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Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > War fiction > Second World War fiction
HEROISM CAN BE FOUND IN THE QUIETEST PLACES - HOW LIBRARIANS DEFIED
THE NAZIS THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND RICHARD & JUDY BOOK
CLUB PICK 'A wonderful novel celebrating the power of books and
libraries to change people's lives' JILL MANSELL 'Heart-breaking
and heart-lifting and always enchanting' RUTH HOGAN 'An
irresistible and utterly compelling novel that will appeal to
bibliophiles and historical fiction fans alike' SUNDAY EXPRESS 'I
devoured The Paris Library in one hungry gulp . . . charming and
moving' TATIANA DE ROSNAY 'An irresistible, compelling read' FIONA
DAVIS 'Paris and libraries. What's not to love?!' NATASHA LESTER
'Compelling' WOMAN & HOME 'Delightful, richly detailed'
PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY PARIS, 1939 Odile Souchet is obsessed with
books, and her new job at the American Library in Paris - with its
thriving community of students, writers and book lovers - is a
dream come true. When war is declared, the Library is determined to
remain open. But then the Nazis invade Paris, and everything
changes. In Occupied Paris, choices as black and white as the words
on a page become a murky shade of grey - choices that will put many
on the wrong side of history, and the consequences of which will
echo for decades to come. MONTANA, 1983 Lily is a lonely teenager
desperate to escape small-town Montana. She grows close to her
neighbour Odile, discovering they share the same love of language,
the same longings. But as Lily uncovers more about Odile's
mysterious past, she discovers a dark secret, closely guarded and
long hidden. Based on the true Second World War story of the heroic
librarians at the American Library in Paris, this is an
unforgettable novel of romance, friendship, family, and of heroism
found in the quietest of places.
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When the Menorah Fades
(Paperback)
Zvi Preigerzon; Edited by Alex Lahav; Translated by Binyamin Shalom
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R735
R664
Discovery Miles 6 640
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Zvi Preigerzon (1900-1969), a Hebrew writer in the Soviet Union,
wrote this book in complete secrecy, to the extent that he even hid
its existence from his own family. The book is about the Jewish
community in Hadiach, a small town in Ukraine where Shneur Zalman
Schneerson, the founder of the Chabad movement, is buried. The town
was occupied by the German army during the war and most of its
Jewish population perished. Zvi Preigerzon describes the life of
the simple Jewish people and their suffering under the Nazis, with
a Kabbalistic spiritual touch: the Perpetual Flame of the Menorah
at the grave of Shneur Zalman Schneerson symbolizes the very spirit
of Jewish life, which it is said will persist as long as the flame
is burning.
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Eternal
(Paperback)
Lisa Scottoline
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R454
R429
Discovery Miles 4 290
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#1 bestselling author Lisa Scottoline offers a sweeping and shattering epic of historical fiction fueled by shocking true events, the tale of a love triangle that unfolds in the heart of Rome...in the creeping shadow of fascism.
Elisabetta, Marco, and Sandro grow up as the best of friends despite their differences. Elisabetta is a feisty beauty who dreams of becoming a novelist; Marco the brash and athletic son in a family of professional cyclists; and Sandro a Jewish mathematics prodigy, kind-hearted and thoughtful, the son of a lawyer and a doctor. Their friendship blossoms to love, with both Sandro and Marco hoping to win Elisabetta's heart. But in the autumn of 1937, all of that begins to change as Mussolini asserts his power, aligning Italy's Fascists with Hitler's Nazis and altering the very laws that govern Rome. In time, everything that the three hold dear--their families, their homes, and their connection to one another--is tested in ways they never could have imagined.
As anti-Semitism takes legal root and World War II erupts, the threesome realizes that Mussolini was only the beginning. The Nazis invade Rome, and with their occupation come new atrocities against the city's Jews, culminating in a final, horrific betrayal. Against this backdrop, the intertwined fates of Elisabetta, Marco, Sandro, and their families will be decided, in a heartbreaking story of both the best and the worst that the world has to offer.
