24 books like French Trilogy

No work of fiction has had such a profound effect on historians of Occupied France as this staggeringly beautiful book. I had never read fiction like this before, a novel written contemporaneously yet showing such a depth of knowledge of the world around by a novelist who saw beauty beyond the chaos that had engulfed her world.

The young French novelist of Ukrainian-Jewish origin had planned five books yet only completed two before being killed in Auschwitz in 1942. This book contains the first two complete novels which are very different stories, but equally dramatic and written in prose that flows poetically. I loved the first novel, about the exodus from Paris in May 1940, just as much as the second, a love story that was used for the film of this heart-wrenching book. 

I cannot think of a better example of micro-history, a specialism of mine, that tells the story of a single event yet delves so deeply and reveals so much. Paula Schwartz is a renowned historian of Occupied France who specializes in gender, daily life, and the Communist Party in France during this period of immense upheaval.

Her unequalled knowledge of these areas are brought together in her account of a May 1942 street protest over food shortages that had deep and tragic consequences, and were the tip of the iceberg of a Resistance movement that was in full development. This book makes current scholarship accessible to the wider public in ways that I had never before seen.

I came across this remarkable contemporary memoir, written by a Jewish journalist between 1943 and 1945 when researching a specific village in the Dordogne. Scheyer's family happened to have been hidden first in the village and then in a local convent.

This was only part of the extraordinary experiences of the writer during the Second World War when he was forced to flee Vienna and ended up in rural France, having been incarcerated twice. I do not think any other writer could recount their experiences in such simple yet powerful prose. It is one of only a handful of memoirs that have left me so full of admiration. A unique document.

My WW1 novel was about four friends one of whom suffers horrific facial injuries, so when a friend recommend this book I felt compelled to read it. 

During WW1 some park benches were painted blue to warn locals that the person sitting there might have distressing injuries. Set in 1920, Edward was once known as The Lucky Lieutenant before suffering a disfigurement bad enough to warrant wearing a mask to cover his injuries. He struggles to cope with the pain but travels to Margate with his closest friend, William.

Edward is a brilliant pianist and finds work at The Winter Gardens where he and William meet two women, Catherine and Evelyn. I always wonder what happened to people after the war and this book depicted that extremely well.

This is the first novel I read about grieving families who commissioned photographers to search for the place where their loved one died, in order that a photo could be taken for them to have as a keepsake.

I love learning something new when I read a book and I discovered so much about the after-effects of losing someone without having knowledge of their last moments and a place to pay one’s respects. 

This is about Edie, a widow wanting answers about her husband who she believes might still be alive, despite being classed as ‘missing, presumed dead’ in 1917. She commissions her late husband’s brother to search for him and photograph his final resting place, if indeed there is one.

A wonderful, haunting story of enduring love and loss.

I never fail to read Kate Mosse's books, and when I saw she had written about the French Resistance, I was hopeful she had done the subject justice. I should not have doubted her; it is a wonderful novel full of intrigue and tension, yet one from which I learned about how the Resistance formed.

Her all-female network is fictional, yet she sets the events during a period of extreme change and events that had a real effect on ordinary people. Women's experiences during the period were long under-represented in the story of the Resistance, and this breathtaking book does them proud.

Jamila Gavin is best known for Coram Boy, which enjoyed huge success and went on to become a stage production. Her latest book is an incredibly moving story of four schoolfriends who go on to take very different and equally demanding roles during World War Two. The character of Noor is based on the real-life SOE agent Noor Inayat Khan, an Indian princess who served as a wireless operator in Nazi-occupied Paris. This is a beautifully written, emotionally engaging story of women barely in their twenties, and a harrowing insight into life in Paris for Jewish families and those working to help them. 

An admirable sense of rebellion and freedom that the Second World War brought young people is encapsulated in this book by the author, who herself lived through those times. Mary Wesley’s novels are quirky and unexpected, and peopled with eccentric, sympathetic, and lovable characters who face the dangers of the Blitz and all the uncertainty of war with a certain poise. I love the concepts of escaping convention and the kindness of strangers. To read this novel—which I have done at least five times—is like stepping into a warm bath. It’s my go-to when I need a dose of familiarity and comfort.

The Kent countryside has a strong enough presence in this book to become a character in its own right, when the exquisite beauty of an English summer contrasts with the lethal Battle of Britain dog fights leaving vapour trails in the sky overhead. As a local young woman befriends a group of brave, doomed fighter pilots, the story captures the desperation and the absurdities of conflict, and the tender nature of transient and yet hopeful love. The author was commissioned by the RAF to write about the war, and I can tell from his pinpoint, unflinching detail of that unsettling time, that he was a first-hand eyewitness. 

One of English literature’s great family sagas, this epic quintet follows three generations of the Cazalet family (plus various relatives, friends and servants) before, during and after the Second World War.

At its heart is Home Place, the sprawling family home in the Sussex countryside. Initially where the extended family gathers for idyllic summer holidays – all teas in the garden, playing with cousins, and dressing for dinner – it becomes a refuge as war closes in. The lives of the vast cast of characters are full of frustration, unhappiness and tragedy, but spending time with them is a joy.