The biggest sin of When We Were Young and Brave is that it’s a perfectly ordinary World War II story. The tale – true though it is – of brave teachers, resilient children, and big bad foreign soldiers has been told so many times that it’s hard to wring anything fresh from the subject, though…
The past few weeks I’ve been attempting to whittle away at my TBR pile. I picked up The Beekeeper’s Promise a year or so ago because I liked the cover and I have a thing for bees. I’m so glad I did. The Beekeeper’s Promise is a moving tale of life in Nazi-occupied France during…
It’s been a long time since I’ve read a novel with layers of rich historical detail, espionage, and a poignant love story so deftly intertwined. The London Restoration brings post-World War II London to life in a book that deserves a long, slow read so the reader can soak up every nuance. Theirs was a…
Historicals taking place in the WWII time period are among my favorites, and I’ve loved the fact that they’re experiencing a surge of popularity right now. Miss Graham’s Cold War Cookbook offers a glimpse into a unique moment of that era, examining just how the Allies handled the immediate aftermath of victory. Edith Graham was…
I don’t think I’ve ever said anything like this before, but I’m honestly not sure I have the ability to convey how dreadful a book The Queen’s Secret is. I’ll start with some basic math: I can read a good book in a day. It took me thirty-three days to read this one. In 1939,…
The Prisoner’s Wife is a well-executed entry in the ‘Wife Genre’, as I refer to the group of historical novels that have dominated this last decade, all revolving around the spouse of a better known man, though this book is more original for focusing on the wife of an Everyman instead of a titan of…
A powerful story of love, sacrifice and survival set in China during the early years of World War II, Library of Legends is a gentle, magical surrealist fable about a land where enchantment may be waning but one can still catch a glimpse if one looks for it. Hu Lian is a second year scholarship…
In the summer of 1940, Adolph Hitler visited Paris for a total of three hours before leaving abruptly, never to return. No one knows the reason for this visit, and so, author Cara Black reimagines history in Three Hours In Paris, putting forward one possible scenario. American born Kate Rees never planned on working for…
The Light After the War is the author’s first novel under the name Anita Abriel although she has been published previously as Anita Hughes. Based on her mother’s life, the book is the story of two young Jewish-Hungarian women who miraculously survived the purges of WWII and in the aftermath struggle to build lives for…
Set during the tumultuous era encompassing WWII, The Words I Never Wrote is an interesting take on how easily we can misunderstand those we love. Our story begins with an elderly journalist receiving yet another award. Cordelia Capel already has a Pulitzer, has previously been honored with the White House Correspondents Association Award and this…