Books like 'A Bright Room Called Day'
Readers who enjoyed A Bright Room Called Day by Tony Kushner also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical 20th century military, war & conflict drama lgbtq historical-fiction politics ww2 war university
-
Hana by Alena Mornštajnová
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt's 1954 and nine-year-old Mira's life is about to change forever. After a typhoid outbreak rages through her town, robbing her of her parents and siblings, the orphaned child is forced to live with her mysterious, depressive Aunt Hana, a figure both frightening and fragile... -
![All the Broken Places by John Boyne]()
All the Broken Places by John Boyne
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThe sequel to the phenomenal bestseller, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, this is John Boyne's latest novel for adults.1946. Three years after a cataclysmic event which tore their lives apart, a mother and daughter flee Poland for Paris, shame, and fear at their heels, not knowing how hard it is to escape your past... -
![Three Sisters by Heather Morris]()
Three Sisters by Heather Morris
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA promise to stay together.An unbreakable bond.A fierce will to survive.From international bestselling author Heather Morris comes the breathtaking conclusion to The Tattooist of Auschwitz trilogy.When they are girls, Cibi, Magda and Livia make a promise to their father - that they will stay together, no matter what.Years later, at just 15 years old, Livia is ordered to Auschwitz by the Nazis... -
![The Girls in the Attic by Marius Gabriel]()
The Girls in the Attic by Marius Gabriel
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe bestselling author of The Designer presents a sweeping story of blind faith, family allegiance and how love makes one man question everything he thought he knew.Max Wolff is a committed soldier of the Reich. So when he is sent home wounded, only to discover that his mother is sheltering two young Jewish women in their home, he is outraged... -
-
![The Other Blue Sky: Surviving the Holocaust by Shari J. Ryan]()
The Other Blue Sky: Surviving the Holocaust by Shari J. Ryan
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA standalone spinoff from the #1 Bestselling Book, Last Words. Very few people can say they were born inside a concentration camp during the Holocaust. Disease, starvation, and much worse, prevented most prisoners from surviving. For infants, it was nearly impossible. I became an anomaly. I shouldn’t be alive. As a child, I didn’t know my life was different from that of others... -
![Shoot Me, I'm Already Dead by Julia Navarro]()
Shoot Me, I'm Already Dead by Julia Navarro
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe gripping story of two families who follow their dreams and struggle to overcome their own destiny.Marian Miller, a NGO aid worker, is asked to write a report on the illegal Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory... -
![Victory for the Ops Room Girls by Vicki Beeby]()
-
![The Promise by Ruth Saberton]()
The Promise by Ruth Saberton
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsNo matter what promises you make, some dark secrets refuse to stay buried... When Nell Summers stumbles across a photograph in her late father’s belongings, the faded image of a young soldier leads her to question everything she knows...Categorized as:
historical-fiction ww2 war fiction military historical 20th-century violent-conflict -
![A Ration Book Daughter by Jean Fullerton]()
A Ration Book Daughter by Jean Fullerton
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCathy was a happy, blushing bride when Britain went to war with Germany three years ago. But her youthful dreams were crushed by her violent husband Stanley's involvement with the fascist black-shirts, and even when he's conscripted to fight she knows it's only a brief respite - divorce is not an option. Cathy's only solace is her little son Peter... -
![To Wake the Giant: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Jeff Shaara]()
To Wake the Giant: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Jeff Shaara
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling master of military historical fiction tells the story of Pearl Harbor as only he can in the first novel of a gripping new series set in World War II’s Pacific theater. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt watches uneasily as the world heads rapidly down a dangerous path... -
![The Doctor's Daughter by Shari J. Ryan]()
The Doctor's Daughter by Shari J. Ryan
