30 Best Historical Fiction Books to Read About WWII

Historical fiction about World War 2 is a very popular book genre, and for good reason. Many of the books are typically based in fact, depicting true events or real people, but in an easier to read format than fiction. It puts the often complex events of WWII or people of that era into stories. Historical fiction allows the author to weave in elements of storytelling that make a book one you can’t put down: rich with emotion, dynamic relationships, and spellbinding plots that transport you back in time. This list of WWII historical fiction books are the 30 best I have in the bookcase, and I know you will love them!

Related: 15 Best Nonfiction Books About Europe During WWII & 15 Best Books about Japan and the Pacific During WWII

We Were The Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter

One of my favorite WWII stories of all time, this is inspired by an incredible true story of one Jewish family that gets separated at the start of WWII, and how each of them are determined to survive, and to reunite. It’s an amazing book, and the fact that it’s a true story makes it just such a captivating novel that’s about ingenuity, strength and hope – even when it seems there should be none.

This book is also featured in our books about Poland in WWII because it’s so great, it deserves to be mentioned twice!

The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer

This book tells one of the most beautiful and enduring love stories I’ve ever read. It’s gripping tale that toggles between two generations as a woman unravels the secrets of her dying grandmother’s past as war ravaged her home in Poland. It’s one of the most moving stories of the true to life sacrifices that were made by all who endured the Nazi regime to survive and ensure the safety of those they loved. The ending had me in tears, and it was just such a wonderful full-circle book that you’ll be sad had to end.

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay

This novel is about a journalist’s search for a story, and answers, that had long been hidden. Julia is asked to write an article about the Vel’ d’Hiv’s round-up of 1942 and comes across Sarah’s story and the dark events that took place in Paris. The two stories become intertwined as we learn about Sarah’s life in Paris in the 1940’s and as Julia pieces together what the fate of Sarah’s family came to be at the hands of the French police. This is a well written novel that gives a history of the horrific events that led to thousands being deported to concentration camps through the life of one young girl.

The Baker’s Secret by Stephen P. Kiernan

The Baker’s Secret is set in a small Normandy village in France on the eve of D-Day. Emma bakes bread for her fellow villagers in the bakery once owned by her mentor before he was deported for being Jewish. Emma takes over in his place, and in doing so, finds ways to secretly fight back against the Nazis that are occupying her town. She builds a resistance network for her neighbors to trade and barter, and most importantly, stay alive. This book is a page turner about how one woman’s dedication and hope gets an entire town through the darkest days.

What Only We Know by Catherine Hokin

What Only We Know is a heartbreaking novel of a woman who struggled to understand her mother, not knowing what secrets her life held. When she finds old documents and letters, she begins a journey to uncover what her mother had seen and experienced as a German Jew growing up in Berlin. It’s a well written story told by a few different perspectives, hard to put down, and a look at the ways the war broke those who endured but also linked generations together.

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan

Based on an incredible true story, Pino Lella’s house in Milan is destroyed by allied bombs and war will soon engulf Italy. Pino finds himself aiding in the missions to get Jewish Italians across the alps to safety but as the Germans advance Pino’s parents want to keep him safe and think enlisting him in the German army is the only way to keep him alive. This story then follows this real-life hero as he’s recruited to become the personal driver for Hitler’s top commander in Italy and how he navigates the war by using the opportunity to aid the Allies by spying on one of the most dangerous and powerful men in the Third Reich.

The German Heiress by Anika Scott

This book follows Clara through the reckoning years for German citizens, and those who played a role in the Nazi Party, to show us what it was like to rebuild your life- or if that was even possible. Clara was the heiress who took over her father’s iron works company during the war. A company that was used to support the war effort and who’s workers were supplied by the Nazis. As the book opens she is on the run from the Allies who want her arrested and tried for war crimes. This is the story about her and her family, and their coming to terms with the atrocities of their past.

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

Inspired by true events, this book introduces us to the leader of a network of female secret agents who were deployed out of London during the war. Twelve of these women were sent to Occupied Europe as couriers and radio operators to aid the resistance, but they never returned home, their fates a mystery. Setting out to learn the truth behind the women in the photographs, Grace finds herself drawn to a young mother turned agent named Marie, whose daring mission overseas reveals a remarkable story of friendship, valor and betrayal. This book shines a much needed light on the unseen heroics of women during WWII.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

What’s different about this book is that it shows life for average German citizens during WWII, a perspective not often told in historical fiction. While this is categorized as a young adult book, I think it’s one for all ages, and some may even argue it’s too dark for younger readers. It follows Liesel, a young girl in the care of her foster parents outside of Munich, and is narrated by ‘death’. With the help of her foster father during the intense years of bombing raids the city went through, Liesel learns to read and shares her stolen books with other German citizens and the Jewish man her foster parents have hidden in her basement.