Unfolding over decades, Eternal is a tale of loyalty and loss, family and food, love and war--all set in one of the world's most beautiful cities at its darkest moment. This moving novel will be forever etched in the hearts and minds of readers.
While the Storm Rages is the eagerly awaited new novel from the
bestselling author of When the Sky Falls: The Times Children's Book
of the Year, winner of the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for
Children's Fiction, winner of the British Book Award for Children's
Fiction Book of the Year and shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
September 1939. The world is on the brink of war. As his dad
marches off to fight, Noah makes him a promise, to keep their
beloved family dog safe. When the government advises people to have
their pets put down in readiness for the chaos of war, hundreds of
thousands of people do as they are told. But not Noah. He's not
that sort of boy. With his two friends in tow, he goes on the run,
to save his dog and as many animals as he can. No matter what.
Bristol 1939 At forty years of age, Mary Anne Randall still turns
heads. With an abusive husband spending most of his wages on beer,
she has resigned herself to be the sole breadwinner to protect her
family and keep the wolves from the door. In order to make ends
meet Mary Anne runs a pawnbroking business from the wash house at
the end of the garden. Following the outbreak of war an opportunity
presents itself to escape her loveless marriage and find true love.
Will she take that chance, or carry on living just for her children
and not for herself? Read the sequal A Wartime Family. Praise for
Lizzie Lane: 'A gripping saga and a storyline that will keep you
hooked' Rosie Goodwin 'The Tobacco Girls is another heartwarming
tale of love and friendship and a must-read for all saga fans.'
Jean Fullerton 'Lizzie Lane opens the door to a past of factory
girls, redolent with life-affirming friendship, drama, and choices
that are as relevant today as they were then.' Catrin Collier 'If
you want an exciting, authentic historical saga then look no
further than Lizzie Lane.' Fenella J Miller
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Charlotte
(Paperback, Main)
David Foenkinos; Translated by Sam Taylor
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R282
R254
Discovery Miles 2 540
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Charlotte Salomon is born into a family stricken by suicide and a
country at war. But there is something exceptional about her - she
has a gift, a talent for painting. And she has a great love, for a
brilliant, eccentric musician. But just as she is coming into her
own as an artist, death is coming to control her country. The Nazis
have come to power and, as a Jew in Berlin, Charlotte's life is
narrowing, and she knows every second is precious. Inspiring,
unflinching, terrible and hopeful, Charlotte is the heartbreaking
true story of a life filled with curiosity, animated by genius and
cut short by hatred.
If you love Jennifer Robson or The Crown you will love New York
Times bestselling author Karen Harper's novel about Elizabeth, The
Queen Mother. 1939. As the wife of the King George VI and the
mother of the future queen, Elizabeth-"the queen mother"-shows a
warm, smiling face to the world. But it's no surprise that Hitler
himself calls her the "Most Dangerous Woman in Europe." For behind
that soft voice and kindly demeanor is a will of steel. Two years
earlier, George was thrust onto the throne when his brother Edward
abdicated, determined to marry his divorced, American mistress Mrs.
Simpson. Vowing to do whatever it takes to make her husband's reign
a success, Elizabeth endears herself to the British people, and
prevents the former king and his brazen bride from ever again
setting foot in Buckingham Palace. Elizabeth holds many powerful
cards, she's also hiding damaging secrets about her past and her
provenance that could prove to be her undoing. In this riveting
novel of royal secrets and intrigue, Karen Harper lifts the veil on
one of the world's most fascinating families, and how its "secret
weapon" of a matriarch maneuvered her way through one of the most
dangerous chapters of the century.
From the author of the runaway bestseller The Orphan’s Tale comes a remarkable story of friendship and courage centered around three women and a ring of female secret agents during World War II.
1946, Manhattan. One morning while passing through Grand Central Terminal on her way to work, Grace Healey finds an abandoned suitcase tucked beneath a bench. Unable to resist her own curiosity, Grace opens the suitcase, where she discovers a dozen photographs—each of a different woman. In a moment of impulse, Grace takes the photographs and quickly leaves the station.
