All the Light We Cannot See
Anthony Doerr
A blind French girl and a German boy’s paths converge in occupied Saint-Malo during World War II.
World War II era · Interwar · Literary · Adventure & epic
Interwar · Literary · ~1920–1939
Literary historical fiction books: Interwar
Looking for historical fiction in the literary lane set during the Interwar (~1920–1939)? Literary historical fiction books: Interwar collects historical novels that match both filters—Jazz Age, Depression, rise of fascism. Character- and prose-forward novels set in the past HisFic is a free historical fiction discovery app: open a full reading journey with the same era and story-type filters, then add region, themes, or audience. Shelves mix curated historical fiction picks with Open Library titles so even thin combinations still have books to explore.
Shelf · 18 titles
Curated HisFic picks first, plus Open Library fills for this era + story type.
A Gentleman in Moscow
Amor Towles
Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to house arrest in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel as the Soviet century remakes the world outside. Over three decades he builds a life of friendship, purpose, and quiet resistance within the hotel’s walls.
Interwar · World War II era · Literary
The Four Winds
Kristin Hannah
Elsa Martinelli’s Texas farm is stripped by drought and dust until she takes her children west, joining the migrant camps of Depression-era California. Hannah’s Dust Bowl novel is historical fiction of grit, motherhood, and the cost of starting over.
Interwar · Literary · Family saga
Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden
A girl sold into Kyoto’s geisha world navigates art, rivalry, and war.
Interwar · World War II era · Literary · Family saga
Remember Ben Clayton
Stephen Harrigan
A sculptor memorializes a rancher’s son killed in WWI (SAH Prize 2013).
World War I era · Interwar · Literary
The Matchbox Girl
Alice Jolly
A nonverbal girl’s life in Nazi-era Austria, told with unusual power (Walter Scott Prize 2026).
Interwar · World War II era · Literary
Life After Life
Kate Atkinson
Ursula Todd is born in 1910 and dies—then is born again, and again—through the Spanish flu, a London Blitz that may or may not kill her, and lives that reach as far as Hitler’s Germany. Kate Atkinson’s Costa-winning novel is WWII time-slip historical fiction of one Englishwoman’s many lives, and the question of whether a second chance can change the war.
World War II era · World War I era · Time-slip · Literary
The English Patient
Michael Ondaatje
In the last months of World War II, a burned, nameless man lies in a ruined Italian villa with a Canadian nurse, a maimed thief, and a Sikh sapper—while morphine brings back the North African desert and a love affair that crossed maps and sides. Michael Ondaatje’s Booker-winning novel is WWII historical fiction of occupation, exploration, and the wreckage four people carry out of the war.
World War II era · Interwar · Literary · Romance
Atonement
Ian McEwan
In the summer of 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis misreads a moment between her sister Cecilia and Robbie Turner, the housekeeper’s son, and a false accusation follows them into World War II—Dunkirk, a London hospital, and a guilt Briony will spend a lifetime trying to rewrite. Ian McEwan’s novel is literary historical fiction of class, war, and the stories we tell to atone.
World War II era · Interwar · Literary · Military & war
The Paris Wife
Paula McLain
Hadley Richardson’s marriage to Ernest Hemingway unfolds in Jazz Age Paris among the Lost Generation.
Interwar · Biographical · Literary
Better to wish
Ann M. Martin
Families · Juvenile fiction · Friendship · History
Interwar · Late 20th century · Literary · Open Library
Dear America
Kathryn Lasky
Depressions · Family · Diaries · Indiana in fiction
Interwar · World War II era · Literary · Open Library
No Promises in the Wind
Irene Hunt
Great Depression · Historical Fiction · Juvenile fiction · Depressions
Interwar · Literary · Open Library
Really truly Ruthie
Valerie Tripp
Depressions · Juvenile fiction · Eviction · Fiction
Interwar · World War II era · Literary · Open Library
Royal Escape
Georgette Heyer
1930s · Fiction · Historical · Historical Fiction
Interwar · Romance · Biographical · Open Library
Dance a Little Longer
Jane Roberts Wood
Fiction · Lucy Richards Arnold (Fictitious character) · Large type books · Texas, fiction
Interwar · Literary · Open Library
Turtle in paradise
Jennifer L. Holm
Fiction · Historical Fiction · Juvenile Fiction · Depressions
Interwar · World War II era · Military & war · Adventure & epic · Open Library
Beforever
Valerie Tripp
Depressions · Aunts · Great Depression, 1929-1939 · Hotels and motels
Interwar · World War II era · Adventure & epic · Open Library
Other story types in Interwar
Looking for a broader list? See Interwar historical fiction or literary historical fiction.