From Sand and Ash by Amy Harmon

Set in Italy, From Sand and Ash is a harrowing novel about love, faith and how people who were faced with such extraordinary circumstances found unbelievable courage within themselves. This is a beautiful story about Eva Rosselli who is forced into hiding because of her Jewish heritage and seeks refuge from Angelo Bianco, a catholic priest. It’s full of twists and turns and is as chilling as it is beautiful.

The Boat Runner by Devin Murphy

This book isn’t the typical WWII historical fiction story. It’s from a different perspective and tells the story of how young Dutch boys were used in the mighty war machine the Nazis cultivated. This story follows Jacob over the course of 4 years from his first summer at “camp”, which served the purpose of indoctrinating and recruiting for Germany, and then we go with him to France, England, and are right there with him as Jacob ends up faced with a moral dilemma unlike anything he’s ever experienced before. Based on true events of brave boatmen who risked everything to save Jewish refugees, this book is one you won’t soon forget.

The Librarian of Saint-Malo by Mario Escobar

Based on true events, this novel is about a young woman who risks everything to save a library in Saint-Malo, France, during WWII. When her small but connected community is taken over by the German occupation and her husband is sent to war, Jocelyn uses her position in the library to fight back in the way she knows how- through books. The Nazis had been burning libraries and destroying or stealing any books they deemed unsuitable, and this young woman, at great risk to herself, goes to incredible lengths to get the word out about what his happening to her small town, and to hide the books and preserve the knowledge they hold.

Beyond the Shadow of Night by Ray Kingfisher

Ukraine, 1923. On a small farm, two boys are born within days of each other, both Ukrainian, one Jewish. Mykhail and Asher grow up inseparable, together finding friendship, adventure and escape from the harshness of Russian rule. But after Asher’s family flees to Warsaw, their worlds are torn to shreds by the Second World War. Their paths cross again in the concentration camp Treblinka. This is a story of loss, friendship and the secrets that connect us.

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

Inspired by a true story, this book is the story of Eva and the lengths she went to help Jewish children flee France and escape deportation to Nazi concentration camps. This book is an amazing testament to how the human spirit and dedication to something greater than yourself can triumph over evil and heartbreaking personal loss. It will keep you hooked the whole way through and leave you in awe of the courage this young woman possessed.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale is a story about the part of World War II’s history that isn’t often seen: the war the women fought. This book gives us the story of two sisters both doing what is needed to survive and fight back in their own ways. In German-occupied France as war wages, these two show the strength, durability and skills that women brought to the war. It’s heartbreakingly beautiful, and truly a novel for everyone.

Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse

This is a page turning story based on historical events of the Dutch Resistance Network in WWII who used whatever means available to them to fight back against the Nazi occupation. The storyline centers around a teenage girl who gets caught up in the black market after the German occupation, and while listed as a young adult book, the subject matter and plot twists make it a great read for adults, history buffs and anyone who enjoys a story of courage, grit and determination.

The Beantown Girls by Jane Healey

The Beantown Girls is based on the little-known story of the women who signed up to be on the front lines as part of the Red Cross “Clubmobile” program. In this historical fiction story, 3 young women leave their lives and careers at home and ship out to accompany the troops in Europe and provide coffee, donuts and, most importantly, a little taste of the comfort of home. Becoming best of friends, the women’s story brings us along to experience the courage, bravery and sacrifice made in the often-overlooked female perspective.

So Much Owed by Jean Grainger

This is an Irish World War II story of two twins who come of age as the world is on the brink of war and a father who experienced the loss and devastation that the previous Great War had brought. The siblings both find themselves going against their father’s wishes and finding their own paths that lead them to the war effort. This book is about family, love and loss, duty to country and finding your way home.

Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon

Code Name Hélène is the story of a real-life woman and her work as a spy in the French Resistance Network. It’s an absolutely fascinating and spell-binding tale of the risks one woman took when the stakes were at their highest. Through this story you’ll follow a woman by the name of Nancy Wake as she transforms from journalist to one of the most powerful and well-respected leaders of the resistance.

