, the protagonist in this story is an Englishwoman, Charlotte Gray who finds herself a secret agent for British Intelligence, drawn into the French Resistance when her lover, a pilot with the Royal Air Force is shot down over the German-occupied Franch countryside. Faulks' well-crafted prose, and knowledge of military history is both moving and impressive.
7. Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. What I loved most about this novel is that each chapter is told by a different character, allowing the reader to see many different sides of a single event-the Italian occupation of the Greek island of Cephalonia. The novel follows several different threads, but the meat and potatoes of it, so to speak concerns the relationship between native Cephalonian beauty, Pelagia, and the charming, mandolin-playing Italian captain, Captain Corelli. The outcome is pretty predictable, and the plot formulaic, but what kept me reading was the story of the minor characters, and the obviously well-researched historical details.
8. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. WOW. That was what I kept saying to myself, over and over, as I read on. Like Tamar, this book was written for a young adult audience, but when I saw it just lying on a table in a bookshop, I couldn't help myself. It looked too good, and really, it was, Absolutely. Brilliant. The novel is narrated by Death, and he follows the trials and tribulations of Liesel Meminger, a young German girl who is taken on by a Jewish-sympathetic family in Molching, Germany. Besides the unique narrator, what makes this book so different and special from other WW2 novels is that it is about a German family, and never once does the author vilify, or condemn them. Their childen are members of the Hitler Youth, to be sure, but only because to defy the Nazi's rule would be tantamount to suicide. There are parts of the story that disturbed me, as a 20-somethings woman, and so I would not universally recommend this book to all young adults, but this in no way detracts in my admiration of what Markus Zusak set out to accomplish, and overwhelmingly achieved.
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