Chapter 43 - Whatever It Took

There are a lot of new World War II books out there right now. You'd think people would tire of the stories or even the time period but it seems that as we are losing members of that generation, we want to know more about what they went through. Writers are digging deeper and deeper to find interesting stories often based on true life events.

I thought I'd been off World War II stories for awhile but when I checked my book log, (yes I do keep an account of every book I read and what it is about), it seems I've actually read quite a few this year. They have ranged from Paris to London to the Channel Island to Slovenia and back. Most have been novels but a few history books have snuck in as well. Below are the ones I've enjoyed the most.

The Black Swan of Paris by Karen Robards - Robards is best know for her Romantic Suspense novels but her recent stab at historical fiction is terrific. This book is loosely based on the life of Edith Piaf and is about a young French singer who is reluctantly involved in the French Resistance. It provides a perfect cover for her tasks as a courier.

The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel - Kristin Harmel has written some wonderful historical fiction in the past few years - The Winemaker's Wife and The Book of Lost Names, specifically. Her latest is about Jewish partisans in Nazi occupied Poland and a young woman who lives in the forest and helps keep them safe.

The Note Through the Wire: The Incredible True Story of a Prisoner of War and a Resistance Heroine by Doug Gold - This is a non-fiction account of an Australian Prisoner of War, Bruce Murray and a young resistance fighter, Josefine Lobnik. Their story is incredible and filled with twists and turns.

The Girl From the Channel Islands by Jenny Lecoat - Jenny Lecoat was born and raised in the Channel Islands where members of her family had been deported by Nazis for their resistance activities. In this novel she tells about a young Jewish woman who lives on Jersey and becomes a translator for the Nazis while maintaining her ties with the resistance movement.

My Name is Eva by Suzanne Goldring - Evelyn is an elderly resident of the Forest Lawns Care Home in the English Countryside. She appears to be a muddled old woman although always impeccably groomed but Eva has secrets which become unveiled slowly as her niece finds pieces of Evelyn's past she has never revealed before.

Have you read any good World War II books this year? Let me know.