Why Are WWII Novels Such an Enduring Genre?

Take a look at any bestseller list for historical fiction and you can’t help but see an abundance of stories about World War II. This has been an enduring thing for more than a decade. In my latest Where Fact Meets Fiction episode with Susan Elia MacNeal, we talked about this phenomena and she had some great insights, as well as some excellent recommendations for WWII historical fiction.

World War II fiction isn’t anything new, but what is relatively new is books from a woman’s perspective. The first novels that began coming out in the 1970s were aimed at men. In fact, publishers dissuaded authors from writing 20th century war-themed books aimed at a female audience. Apparently, they believed women weren’t interested in battles, spies, or the horrors of war.

But when women authors started writing women’s stories in WWII, the those same publishers found out they were very, very wrong. Women readers devoured World War II fiction about how women fought, spied, flew missions, crossed battle-lines, resisted, and were heroines of their own stories.

What’s more, there’s no indication the trend going away. Here are a few of the novels we talked about on the latest episode of Where Fact Meets Fiction ** Reminder, not all of the novels I suggest are Christian Fiction, check out my disclaimer on book reviews here. And a lot of these novels I haven’t read so don’t know what they contain as far as language, adult content, etc.**

Of course we talked about Susan’s wildly popular mystery series, The Maggie Hope Mysteries, and her standalone novel Mother Daughter Traitor Spy.

Some of the other titles mentioned were:

Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear

The Clara Vine series by Jane Tynne

I was thrilled to endorse Within these Walls of Sorrow, by Amanda Barratt (releasing January 17th): Amid the Nazi terrors of war-torn Krakow, the love of family and the bonds of friendship withstand the ultimate test of faith and courage to emerge victorious. Within These Walls of Sorrow is an emotional journey that acknowledges both the horror of war and the resilience of the human spirit.

The Curaters Daughter, Melanie Dobson

Cradles of the Reich,by Jennifer Coburn is a recent release I’m looking forward to reading.

And of course, Code Name Edelweiss by yours truly: Code Name Edelweiss is based on a true story, unknown until recent years: How a lone Jewish lawyer and a handful of amateur spies discovered and foiled Adolf Hitler’s plan to take over Hollywood.

If you missed Where Fact Meets Fiction with Susan Elia MacNeal, here’s a clip of our talk about WWII fiction.