Historical fiction is a famous and most-read genre because it takes the readers to another time and place, real or imagined. Writing historical fiction means creating a balance between historical facts and fiction while it includes real people and events.
Historical fiction writers expose the readers to the lives of people, time, and place, which illuminates history’s untold stories allowing the reader to experience complex truths. Reading history also helps you to understand the real events in the past. It gives the readers the opportunity to be moved by what happened. It is human nature to continue digging for sense and meaning even after knowing the facts. This is the essence of humanity.
Are you looking for historical fiction books to know about the past world? Well, the following five are the best books that can help you know about the WW2 bombing and many other historical facts to increase your knowledge:
- Escape by Elaine Blair:
Elaine Blair is a book lover who loves to read and has also served as a retired teacher. She also loves to circle around the world, and her inspiration to write ‘Escape’ stemmed from her trip to Germany with her husband in the fall of 2019.
In her book Escape, she narrates the story of a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl named Frieda Jacobsmeyer, her Nana, and her Mama, who experienced the first wave of terror from the basement of an apartment building. Her Jewish friend, Walther Goldschmidt, his mother, and his father used the firebombing of Dresden as an opportunity to escape Dresden and their upcoming deportation to a work camp.
The beauty of Dresden inspired her to write one of the best Dresden WW2 books. Elaine was shocked to see that the beauty of Dresden was destroyed by British and American aircraft. Reading history helped her to get a clear insight into the events of history. The history of Dresden and the details showed how the city was destroyed in just a few hours. Over the years, the residents of Dresden rebuilt their city. Escape is one of the stories based on real events.
Dresden was named Florence on the Elbe River because of Baroque buildings and cultural history. Nobody was expecting the bombing of Dresden as the people believed it was safe, and necessary precautions were not taken. Elaine believes it is important to write such stories so that the next generation can know about history and world events.
Who will survive the Dresden firebombing? Who will survive the Gestapo that looks for Jewish families that left Dresden during the bombings? While the sparks fly in Dresden, what sparks are ignited between Frieda and Walther in their flight and fight for survival? Know more about the story by heading to the website. You can also order your favorite book from Amazon!
- A Brief Stop on the Road from Auschwitz by Goran Rosenberg:
The story revolves around a young man who gets off a train in a small Swedish town on 2nd August 1947. Fortunately, he survived Auschwitz, the Lodz ghetto, and the harrowing slave camps during the last months of Nazi Germany. The author reminiscences his childhood to tell his father’s story – read more about the story. You can order it from the website.
- The Artificial Silk Girl Hardcover by Irmgard Keun:
It is one of the best novels, translated into English and published in Great Britain before the book disappeared in the mess of war. Seven decades later, a new translation is set to bring this lost classic to the limelight again.
As the novel begins, Doris takes a pledge to write down all the happenings of her life not as a diarist but as a glamorous star of her life. She describes a slow descent into near prostitution and homelessness. Later she becomes the cinematic lens through which readers see pre-war Berlin. Doris shows a bleak, seamless urban landscape. She describes it as ‘the city is sick’ – with intolerance, apathy, and cruelty. Doris desires to find a natural home, authentic silk blouses, and real love, but other unfortunate events await her.
