The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah
Two French sisters take different paths of survival and resistance under Nazi occupation.
World War II era · Military & war · Family saga
World War II era · Family saga · ~1939–1945
World War II era family saga historical fiction books
Looking for historical fiction in the family saga lane set during the World War II era (~1939–1945)? World War II era family saga historical fiction books collects historical novels that match both filters—Global war, resistance, Holocaust, home fronts. Multi-generational stories across decades or centuries 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.
The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
Death narrates the story of a girl who steals books in Nazi Germany—and the family that hides a Jewish man.
World War II era · Literary · Family saga
Pachinko
Min Jin Lee
Four generations of a Korean family navigate life under Japanese rule and in Japan.
World War II era · Cold War · Family saga · Literary
We Were the Lucky Ones
Georgia Hunter
In March 1939 the Kurc family gathers for Passover in Radom, Poland; by autumn the war has scattered Sol and Nechuma’s children from the ghetto to a Siberian camp, occupied France, and a refugee ship bound for Brazil. Georgia Hunter’s 2017 novel is World War II saga historical fiction of the years they spend trying to stay alive and find one another, drawn from the author’s own family.
World War II era · Cold War · Family saga · Biographical
The Bronze Horseman
Paullina Simons
In June 1941, Leningrad still has white nights when Tatiana Metanova meets Red Army officer Alexander Belov—then Hitler’s armies close the siege and hunger, secrets, and an impossible love take the city. Paullina Simons’s opening Bronze Horseman novel is World War II historical romance of the siege of Leningrad: war, family, and a passion that has to survive the winter.
World War II era · Romance · Military & war
The Winds of War
Herman Wouk
In 1939 Navy commander Victor “Pug” Henry is posted to Berlin as the American naval attaché, and the war pulls his wife Rhoda, their children, and a Jewish daughter-in-law through Germany, Britain, and Russia until Pearl Harbor, where the battleship he was about to command is hit before he can go aboard. Herman Wouk’s 1971 novel is World War II saga historical fiction of one navy family from the invasion of Poland to the day the United States enters the war.
World War II era · Family saga · Military & war
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
Hungry Ghosts
Kevin Jared Hosein
A Trinidadian epic of hunger, ambition, and a missing boy (Walter Scott Prize 2024).
World War II era · Cold War · Literary · Family saga
Howards End
E. M. Forster
Fiction · Inheritance and succession · Sisters · Country homes
Late 20th century · Romance · Literary · Open Library
Confusion (Cazalet Chronicle, Vol 3)
Elizabeth Jane Howard
English Domestic fiction · World War, 1939-1945 · Families · English War stories
World War I era · World War II era · Military & war · Open Library
Homeland
John Jakes
Fiction · German Americans · History · Domestic fiction
Late 20th century · Literary · Open Library
Marking Time (Cazalet Chronicle, Vol. 2)
Elizabeth Jane Howard
English Domestic fiction · World War, 1939-1945 · Families · English War stories
World War I era · World War II era · Military & war · Open Library
Novels 1942-1952 (Cannery Row / East of Eden / Moon is Down / Pearl)
John Steinbeck
Fiction · Social life and customs · World War, 1939-1945 · literary fiction
Victorian / Gilded Age · Late 20th century · Military & war · Literary · Open Library
The Mountains Sing
Phan Quế Mai Nguyễn
English literature · Fiction, sagas · Fiction, historical · Vietnam war, 1961-1975, fiction
Cold War · Late 20th century · Military & war · Open Library
The Unvanquished
William Faulkner
African Americans · American fiction · Fathers and sons · Fiction
Civil War · Victorian / Gilded Age · Military & war · Open Library
That Camden summer
LaVyrle Spencer
Fiction · Divorced mothers · Women · Historical fiction
Late 20th century · Literary · Open Library
Confusion
Elizabeth Jane Howard
Fiction · World War, 1939-1945 · War stories · Domestic fiction
World War I era · World War II era · Military & war · Open Library
Grace
Jane Roberts Wood
Neighborhood · Historical fiction · Neighborhoods · Runaway husbands
World War I era · World War II era · Military & war · Open Library
Other story types in World War II era
Looking for a broader list? See World War II era historical fiction or family saga historical fiction.