The ultimate WW2 classics you need to read right now

Morning everyone, thought today we would turn our attentions to fiction from the 1940s, as if you’re a book junkie like me you’ll see it has a lot to offer.

Now, I’m never happier than when I’ve got my nose in a novel and that’s probably why I became an author, all so I could spend my time living in fantasy worlds and creating characters I can’t get enough of.

But as a WW2 saga writer, I often find myself spending as much time in the forties as I do in the present, and its no wonder that today I thought I’d take a look at some of the novels from that time that got readers excited and took their minds off the hazards of war.

 

Don’t forget that as an author during the war years there was an added pressure. You weren’t just writing to inform, entertain and because you had a burning passion to tell a story. No, you would write knowing that whatever you scribbled away could very well be read by candlelight in the blackout by a worried mother, or by a soldier taking a well-earned break from war work. Whatever you created didn’t just have to be good, it had to be brilliant, which leads me nicely onto my first pick.

Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun

The page turner was written in 1941

So good it received the Hollywood treatment in 1981 and more recently was turned into a video game. This Agatha Christie belter sees our beloved Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot try to enjoy a quiet holiday in Devon. Yet when a glamorous actress is murdered at the hotel, Hercule must use all his powers of deduction to work out who did it. Written in 1941, this classic novel was a favourite for ATS girls, who often picked up a copy in Woolworths to read when they had the luxury of a few minutes spare. With sunshine, murder and a glamorous murder victim, this book had all the ingredients to forget the bombs outside.

 

 

This 1939 novel, the first of a series 

Enid Blyton: The Enchanted Wood

 

Never mind those in the forties, I adored this novel as a child. Like Bessie, Jo and Fanny, I lived near a large wood and was convinced if I searched hard enough I too would find a magic tree that would be home to a cast of characters and magic lands, though I fervently hoped I would never find a land of Dame Slap and would just find ones filled with the land of birthdays. Enid Blyton has received a lot of stick in recent years for racism, but its important to remember that not only was her work of a very, very different time, but there’s a good reason she sold over 600 million books worldwide. For children sent away far from home as evacuees, or frightened by the world they were living in, Enid Blyton’s pacy, thrilling and magical books were the perfect antidote and still as wonderful today.

Georgette Heyer: Friday’s Child

Ms Heyer’s favourite work

 

This pick wouldn’t be complete without a good old fashioned romance and no author writes a love story like Georgette Heyer. This Cinderella style novel penned in 1944 centres around Viscount Sheringham and his need to marry. So good, it was considered Heyer’s favourite work, and had women left at home waiting for their sweethearts return a beacon of hope that love conquered all.

So these are my picks, as ever I would love to hear yours. Are there any books that have got you through particularly tough times? Or are there any classics from the war years you think deserve top billing? As always I love to hear you comments.

Until next time,

Fiona x