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAuschwitz, 1941: It was her father’s job to save the lives of the SS. But she chose to risk everything and save the lives of prisoners.In Nazi-occupied Poland, Sofia cannot look her father in the eye. Sofia’s mother, her papa’s cherished wife, is Jewish—how dare he work as a doctor for the SS? She cannot forgive him, even if the bargain was made to spare their lives... -
![We Had to Save Them by Elle van Rijn]()
We Had to Save Them by Elle van Rijn
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAmsterdam, 1941. My name is Betty. Until a few months ago, I was just like every other nursery teacher in the city – singing silly songs with the toddlers, sharing lunch with friends, smiling at the handsome stranger on the rickety tram ride home to my family each evening...Categorized as:
historical-fiction ww2 war fiction historical audiobook 20th-century violent-conflict -
![The Child On Platform One by Gill Thompson]()
The Child On Platform One by Gill Thompson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsInspired by the real-life escape of thousands of Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Europe on the Kindertransport trains to London, the new novel from the author of The Oceans Between Us Gill Thompson. For readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz Heather Morris, The Choice Edith Eger and Lilac Girls Martha Hall Kelly. Prague 1939. Young mother Eva has a secret from her past... -
![Survivor by Lesley Pearse]()
Survivor by Lesley Pearse
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsRussell, 1938 It is 1938 and Mariette is a defiant, strong willed and selfish 17 yr old. The small, gossipy town of Russell, New Zealand isn’t nearly big enough for Mariette’s ambitions and her devoted parents, Belle and Etienne, fear for her reputation... -
-
![No Less Than Victory: A Novel of World War II by Jeff Shaara]()
No Less Than Victory: A Novel of World War II by Jeff Shaara
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAfter the success at Normandy, the Allied commanders are confident that the war in Europe will soon be over. But in December 1944, in the Ardennes Forest, the Germans launch a ruthless counteroffensive that begins the Battle of the Bulge. The Führer will spare nothing to preserve his twisted vision of a “Thousand Year Reich,” but stout American resistance defeats the German thrust... -
![The Secret Letter by Debbie Rix]()
The Secret Letter by Debbie Rix
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFor readers of Orphan Train, The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Book Thief comes an unforgettable novel inspired by a true story about the power of human kindness and bravery in a time of unimaginable heartbreak... -
![The Inseparable Twins by Anatoly Pristavkin, Michael Glenny]()
The Inseparable Twins by Anatoly Pristavkin, Michael Glenny
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsВ этот сборник А.Приставкина вошли повесть "Ночевала тучка золотая" и рассказы, написанные в разные годы. Но объединены они все одной общей темой - темой войны. Это суровое и тяжкое детство, это люди, спасшие из военного пожара целое поколение. Это размышления автора о раннем взрослении юных, о дружбе и товариществе, о любви к родной земле... -
![The Puppet Maker's Daughter by Karla M. Jay]()
The Puppet Maker's Daughter by Karla M. Jay
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratings2022 New York City Big Book WINNER2022 Independent Author Network) IAN FINALIST2022 Shortlist for the Selfie Award by Publisher's Weekly2021 FINALIST Self-Published Review ContestHungary 1944. The war comes late to Budapest. Nineteen-year-old Marika, forced out of nursing school, believes she and her Jewish family will remain safe, even as Nazi soldiers fill their cobbled streets... -
![Edelweiss by Madge Swindells]()
Edelweiss by Madge Swindells
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsGermany, September, 1937. Bill Roth, Reuters' US correspondent based in Germany hears a rumour that handicapped children destined for euthanasia under Nazi ideology, are being rescued by an underground group of German and Austrian students. He investigates and meets Marietta von Burgheim, a woman of beauty and morality and an heiress to great wealth... -
![The Scarlet Nightingale by Alan Titchmarsh]()
The Scarlet Nightingale by Alan Titchmarsh
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsAs war rages across Europe, one young woman is torn between love and loyalty.Set in wartime London and occupied France, this is a thrilling story of love, danger and sacrifice from bestselling novelist Alan Titchmarsh.It is the late 1930s when seventeen-year-old Rosamund Hanbury leaves behind the endless summers of her coastal Devonshire home for the fast pace of high society London... -
![The Amulet: A heart-breaking novel of love and loss set in WW2 Singapore by Ann Bennett]()