Grace soon learns that the suitcase belonged to a woman named Eleanor Trigg, 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.
Vividly rendered and inspired by true events, New York Times bestselling author Pam Jenoff shines a light on the incredible heroics of the brave women of the war and weaves a mesmerizing tale of courage, sisterhood and the great strength of women to survive in the hardest of circumstances.
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All for Nothing
(Paperback)
Walter Kempowski; Translated by Anthea Bell
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R238
Discovery Miles 2 380
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A brilliantly evocative, atmospheric novel about the delusion and
indecision of a wealthy family in the last days of the Third Reich
as the Russians advance from the east In January 1945, the German
army is retreating from the Russian advance. Germans are fleeing
the occupied territories in their thousands, in cars and carts and
on foot. But in a rural East Prussian manor house, the wealthy von
Globig family seals itself off from the world. Protected from the
deprivation and chaos around them, they make no preparations to
leave until a decision to harbour a stranger for the night begins
their undoing. Finally joining the great trek west, the remaining
members of the family face at last the catastrophic consequences of
the war. Profoundly evocative of the period, sympathetic yet
painfully honest about the motivations of its characters, All for
Nothing is a devastating portrait of the complicities and denials
of the German people as the Third Reich comes to an end.
Soon to be a major television event from Pascal Pictures, starring
Tom Holland. Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, the USA
Today and #1 Amazon Charts bestseller 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.
'[I was] completely transported . . . so sparely and yet vividly
told. I admired it immensely' Clare Chambers 'Aroa Moreno Duran
writes with a rare sensitivity about the unconsidered consequences
of giving everything up for love' Claire Fuller Winner of the
Premio Ojo Critico Katia has grown up amongst the ruins of the once
mighty Berlin, now shattered by Allied bombs. In their tiny,
freezing flat, Katia's father teaches her of the righteousness of
the new Soviet republic, who will always keep watch over them. As a
young woman, a chance encounter with a man from the west causes
Katia to realise there might be more to life on the other side of
the wall. But blinded by the first blush of love, she fails to
understand that it's not what lies ahead, but what she will leave
behind. Translated from its original Spanish, The Communist's
Daughter is a spare and exquisite novel that depicts twentieth
century Europe through one family's tragic story. 'Beautifully
written, powerfully realised. A novel that touches the heart' Kate
Hamer
In 1942 Paris, gifted architect Lucien Bernard accepts a commission
that will bring him a great deal of money - and maybe get him
killed. But if he's clever enough, he'll avoid any trouble. All he
has to do is design a secret hiding place for a wealthy Jewish man,
a space so invisible that even the most determined German officer
won't find it. He sorely needs the money, and outwitting the Nazis
who have occupied his beloved city is a challenge he can't resist.
But when one of his hiding spaces fails horribly, and the problem
of where to hide a Jew becomes terribly personal, Lucien can no
longer ignore what's at stake. The Paris Architect asks us to
consider what we owe each other, and just how far we'll go to make
things right. Written by an architect whose knowledge imbues every
page, this story becomes more gripping with every soul hidden and
every life saved.
April 1945. The Third Reich is collapsing. In Berlin, surrounded by
Soviet troops, a small aircraft lands under enemy fire. Daring
pilot Hanna Reitsch escorts an important officer to Hitler's bunker
- and is granted an audience with the Fuhrer, from which she
emerges visibly upset. Meanwhile, in a German hospital in the
countryside, Max comes to after a long coma. His task remains the
same: to kill Hanna. But what new mission has she been given?
