The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn follows the rise of Lyudmila Pavlichenko ,"Lady Death", famed Soviet Sniper of WWII with an official kill tally of 309. I first heard about Lyudmila ("Mila") during my early - mid '00s Russian history obsession phase of my life (everyone has one of those, right...?) A woman fighting on… Continue reading Review: The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
The Siege by Helen Dunmore follows a young woman, Anna, who is thrust into the primary caretaker role for her family during the deadly 1941 Siege of Leningrad. With a [unemployed] writer father and a infant brother, and her mother having passed at her brother's birth, Anna is the de facto leader of her family.… Continue reading Review: The Siege by Helen Dunmore
The War Girls by V. S. Alexander opens at the start of WWII and follows Stefa, a Polish Jew in Warsaw, Janka a Catholic in Warsaw, and Hanna, Stefa's sister who fled her home before the war to live with her aunt in London. There is quite an over saturation of WWII stories, so I… Continue reading Review: The War Girls by V.S. Alexander
I really didn't know what to expect when I first started The Night Train to Berlin. I wasn't expecting the present day story line, which I normally wouldn't go for. Everyone has their specific tastes and honestly if I see a historical fiction novel with a present day story line I 98% of the time… Continue reading Review: The Night Train to Berlin by Melanie Hudson
Right Back Where We Started From by Joy Lanzendorfer is a sweeping and complex multi-generational story set against the backdrop of an evolving America from the mid-19th century to WWII. In a way, it's also a love letter to the state of California and all the multitudes contained therein: the glamorous mystique of Hollywood, the… Continue reading Review: Right Back Where We Started From by Joy Lanzendorfer
Stephanie Dray does it again with this epic gem of a historical fiction novel highlighting three amazing women. The Women of Cheateau Lafayette weaves their lives together; the women bound by the Chateau Chavaniac-Lafayette, the home of American Revolution war hero the Marquis de Lafayette. In the 18th-century, we follow Adrienne de La Fayette (nee… Continue reading Review: The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray
Glorious Boy highlights a place often overlooked in WWII fiction: the Andaman Islands. Located between India and Thailand, the Andamans were part of British Colonial India. On the eve of WWII, American Anthropologist Claire marries British surgeon Shep Durant. Shep is soon posted to the Andamans as a colonial doctor, and Claire takes the opportunity… Continue reading Review: Glorious Boy by Aimee Liu
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan tells the amazing true story of an 18-year-old Italian boy named Pino Lella. This novel is very much a coming of age story as it is a story of WWII. Pino comes of age against the disturbing back drop of war, which drastically shapes the rest of… Continue reading Review: Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
Bomb Girls by Jacky Hyams examines the important, yet often forgotten work of the female munitions factory workers in the UK during WWII. Hyams provides historical context and research as a foundation before the book moves into real accounts from women who worked in the factories. Hyams interviewed several women who worked in munitions… Continue reading Review: Bomb Girls: Britains’ Secret Army: The Munitions Women of World War II by Jacky Hyams
The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook depicts a time and place not often depicted in literature: post-WWII Germany--specifically, Hamburg in 1946. The Aftermath tells the story of a British officer, his wife, and their young son sharing a requisitioned home with a German man and his teenaged daughter. This situation proves ripe for drama and clashing relationships… Continue reading Review: The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook
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