The Amulet: A heart-breaking novel of love and loss set in WW2 Singapore by Ann Bennett
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom award-winning author Ann Bennett, comes a new, heart-breaking novel set in Singapore, during World War Two.Perfect for fans of Dinah Jeffries and Victoria Hislop.After her mother’s death, Lara discovers a beautiful amulet amongst her belongings, engraved with the words “for Suria... -
![If Not Now, When? by Primo Levi]()
If Not Now, When? by Primo Levi
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsPrimo Levi was among the greatest witnesses to twentieth-century atrocity. In this gripping novel, based on a true story, he reveals the extraordinary lives of the Russian, Polish and Jewish partisans trapped behind enemy lines during the Second World War... -
![The Girl Who Survived by Ellie Midwood]()
The Girl Who Survived by Ellie Midwood
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratings“It was very dangerous for him, and he knew it. But his love for me was stronger than fear.” - Ilse Stein This novel is based on the inspiring and moving love story of Ilse Stein, a German Jew, and Willy Schultz, a Luftwaffe Captain in the Minsk ghetto, who risked his life to save the one he loved the most... -
![Bent by Martin Sherman]()
Bent by Martin Sherman
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMartin Sherman's worldwide hit play Bent took London by storm in 1979 when it was first performed by the Royal Court Theatre, with Ian McKellen as Max (a character written with the actor in mind). The play itself caused an uproar. "It educated the world," Sherman explains. "People knew about how the Third Reich treated Jews and, to some extent, gypsies and political prisoners... -
-
![Les patients du docteur Garcia by Almudena Grandes]()
Les patients du docteur Garcia by Almudena Grandes
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAprès la victoire de Franco, le docteur Guillermo García Medina continue de vivre à Madrid sous une fausse identité. Les papiers qui lui ont permis d’éviter le peloton d’exécution lui ontété fournis par son meilleur ami, Manuel Arroyo Benítez, un diplomate républicain à qui il a sauvé la vie en 1937... -
![Slepá mapa by Alena Mornštajnová]()
Slepá mapa by Alena Mornštajnová
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratings„Lidé přicházejí na svět z různých důvodů – z lásky, náhodou, nebo omylem. Já jsem se narodila kvůli bytu,“ předesílá hlavní hrdinka Anežka na začátku ságy o trojici žen, která se začala psát už před první světovou válkou.Do Anežčina osudu se promítají nejen životní příběhy jejích rodičů a prarodičů, ale i krutý dopad dějinných událostí... -
![The Sugar Men by Ray Kingfisher]()
The Sugar Men by Ray Kingfisher
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Sugar Men - A Story of Holocaust Echoes. Susannah Morgan has been settled in sleepy North Carolina for almost sixty-five years, but is still haunted by memories of her escape from the holocaust as a child. For most of her life the flashbacks have been a lonely obsession - one she has managed to hide from her children... -
![The Midwife of Berlin by Anna Stuart]()
The Midwife of Berlin by Anna Stuart
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAuschwitz, 1943: I stroke my beautiful baby’s hair. It’s a miracle it’s blonde because it will keep her alive, it will keep her safe. Soon they will come and take Pippa out of Auschwitz-Birkenau – and out of my arms...Categorized as:
historical-fiction ww2 war fiction audiobook historical 20th-century violent-conflict -
![Darkest Before Dawn by Katie Flynn]()
Darkest Before Dawn by Katie Flynn
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Todd family are strangers to city life when they move into a flat on the Scotland Road; their previous home was a canal barge. Harry gets a job as warehouse manager and his wife, Martha, works in a grocer's shop, whilst Seraphina trains as a teacher, Angela works in Bunney's Department Store and young Evie starts at regular school... -
![The Wife Who Risked Everything by Ellie Midwood]()
The Wife Who Risked Everything by Ellie Midwood
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBerlin, 1943: “Where’s your husband?” the SS man demanded.“There’s no one home,” Margot said before they started tearing the place apart. “I’m alone here.” In his eyes was nothing but ice and death, and it occurred to Margot that only she stood between her husband and the soldier’s machine gun.In Nazi Germany, Margot refuses to buckle under the weight of Hitler’s tyranny... -
![The Most Precious of Cargoes by Jean-Claude Grumberg]()
The Most Precious of Cargoes by Jean-Claude Grumberg
