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Before I started reading more again back in 2020, (nothing like a pandemic to get you back into reading) I mostly read chicklit, like Sophie Kinsella, Meg Cabot, and that’s all fine and good. But one of the best parts of the book club my friends and I started is the exposure to books I wouldn’t normally read. One of those genres is historical fiction, and it all started with the first historical fiction novel below.
All The Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
Forgive me if I forget some details, because it’s been almost two years since I read it. This historical fiction novel was so beautiful, heartbreaking, and so multi-faceted. It takes place in France and Germany during World War II. The story bounces between characters, mainly between Marie-Laure, a young French girl who’s father brings her to the country from Paris to live with family and (hopefully) remain safe after war breaks out, and Werner, a young German solider who grows up in and eventually joins the German side of the war.
The book makes you think about how many German and other allied forces were brainwashed by the propaganda during the war, and how many questioned things morally despite what they were told to do. Not only that, but you see how allied civilians tried to do what they could to fight back during occupation. And eventually the two characters’ stories come together towards the end of the story (and the war).
The Nightingale – Kristin Hannah
My first Kristin Hannah book, but certainly not my last, I LOVED this book. This historical fiction novel takes place during World War II in occupied France. Two sisters are living together when Germany invades and occupies, and deal with the war in very different ways. One sister just wants to survive and protect her family, but survival comes at great cost. The other, full of anger, decides to fight back in her own way and at very great risk.The titular character is that sister, and how she becomes known and sought after (by both sides, for very different reasons).
The Tattooist of Auschwitz – Heather Morris
One of my book club mates recommended this book (the previous two historical fiction novels were actually book club books, and I think we all rated them 5 stars lol). This book is about the experience of one of the tattooists of Auschwitz. He not only had the unhappy task of tattooing many of the prisoners who came into the camp, but he had to do so knowing what their probably fates were.
While in the camp, he met the love of his life, and did everything he could to keep her safe, at great personal risk to himself. The story unfolds during their years at the camp and what each of their fates ends up being.
Do you have any historical fiction novels to recommend me? I’m all ears! Let me know in the comments below, or find me on social media, i’m @delaneyclossreads everywhere! Check out some of my other recent posts here!
