10 Captivating WWII Novels — These Historical Fiction Reads Will Transport You

As a historical fiction lover, I’ve spent many hours reading them. There’s something special about books that transport us to different times and places. I read The Women by Kristin Hannah last month and was itching to read more historical fiction. So, if you’re someone who loves historical fiction like me and looking for some great recommendations, check this out. These are some of the best World War II novels that are both gripping and unforgettable. These books will take you on an emotional journey, bringing the past to life in a way that’s both powerful and enlightening.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Set in France during 1939, this novel follows Vianne Mauriac and her sister Isabelle. Vianne’s peaceful life is shattered when Nazis invade her village and take over her home. She must make tough choices to protect her daughter. Isabelle, young and rebellious, joins the French Resistance after falling in love and being betrayed. The story explores the bravery and sacrifices of these two sisters during the war.

Blub: In love we find out who we want to be.

In war we find out who we are.

FRANCE, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says good-bye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gaëtan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.

BUY NOW ON AMAZON  | LISTEN FREE ON AUDIBLE

The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman 

Lenka and Josef fall in love in pre-war Prague and marry, but are separated by the horrors of the Holocaust. Josef believes Lenka died in the camps and builds a new life in America. However, Lenka survives, using her art skills to endure the Nazi ghettos and Auschwitz. Decades later, they unexpectedly reunite in New York, rekindling memories and love from their past.

Blub:  There on her forearm, next to a small brown birthmark, were six tattooed numbers. ‘Do you remember me now?’ he asked, trembling. She looked at him again, as if giving weight and bone to a ghost. ‘Lenka, it’s me,’ he said. ‘Josef. Your husband.’ During the last moments of calm in prewar Prague, Lenka, a young art student, falls in love with Josef. They marry – but soon, like so many others, they are torn apart by the currents of war. In America Josef becomes a successful obstetrician and raises a family, though he never forgets the wife he thinks died in the camps. But in the Nazi ghetto of Terez??n – and later in Auschwitz – Lenka has survived, relying on her skills as an artist and the memories of a husband she believes she will never see again. Now, decades later, an unexpected encounter in New York brings Lenka and Josef back together. From the comfort of life in Prague before the occupation to the horrors of Nazi Europe, The Lost Wife explores the endurance of first love, the resilience of the human spirit and our capacity to remember.

BUY NOW ON AMAZON  | LISTEN FREE ON AUDIBLE

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Marie-Laure, a blind French girl, and Werner, a German orphan, experience World War II in different ways. Marie-Laure flees Paris with her father to Saint-Malo, carrying a valuable jewel. Werner becomes a Nazi radio tracker, using his skills to locate the resistance. Their paths eventually cross in occupied France, highlighting the human spirit’s resilience amid war’s chaos.

Blub: Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

BUY NOW ON AMAZON  | LISTEN FREE ON AUDIBLE

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan

Based on a true story, this novel follows Pino Lella, an Italian teenager who helps Jews escape over the Alps during World War II. Forced to join the German army by his parents, he becomes a driver for a high-ranking Nazi officer and spies for the Allies. Pino’s bravery and love for a widow named Anna fuel his fight against the Nazi regime.

Blub:  Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours.

Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.

In an attempt to protect him, Pino’s parents force him to enlist as a German soldier—a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders.

Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share.

Fans of All the Light We Cannot See, The Nightingale, and Unbroken will enjoy this riveting saga of history, suspense, and love.

BUY NOW ON AMAZON  | LISTEN FREE ON AUDIBLE | READ with Kindle Unlimited

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

This novel tells the intertwined stories of three women during World War II: Caroline, a New York socialite; Kasia, a Polish resistance fighter; and Herta, a Nazi doctor. Their lives collide when Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, a women’s concentration camp. The story explores their struggles and resilience, spanning from New York to Europe, and their quest for justice.

Blub:  Inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this powerful debut novel reveals an incredible story of love, redemption, and terrible secrets that were hidden for decades.

On the eve of a fateful war, New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.

An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she sinks deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspect neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.

For ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. But, once hired, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.

The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious female-only Nazi concentration camp. The tragedy and triumph of their stories cross continents—from New York to Paris, and Germany to Poland—capturing the indomitable pull of compassion to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.

In Lilac Girls, Martha Hall Kelly has crafted a remarkable novel of unsung women and their quest for love, happiness, and second chances. It is a story that will keep readers bonded with the characters, searching for the truth, until the final pages.

BUY NOW ON AMAZON  | LISTEN FREE ON AUDIBLE

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Set in 1943, this story follows two best friends, a spy, and a pilot, whose plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. The spy, “Verity,” is captured and must reveal her mission or face execution. Through her confessions, she reveals her friendship with Maddie, the pilot, and their war experiences. The novel is a gripping tale of friendship, courage, and survival.