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSet during the height of World War II, a powerful and unsettling tale about a woodcutter and his wife, who finds a mysterious parcel thrown from a passing train.Once upon a time in an enormous forest lived a woodcutter and his wife. The woodcutter is very poor and a war rages around them, making it difficult for them to put food on the table. Yet every night, his wife prays for a child... -
![The Award by Danielle Steel]()
The Award by Danielle Steel
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCapturing historical events, terrifying moments of danger, tragedy, the price of war, and the invincible spirit of a woman of honor, The Award is a monumental tale from one of our most gifted storytellers—Danielle Steel’s finest, most emotionally resonant novel yet. Gaëlle de Barbet is sixteen years old in 1940 when the German army occupies France and frightening changes begin to occur... -
![Far From Home by Ellie Dean]()
Far From Home by Ellie Dean
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt is 1940 and Staff Nurse Polly Brown has been granted a posting at Cliffehaven Memorial Hospital on the south coast to be near her badly injured husband, Adam. But her decision has meant that she has had to part with their beloved five-year-old daughter, Alice, who is travelling to safety in Canada... -
![The Girl With No Name by Diney Costeloe]()
The Girl With No Name by Diney Costeloe
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA heart-wrenching story from the bestselling author of The Throwaway Children. Thirteen-year-old Lisa has escaped from Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport. She arrives in London unable to speak a word of English, her few belongings crammed into a small suitcase. Among them is one precious photograph of the family she has left behind. Lonely and homesick, Lisa is adopted by a childless couple... -
-
![A Prophet Without Honor: A Novel of Alternative History by Joseph Wurtenbaugh]()
A Prophet Without Honor: A Novel of Alternative History by Joseph Wurtenbaugh
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings‘A Prophet Without Honor’ is that rare novel that provides a rich, entertaining and fully immersive reading experience, along with a resonant, thought-provoking subtext. Written in epistolary style and populated with interesting, fully-realized characters, the multi-general narrative is a seamless blend of authentic fact and sound speculation... -
![Todos os Sonhos do Mundo by Theresa Révay]()
Todos os Sonhos do Mundo by Theresa Révay
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsVoltar ao grande romance. Viver, página a página, a intensidade de uma história de amor, perda, força e coragem. Xénia escapou à Revolução Russa e à guerra, mas o seu coração está ainda por sarar. Derrubado o governo nazi, regressa a Berlim em busca do Max, o único homem que amou. Reencontra-o marcado pela guerra, atormentado... -
![If My Heart Had Wings: A World War II Love Story by Nadine Taylor]()
If My Heart Had Wings: A World War II Love Story by Nadine Taylor
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsPart love story, part heroic journey and part mystery, this fascinating WWII historical novel examines the life and death of an American pilot flying the Hump in India/China and the tumultuous life of the young widow he left behind. A seamless blend of the wartime drama of Eve of a Hundred Midnights, the romance of The Key and the mystery of Orphan Train... -
![Rachel's Legacy by Julie Thomas]()
Rachel's Legacy by Julie Thomas
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe much anticipated sequel to The Keeper of Secrets, following the fortunes of the Horowitz family from pre-war Berlin to the present. When Dr Kobi Voight is given a set of old letters by his mother he has no inkling that they will lead him around the world and deep into the tragic past of his family... -
![Keep Smiling Through by Ellie Dean]()
Keep Smiling Through by Ellie Dean
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJune 1940. Rita Smith swore she would never lose heart . . .Despite losing her mother at a young age and her father away on important war work, seventeen-year-old Rita Smith has plenty of people to turn to in the close-knit community of Cliffhaven. Until Italy sides with Germany and Rita's closest friends and neighbours are interned as enemies of the state... -
![The Lilac People by Milo Todd]()
The Lilac People by Milo Todd
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFor readers of All the Light We Cannot See and In Memoriam, a moving and deeply humane story about a trans man who must relinquish the freedoms of prewar Berlin to survive first the Nazis then the Allies while protecting the ones he loves. In 1932 Berlin, Bertie, a trans man, and his friends spend carefree nights at the Eldorado Club, the epicenter of Berlin's thriving queer community... -
