2 WWII Historical Fiction Novels Featuring Strong Women

by Susan Roberts

It's easy to miss a good book particularly at the start of a new year. Here are two you might have missed but historical fiction fans will want to get them.

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The Paris Daughter by Soraya M. Lane  

September 2024; Bookouture; 978-1835250181
audio, ebook, print (284 pages); historical fiction 

Paris, 1939: Gazing out at the glittering skyline, Evelina clutches the letter in shaking hands. “I know I don't deserve you, my darling, but I pray that you will change your mind. You have my heart, and I hope that nothing will keep us apart…”

This was another well-written and deeply researched novel by Soraya Lane. It is part of The Lost Daughters series but each book can be read independently with no confusion.  This book is a dual timeline story that takes place in WWII and in the present day in London as a woman tries to learn more about her biological family after the death of her grandmother.

When Blake is cleaning out her grandmother's house after her death, she finds a small wooden box with a scrap of material attached to a dress design.  The wooden box was left with her grandmother at a home for unwed mothers before she was adopted.  Blake feels that these items will give her a way to find out about her family history and begins to investigate.  After she talks to local designers in London, she gets a clue that someone in Paris may be able to help her.  She goes to Paris and meets Henri, a famous French fashion curator.  As he helps her discover more about her grandmother, sparks begin to fly between the two of them.  In 1939 in Paris, we first meet Evelina.  She wanted to be a fashion designer and left her family to travel to Paris to try to find success.  After several years of hard work, she became a designer for one of the most prestigious shops in Paris.  She was a successful and strong woman until she suddenly disappeared from Paris.  When she returned, her designs were no longer in style so she left Paris and disappeared.  Blake is still not sure if Evelina is her great-grandmother.  Even though the clues point to that fact, she can't find any definitive answers so she and Henri continue to search.  Will this possible connection to a famous designer inspire Blake to return to her love of design and help her find a job in the field that she dreamed of?

The two timelines in this story melded together perfectly as the clues slowly indicated information about Blake's biological family.  I thought that Blake was a strong character who wasn't going to quit searching for clues.  Evelina was also a strong character who worked hard to achieve her dreams and gave up her family to find success and made her own decisions about her life without relying on anyone.

This is the first book that I've read in this series and I think it's time to read the earlier books before book 6  publishes later this year.

Books in the Lost Daughter Series

The Italian Daughter

The Cuban Daughter

The Royal Daughter

The Sapphire Daughter

Thy Paris Daughter 

     

Buy The Paris Daughter at Amazon

(Kindle Unlimited subscribers can read the ebook for FREE)

The Dressmakers of London by Julia Kelly 

February 2025; Gallery Books; 978-1668032732
audio, ebook, print (432 pages); historical fiction

A heartfelt new novel about estranged sisters who inherit their late mother’s dress shop in World War II London.

I love historical fiction set during WWII and I love books about sisters and family so this book was a perfect read for me.  It was apparent throughout the book that the author had researched this time in history very well.  Her characters were fantastic and the story was a real page turner.

Sylvia was the oldest sister and Izzie was 5 years younger.  Their mother owned a dress shop in London and both girls were raised helping out in the shop  The difference is that Sylvia couldn't wait to get away from life at the dress shop.  Izzie loved the safety and the work at the dress shop and was content with her life.  Once Sylvia married a doctor who was part of the upper crust of London and well respected, she didn't have much to do with her mother and sister and Izzie resented her for thinking she was better than her family.  Izzie loved running the dress shop and knew that she would be the owner when her mother died.  She was very upset after her mother died and the will was read leaving the shop equally to the two sisters.  Sylvia is willing to give her sister her half of the shop but Izzie refuses and decides to buy out her sister.  The only problem is that she doesn't have enough money and due to her mother's haphazard way of keeping records, she has no idea how much the shop is worth.  When Izzie is conscripted into  the WAAF's, she asks her sister for help.  She wants her sister to do the minimal amount of work to keep the business running and to ask her questions by mail.  Sylvia is having issues with her husband and starts to devote herself to the shop.  Her first task is to clean up the accounting mess but then she starts helping with customers.  Izzie is not at all happy with the way that her sister is running the shop but there's nothing she can do about it.  Plus Izzie is enjoying life in the WAAFs.  For the first time she is outside the walls of the dress shop and is making friends and spending time dancing with the men on base.  Will the two sisters be able to find common ground to keep the dress shop open during a difficult time when clothing is rationed?  Will they ever be close again?

This book was well  written and the characters were very realistic.  I was hoping that the sisters could find the love for each other that they used to share.  

Be sure to read the author's notes at the end to learn more about clothing rations during the war -- something that I knew nothing about until I read this book.

This is a great historical fiction book about family and love and forgiveness during war time in London.  If you enjoy historical fiction, add this book to your to-read shelf - you don't want to miss it!

Buy The Dressmakers of London at Amazon 

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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