War Girl Ursula by Marion Kummerow

When a local Berlin woman finds herself plucked by the Nazis to serve as a prison guard and struggles between doing what is right or doing what is safe when a British airman’s life is on the line. War Girl Ursula is based on a true story and explores the danger that accompanied compassion, courage and siding with your morals under the Third Reich.

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum

In a perspective not often told, this novel will give you a glimpse into how the war was for everyday German citizens and what some of their experiences were like. The author brings together the life of Anna, a young German woman who falls in love with a Jewish doctor who’s a member of the resistance in the 1940’s, and the life of Anna’s daughter, Trudy, 50 years later. Trudy and her mother have a difficult relationship, and all she knows of her past is in an old photograph of her and her mother, and a prison guard in a concentration camp. When Trudy, now a history professor, becomes involved in a research project collecting the stories of German’s who lived through WWII she beings investigating her family’s past, and in doing so, unearths the heartbreaking secrets her mother has hidden.

The Ragged Edge of the Night by Olivia Hawker

This novel, set in Nazi Germany, is a moving story about a priest who becomes a husband in the mist of war and turns into a leader of the resistance. This is a tale of a simple man who uses the tools he has to risk everything to fight for the values and beliefs he holds so dear. This novel gives us a needed reminder that good does prevail and the best of humanity still exists even in times where it is hardest to find.

When We Were Brave by Suzanne Kelman

This is a haunting and unforgettable read about a woman who finds a photograph of her great aunt during WWII. This one photograph opens up a part of her past she never knew existed, and didn’t fit in with what she knew to be true about her life. With a goal of finding out the real story of her family and who her aunt, a woman believed to have betrayed her country, truly is, she goes back to where her aunt was decades ago with the help of her aunt’s great nephew- a relative unknown to her until now.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

This is as much a story about WWII as it is about friendship. Following the lives of a female pilot and a female spy in German occupied France, the author takes us on twists and turns as Verity is captured by the Gestapo. This book is a page turner that reminds us of what’s important, and how much courage it took for so many in this time to make it home and survive for those they love.

Daughter of the Third Reich by Louise Fein

The rising tide of anti-Semitism is beginning to take over Germany when the daughter of a high ranking Nazi officer, Hetty Heinrich reconnects with a Jewish friend from her past. Based on the true events of the author’s own family history, we follow Hetty and get a portrait of what Nazi Germany was like for those on both sides of it. Hetty takes a huge risk as she falls in love with Walter, and these vivid characters take us through their story to show us if love is really enough in times of war.

My Son’s Secret: A Heart-Wrenching and Moving WW2 Historical Fiction Novel (Jews, The Third Reich, and a Web of Secrets) by Roberta Kagan

This is a fast-paced page turner about one mother’s desperate attempts to protect her son in a country determined to hate him. The setting of this book is Kristallnacht, or Night of the Broken Glass, which was a pogrom carried out by the Nazis where synagogues were torched, Jewish businesses and homes were looted and destroyed, and Germany was quite literally set on fire. These characters are complex and as a reader you won’t be able to put the book down until you find out what happens next. It is part one of a series, so the ending doesn’t tie up as nicely as you may like, but it’s still a worthwhile read to understand Germany in this time period.

The Secretary: A heartbreaking and gripping World War 2 historical novel by Catherine Hokin

Following two women, this book is heartbreaking and bittersweet, and one I kept thinking about long after I was finished. Magda’s bravery starts as her work as a secretary to the leader of the SS. She uses her position to pass on secret information, and that’s when the story really takes off. It’s a fast, easy read, and with enough twists to keep you turning the page. I picked this up after reading one of Catherine’s other novels, What Only We Know, which was one of the best WWII era historical fiction books I read this year.

The German Girl: A Novel by Armando Lucas Correa

This international bestseller is based on a true story and is about a young girl named Hannah who flees Nazi Germany with her family and best friend, and finds the refuge that they were promised isn’t quite a refuge at all. It also navigates dual timelines as Hannah’s great niece becomes aware of her family history, and becomes determined to understand how coming from generations of exiles has shaped her own life. It’s a wonderful book, a quick read, and helps us understand how the human impact of the war can still be felt in thousands of families today.

The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck

This book follows three women, widows of the war, who’s lives and fates become intertwined. Set at the end of WWII, in an area of Bavaria that had previously played host to all of the who’s-who of the Nazis and German high society. This novel, told from a perspective not often read about, shows us the unforeseen consequences of the actions, or inactions, many made during the war. It gives a nuanced look at what surviving and redemption can sometimes look like.

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