One of the chief joys of historical fiction is learning about significant events or the lives of unusual people one has previously known little or nothing about. This month’s selection of stories, all set in World War II, offers an array of such revelations.
For lovers of reading, what could be more entrancing than a story about the healing power of books during war? THE UNDERGROUND LIBRARY by Jennifer Ryan explores that facet in her novel that features the real-life underground library at Bethnal Green in London. Juliet Lansdown leaves the country to take up her new position as deputy librarian at Bethnal Green just as the Blitz forces the library to relocate into the unused tube station. Along with the library, the underground comprised a whole community with
housing areas, childcare, a medical clinic, a theater group and spaces for people to gather. Juliet is determined to make the flagging library succeed. She’s helped in her endeavor by Katie Upwood, who signs on to work at the library until she can return to university. Through the book club they establish, the two become friends with Jewish refugee Sofie Baumann, for whom the library is a haven where she escapes from her domestic service job for an abusive employer. All three have secrets or concerns, Juliet with her past, Katie when the soldier boyfriend whose child she is carrying is killed, Sofie in her quest to find a sister still trapped in occupied Europe. As they discuss books with the community, the three form a bond that will help them weather the traumas of war and the challenges and tragedies it creates in their personal lives, showing once again the power of story to inspire, foster hope and promote endurance through the worst of times.
Another story based on a real-life underground library is THE KEEPER OF HIDDEN BOOKS by Madeline Martin—though “underground” here doesn’t refer to the physical location, but to its clandestine nature. Set in occupied Warsaw, the danger in this novel comes not so much from bombs, but from the terror of life under Nazi occupation. Even before the war, the love of books Zofia shares with her best friend Janina was her greatest comfort. But as daily life becomes ever harsher, Janina and her family are forced into the ghetto, while the campaign to Germanize Poland includes the banning and destruction of Polish literature. While doing all she can to help her friend and her family, Zofia is determined to salvage her community and its culture, hiding away the threatened books and beginning a clandestine book club to provide hope and intellectual stimulation to her friends and neighbors. Martin’s story inspires with its portrayal of the power of friendship and the soul-nourishing ability of literature to enable people to endure the unendurable.
From the encouragement and hope provided by books and those who love them we turn in the next two stories to accounts of organizations about which I, at least, previously knew nothing. THE HIGHLAND GIRLS AT WAR by Helen Yendall introduces the Women’s Timber Corps, an offshoot of the Women’s Land Army that specialized in harvesting timber essential to the war effort. Set in Scotland, the story features three women from very different backgrounds who become unlikely friends after being thrown together in remote rural Scotland as members of the newly formed “Lumberjills.” Determined to do something for the war effort more significant that knitting socks, over the strong objections of her family, Lady Persephone joins after accepting a bet from her brother that she won’t last a month at the physically demanding job. Crushed by her overbearing mother, quiet Grace leaves the family farm hoping for a fresh start where she may be appreciated. Irene joins up to earn more for her family while yearning for her beloved husband who’s away at war. Along with their fellow “Lumberjills,” the three deal with hostility from locals who don’t believe women are up for the task, grueling and dangerous work conditions and low pay. Providing unexpected relief is a contingent of Canadian lumberjacks, recruited to help the Home Country after most English men have been called up for the regular armed services. All three women find unexpected strengths even as they face personal tragedy and, for some, unexpected romance. A fascinating story of a little-known organization illustrated through the lives of its interesting and exceptional characters.
We’ll end with another unit about which I’d previously known nothing. WOMEN OF THE POST by Joshunda Sanders features three women who join the 6888th Central Postal Battalion of Women’s Army Corps, the first all-Black, all female Army battalion formed and sent overseas to England to expedite the backlog of wartime mail delivery to the troops.
Its story based on the life of Lieutenant Colonel Charity Edna Adams Earley, the novel features Judy Washington, a Bronx native tired of the drudgery of earning pennies cleaning white women’s houses who eagerly accepts the opportunity the army offers to make more money and see the world. While training, Judy bonds with Missouri farm girl Stacy, Chicago beauty salon worker Bernadette and Mary Alyce, who only discovers that her father was black after joining the army. Working under Second Officer Charity Adams, the girls deploy to England, where they will maintain the bonds between soldiers and their families by sorting over a million pieces of mail. Despite prejudice and discrimination, both in the South and in England, the girls persevere, sustained by their friendship and the satisfaction of mastering a difficult but essential task.
Ready to discover fascinating details of the past packaged in stories that entertain, inform and inspire? Any or all this month’s selections should fill the bill!
Real, intense, passionate historical romance
Award-winning romance author Julia Justiss, who has written more than thirty historical novels and novellas set in the English Regency and the American West, just completed her first contemporary series set in the fictional Hill Country town of Whiskey River, Texas.
A voracious reader who began jotting down plot ideas for Nancy Drew novels in her third grade spiral, Julia has published poetry and worked as a business journalist.
She and her husband live in East Texas, where she continues to craft the stories she loves. Check her website for details about her books, chat with her on social media, and follow her on Bookbub and Amazon to receive notices about her latest releases.
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