For three women living through World War II, the threat of war
poses very separate issues - that is, until their lives become
intertwined in the most tragic of circumstances. New York socialite
Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French
consulate. But the privileged life to which she is accustomed is
turned upside down when her lover suddenly and suspiciously
disappears. An ocean away in Germany, indoctrinated young Herta
Oberheuser is desperate to begin working as a doctor. She replies
to an advert for a government medical position, yet only upon
arrival does she discover the true extent of her horrifying new
role. As the war advances, Polish teenager Kasia Kuzmerick is drawn
deeper into the underground resistance movement. In a tense
atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbours, one false
move can have dire consequences. Then the unthinkable happens:
Kasia is sent to Ravensbruck, the notorious Nazi concentration camp
for women where Herta now works, and her life is transformed into a
desperate attempt to survive. As the women's stories coincide and
span decades and continents - from New York to Paris, Germany, and
Poland - the devastation of Ravensbruck is ever-present, as Kasia
and Caroline strive to bring justice to those history has forgotten
. . . __________ 'Harrowing . . . Lilac illuminates.' People 'A
compelling, page-turning narrative . . . Lilac Girls falls squarely
into the groundbreaking category of fiction that re-examines
history from a fresh, female point of view. It's smart, thoughtful
and also just an old-fashioned good read.' Fort Worth Star -
Telegram 'A powerful story for readers everywhere . . . Martha Hall
Kelly has brought readers a firsthand glimpse into one of history's
most frightening memories. A novel that brings to life what these
women and many others suffered. . . . I was moved to tears.' San
Francisco Book Review '[A] compelling first novel . . . This is a
page-turner demonstrating the tests and triumphs civilians faced
during war, complemented by Kelly's vivid depiction of history and
excellent characters.' Publishers Weekly 'Kelly vividly re-creates
the world of Ravensbruck.' Kirkus Reviews 'Inspired by actual
events and real people, Martha Hall Kelly has woven together the
stories of three women during World War II that reveal the bravery,
cowardice, and cruelty of those days. This is a part of
history--women's history--that should never be forgotten.' Lisa
See, New York Times bestselling author of China Dolls 'This is the
kind of book I wish I had the courage to write--a profound,
unsettling, and thoroughly captivating look at sisterhood through
the dark lens of the Holocaust. Lilac Girls is the best book I've
read all year. It will haunt you.' Jamie Ford, New York Times
bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet 'Rich
with historical detail and riveting to the end, Lilac Girls weaves
the lives of three astonishing women into a story of extraordinary
moral power set against the harrowing backdrop of Europe in thrall
to Nazi Germany. Martha Hall Kelly moves effortlessly across
physical and ethical battlegrounds, across the trajectory of a
doomed wartime romance, across the territory of the soul. I can't
remember the last time I read a novel that moved me so deeply.'
Beatriz Williams, New York Times bestselling author of A Hundred
Summers and The Secret Life of Violet Grant
One of the Claridge's kitchen porters is found dead - strangled. He
was a recent employee who claimed to be Romanian, but evidence
suggests he may have been German. Detective Chief Inspector Coburg
has to find out exactly who he was, and what he was doing at
Claridge's under a false identity. Once he has established those
facts, he might get an insight into why he was killed, and who by.
Coburg's job is complicated by the fact that so many of the hotel's
residents are exiled European royalty. King George of Greece is
registered as 'Mr Brown' and even the Duke of Windsor is staying,
though without Wallis Simpson. Clandestine affairs, furtive
goings-on and conspiracies against the government: Coburg must
tread very lightly indeed .
To follow her dream, she's gone from city to village - but can she
ever fit in? October 1940. Bobby Bancroft is working as a typist
for a city newspaper, but she longs to be breaking the news
herself. She is thrilled to secure a junior reporter role at The
Tyke, a magazine serving the Yorkshire Dales. However, when Bobby
moves to Silverdale, she discovers rural life is a different world.
The close-knit villagers and cantankerous local animals prove
difficult to win over, while mischievous vet Charlie seems
determined to lead her astray. As Bobby struggles to find her place
amongst the dalesfolk, she wonders if she's made a huge mistake.
Will the city girl ever make a home of the beautiful but hostile
countryside of the Dales? An uplifting, lively World War Two rural
saga that fans of Annie Murray, Rosie Hendry, Gervase Phinn and
James Herriot will love.
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