Blub:  Oct. 11th, 1943 – A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it’s barely begun.

When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she’s sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage and failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?

Harrowing and beautifully written, Elizabeth Wein creates a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other. Code Name Verity is an outstanding novel that will stick with you long after the last page.

BUY NOW ON AMAZON  | LISTEN FREE ON AUDIBLE | READ with Kindle Unlimited

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is transported to Auschwitz and becomes the camp’s tattooist. Despite the horrors he witnesses, he falls in love with Gita, a fellow prisoner. Lale uses his position to help others, exchanging valuables for food. Their love and bravery help them survive, making this a poignant story of hope and humanity amid the Holocaust.

Blub:  In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

Imprisoned for more than two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.

One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.

A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov’s experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.

BUY NOW ON AMAZON  | LISTEN FREE ON AUDIBLE

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

Sage Singer, a baker, befriends Josef Weber, an elderly man with a dark past. Josef confesses to being a former Nazi and asks Sage for an extraordinary favor. Sage grapples with her own moral dilemmas and her family’s history as she uncovers Josef’s secrets. This novel explores themes of forgiveness, justice, and the impact of past actions on the present.

Blub:  Some stories live forever . . .

Sage Singer is a baker. She works through the night, preparing the day’s breads and pastries, trying to escape a reality of loneliness, bad memories, and the shadow of her mother’s death. When Josef Weber, an elderly man in Sage’s grief support group, begins stopping by the bakery, they strike up an unlikely friendship. Despite their differences, they see in each other the hidden scars that others can’t, and they become companions.

Everything changes on the day that Josef confesses a long-buried and shameful secret—one that nobody else in town would ever suspect—and asks Sage for an extraordinary favor. If she says yes, she faces not only moral repercussions, but potentially legal ones as well. With her own identity suddenly challenged, and the integrity of the closest friend she’s ever had clouded, Sage begins to question the assumptions and expectations she’s made about her life and her family. When does a moral choice become a moral imperative? And where does one draw the line between punishment and justice, forgiveness and mercy?

In this searingly honest novel, Jodi Picoult gracefully explores the lengths we will go in order to protect our families and to keep the past from dictating the future

BUY NOW ON AMAZON  | LISTEN FREE ON AUDIBLE | READ with Kindle Unlimited

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

Eva Traube, a librarian in Florida, sees a photograph of a book she last saw during World War II. As a young forger, she helped Jewish children escape to Switzerland by creating fake documents. The book, containing a code only Eva understands, holds the real names of these children. Eva must revisit her past to help reunite families separated by the war.

Blub:  Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.

The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?

As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.

An engaging and evocative novel reminiscent of The Lost Girls of Paris and The Alice Network, The Book of Lost Names is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of bravery and love in the face of evil.

BUY NOW ON AMAZON  | LISTEN FREE ON AUDIBLE

The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel

In 1939 Paris, friends Elise and Juliette’s lives are upended by the Nazi occupation. Elise entrusts her daughter to Juliette’s care, but a bomb destroys Juliette’s bookshop and the girls disappear. After the war, Elise’s search for her daughter leads her to New York, uncovering heartbreaking truths and testing the bonds of friendship and motherhood.

Blub:  From the bestselling author of The Book of Lost Names comes a gripping historical novel about two mothers who must make unthinkable choices in the face of the Nazi occupation.

Paris, 1939: Young mothers Elise and Juliette become fast friends the day they meet in the beautiful Bois de Boulogne. Though there is a shadow of war creeping across Europe, neither woman suspects that their lives are about to irrevocably change.

When Elise becomes a target of the German occupation, she entrusts Juliette with the most precious thing in her life—her young daughter, playmate to Juliette’s own little girl. But nowhere is safe in war, not even a quiet little bookshop like Juliette’s Librairie des Rêves, and, when a bomb falls on their neighborhood, Juliette’s world is destroyed along with it.

More than a year later, with the war finally ending, Elise returns to reunite with her daughter, only to find her friend’s bookstore reduced to rubble—and Juliette nowhere to be found. What happened to her daughter in those last, terrible moments? Juliette has seemingly vanished without a trace, taking all the answers with her. Elise’s desperate search leads her to New York—and to Juliette—one final, fateful time.

BUY NOW ON AMAZON  | LISTEN FREE ON AUDIBLE

MORE HISTORICAL FICTION BOOKS TO READ

33 Historical Fiction for Your Beach Bag

Compelling Historical Fiction Set In England

25 Best Steamy Historical Romance Novels To Read

33 Gripping Historical Fiction Books That Will Transport You Through Time