![Mother's Boy by Patrick Gale]()
Mother's Boy by Patrick Gale
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratings'Tender, evocative' TLS'Richly engaging' SpectatorA Radio 4 Serial Fiction Book of the Week'A characteristically tender novel about a young man growing up in the shadow of one war and the whispers of the next' Observer'A wonderful novel about relationships, particularly between a mother and son... -
![The Rising Tide by Jeff Shaara]()
The Rising Tide by Jeff Shaara
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA modern master of the historical novel, Jeff Shaara has painted brilliant depictions of the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, and World War I. Now he embarks upon his most ambitious epic, a trilogy about the military conflict that defined the twentieth century. The Rising Tide begins a staggering work of fiction bound to be a new generation's most poignant chronicle of World War II... -
![You Are My Sunshine by Roberta Kagan]()
You Are My Sunshine by Roberta Kagan
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsYou Are My Sunshine, is the sequel to All My Love, Detrick, this bestselling novel is set during the holocaust. When Helga Haswell becomes pregnant by a married SS officer who abandons her, she finds herself alone and desperate. She is afraid to tell her parents that she is pregnant out of wedlock, so her doctor suggests that Helga check into Heinrich Himmler’s home for the Lebensborn... -
![Voyage of the Heart by Soraya M. Lane]()
Voyage of the Heart by Soraya M. Lane
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom bestselling author Soraya Lane comes a story of friendship, love, and heartbreak at the end of World War II. 1945: Along with hundreds of other war brides, Betty, Madeline, Alice, and June set sail for New York to be with the men they love. In the days they spend at sea, the four young women become firm friends and vow to stay in touch no matter what their new lives bring... -
-
![The Wild Rose by Doris Mortman]()
The Wild Rose by Doris Mortman
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the old world elegance of Budapest to the opulence of Manhattan and the glittering capitals of Washington, London, and Paris, comes a magnificent story of love and danger, passion and heart-stopping intrigue... Katalin and Steven: even as children in Hungary, they has shared a special bond. Then tragedy struck, cruelly tearing them apart... -
![The Girl from Simon's Bay by Barbara Mutch]()
The Girl from Simon's Bay by Barbara Mutch
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA seashell and a sealed letter form a tenuous connection to a forbidden wartime romance 1937. Simon’s Town is a vibrant and diverse community in a picturesque part of the Union of South Africa, with a Royal Navy port at the town’s heart... -
![Sea Music by Sara MacDonald]()
Sea Music by Sara MacDonald
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA beautifully written novel with great emotional appeal, of family secrets and wartime heritage, set in Cornwall, London and Warsaw. The house and the cottage overlooking the sea, on the corner of the big estate, was home to three generations of the Tremain family... -
![Love is a Wounded Soldier by Blaine Reimer]()
Love is a Wounded Soldier by Blaine Reimer
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDespite growing up with an abusive, alcoholic father, and having to cope with the untimely death of his mother, Robert Mattox has retained his innocence and idealism. He woos and marries his first love, Ellen, and it appears his life is set for a happily-ever-after ending. But World War II is raging, and its vortex snatches him away from his young bride... -
![The Road Between Us by Nigel Farndale]()
The Road Between Us by Nigel Farndale
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings1939 : In a hotel room overlooking Piccadilly Circus, two young men are arrested. Charles is court-martialled for 'conduct unbecoming'; Anselm is deported home to Germany for 're-education' in a brutal labour camp. Separated by the outbreak of war, and a social order that rejects their love, they must each make a difficult choice, and then live with the consequences... -
![Mother of Pearl by Maureen Lee]()
Mother of Pearl by Maureen Lee
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA tragedy tears a family apart - a superb novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of THE LEAVING OF LIVERPOOL.Pretty Amy Curran was just eighteen years old when she met Barney Patterson, the love of her life, on Southport Pier in 1939...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
