Can you recommend me historical fiction books set in World War II concentration camps?
Hello, fellow bookworms! Can you recommend me historical fiction books set in World War II concentration camps? I’m currently reading The Tattooist of Auschwitz and LOVING it. I’ve never read books in the World War II historical fiction genre and I’m excited to find books in a similar vein. Thanks for any recommendations you can provide!
Empire of the Sun
It’s not set in a camp, but All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr is so good. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne takes place in/near a camp.
night
sarah’s key
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
Also, Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks is one of the best books I have ever read. Harrowing and descriptively beautiful.
I’m on page 334 of Birdsong and thinking exactly the same thing!
Sarah’s Key is one of my favorite books of all time. Irena’s Children is also good.
lilac girls
The Camp. Excellent read
F
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
Loved that book
Currently reading!
LILAC GIRLS!!! It’s from 3 women’s perspectives: one is in a concentration camp, one is a doctor in the camp (based on real person), and another is an American woman working for the French consulate (based on real person). It comes together in the end and it’s a beautifully told story.
I second this! Amazing read, some parts are heartbreaking.
The Wall by JohnHersey
It’s “ancient” by most folks’ standards, but Exodus (especially the chapters re the Warsaw Ghetto) are absolutely unforgettable–even now more than 50 years since I first read.
Charlotte Grey by Sebastian Faulkes
Have you read Birdsong too?
@Cara yes! It’s amazing!
I loved both books!
I think they are part of a trilogy witg the Girl at the Lion’dor in the middle
Those Who Save Us. Not really about life in a camp, but about someone who risks her life to help those in the camps.
Another recommendation for the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Better have a box of kleenex for that one.
@Sandra definitely!
The book thief.
Sarah’s Key! One of my all time favourites… keep the tissues handy though, its heart breaking.
Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning, is biographical, but is a wonderful read.
Dressmaker of Dachau
This is on my to be read list once I find it 🙂
Ken Follett has several ww2 books that are all excellent. I just read We Were the Lucky Ones by a different author and it was very good.
I loved The Librarian of Auschwitz
I loved The Violin of Auschwitz by Maria Angels Anglada. It’s really short, but impactful.
The German Suitcase. Lilac Girls
The Lilac Girls. It is a little more from the Polish perspective but also follows an American and a German doctor.
The One Man by Andrew Gross.
This book is so good!
The Zion Covenant Series by Bodie Thoene! I can’t say enough good things about it. It begins pre-WWII, so the first book doesn’t have as much about the concentration camps exactly, but the whole series covers multiple stories of people of different faiths, and how they were affected, how they suffered, how they escaped, etc, while following one main family throughout. It is really well put together. The first book is Vienna Prelude. 🙂 I am rereading it right now!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/253047.Vienna_Prelude
Don’t know if anyone has recommended it yet but The Great Escape by Paul Brickhill
Lilac girls
I recommend – Code Name Verity, such a wonderful book.
Agree – Code Name Verity is one of the best.
Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein (author of Code Name Verity) is also excellent and unforgettable
@Beverly, Thank you for the recommendation.
The Orphans Tale by Pam Jenoff
You must read QBVII bu Leon Uris! This is a great book and a little different, it is about a law case about war crimes, a wonderful read!
Just started it on your recommendation [and I love court dramas]. So far, very good!
Oh good, I love when someone reads one of my favorites! There is a mini-series (they used to be so popular, years ago), with Ben Gazzarra (sp) and Anthony Hopkins. It is really a pretty good one and worth a look if you can find it. Of course book is better but really enjoyed the mini-series also. Let me know what you thought of the book if you get a chance….Enjoy!
Thanks, I will.
all the light we cannot see by a. doerr was excellent. also, the boy in the striped pajamas by john boyne.
The Lilac Girls
Excellent book and based on true events
The Storyteller-Jodi Picoult
This!! ☝?
I read one a while ago by Madge Piercy that I liked. I’ll try to remember the name.
The Auschwitz Escape by Joel Rosenberg
.
Night by Elie Weisell
Adding to my TBR!
The Women of the Castle. Gives perspective out side of the norm. My book group was really interested in the perspective of the gal who was a participant in some of the bad stuff. You wonder how anyone in Germany would do these things, but this shows you how someone’s participation started off good, and kind of sneaks up on you until you have become part of the problem.
Agreed, this was a fantastic perspective. I thought about this book for a long time after!
Try “ The One Man” by Andrew Cross, about a concentration camp in Poland. You will love it.???
Mila 18
Following! I second The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Book Thief. Add Mischling too…
The Nightingale
The Hiding Place
We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
All But My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein
The Last Train to Istanbul – Ayse Kulin
I just started this book, so I am not sure if you would like it.
Though not necessarily set in the camps, I do have a few in the same time frame/situation.
Salt to the Sea- Ruta Sepetys
Every Man Dies Alone- Hans Fallada
Summer of my German Soldier- Bette Greene
The Zookeeper’s Wife- Diane Ackerman
Also, I attended a lecture presented by Mrs Eva Kor, who is a Holocaust survivor. And she has a few books she has written as well. Very moving.
Nightingale. Thread of Grace. They’ll break your heart.
Lilac Girls, Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Number the Stars, Book Thief, Schindler’s List, Sarah’s Key, Winds of War and War and Remembrance
WW was my reward book. It stared at me from my nightstand all thru law school. I opened it up as soon as I got home from taking my Bar Exam.
Sarah’s Key was sad & wonderful both
The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis.
Farewell To Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston.
Finding Rebecca
The Nightingale
The Storyteller
Exodus
Winds of War
I was just trying to remember the title of the book I read in high school based during WWII, and was going to ask this group- but it’s Winds of War! Yay! Do you have a copy by chance? I’d love to re-read it.
I’m thinking I read it about 40 years ago along with War and Remembrance both by Herman Wouk. They were excellent books but whatever copies I had are long gone.
Have you read Lilac Girls? It is a great book with a whole new story that I never knew about.
@Marsha I’ve read Lilac Girls and The Alice Network. Both were good, but LOVED The Alice Network! I have a copy if you want to read it. It’s WWII also.
I would like to read it. Right now I’m reading Russian Roulette.
@Marsha That’s on my TBR pile!
Mila 18
Night. Eli Weisel
Hitler stole my pink rabbit ❤️?
That is not set in a concentration camp. the Kerrs left Germany. As soon as Hitler came to power and were England when the war started.
That is not set in a concentration camp. the Kerrs left Germany. As soon as Hitler came to power and were England when the war started.
The Orchid House by Lucinda Riley
Loved The Nightingale, The Book Thief, Empire of the Sun by JG Ballard ( Pacific side of the war and later adapted for film by Spielberg)
Skeletons at the feast by Chris Bohjalian
Man’s Search for Meaning. Not fiction, but good to read.