Here are reviews of some early-to-mid twentieth century historical fiction novels that I particularly liked. If you liked them, you may well like mine, A Wolff in the Family: A Novel, which spans the era from 1918 through 1958 in the western US.

The Four Winds: A Novel  –  Kristin Hannah

I liked this book especially because it gives such a strong emotional and visual sense of the 1930’s Dustbowl and the people who tried to keep farming… and had to give up their land and move. My heart went out to the families who simply sought a place where they could make a living and survive. I felt that Hannah captured not only this dynamic but the scant remains of their personal lives and how they strove to hold on to family relationships. It’s a domestic story, and A Wolff in the Family has more in common with this book than any other I’ve read, or even those I have looked into and haven’t read.

Orphan Train: A Novel – Christina Baker Kline

I loved the format of this book, which was that the author chose to use a young woman of the early twenty-first century who had a conflicted family life, and intertwine her story with a young woman from the early twentieth century who was sent west on an orphan train. I knew that in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, it was common for poverty-stricken children (even if they still lived with their parents) to be sent away to the Midwest to either work on farms or be domestic servants. The situations the orphan from the past is set down in are despicable, and I was pulling for her constantly: Don’t give up! you’ll grow up and perhaps have more agency! I thought the finely woven plot brought the two story lines together beautifully, seamlessly. I’m dying to tell you more, but would then walk into the arena of spoilers! Another book that has a lot in common with A Wolff in the Family, given the orphan theme (in Wolff, Frank Wolff, a character based upon my maternal grandfather, gives his five youngest children away to an orphanage for reasons you would not expect).

The Invisible Bridge: A Novel – Julie Orringer

I knew nothing about World War II in Hungary, and was blown away to learn of the circumstances the Hungarians withstood in that era. The expertly crafted plot featured characters that were not only believable, but I also became invested in them emotionally and rose and fell with their triumphs and tribulations. I was disturbed to read about the Hungarian army’s labor force, entirely made up of Jewish men who were not allowed to carry arms even though they were often in peril. They were treated very similarly to people in concentration camps. The book was not like any other novel I’ve read set in that era. It’s a love story, and also a family story. I particularly liked the sections on one character’s experiences in Paris; I felt like I spent a little time in the city of light. Orringer’s writing is just impeccable.

All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel – Anthony Doerr

Another WWII book, but the war itself is not the primary subject; I saw it as merely the context in which the characters make their choices and become their inevitable selves. I was humbled by revisiting the knowledge that many of those who participated in Nazi Germany were conscripted, and did not want to participate in the horrors, but they or their families could be ostracized, starved or shot if they defected or did not perform well.  I learned about the subtler and more humane sides of some German soldiers. Perhaps this was unusual, but it allowed me to take a different perspective, and consider that some were fighting in the war simply to stay alive or keep their loved ones alive, much like some in the Russian army today in Ukraine. An exquisite, clever, well-crafted, kind but realistic book. One of the best I have ever read.

Transatlantic: A Novel – Colum McCann

I had the opportunity to hear McCann speak in person about this book, so I got to tell him that I loved how he presented and seemed to understand the attitude and thinking of women, and particularly of one older woman character. I was reading the book in the bathtub (unusual for me, but I couldn’t put it down) and started to cry because it so perfectly captured the sadness the woman had at the prospect of leaving her long-term home. My tears were not so much because I felt her angst, although I did, but more because it is so unusual for a male author to understand so deeply the interior thoughts and feelings of how women experience their lives. McCann told me that he was raised by a family of women and just paid attention to them. I have part Irish ancestry myself, and enjoyed the Irish settings in much of the book, and that it followed the lives of Irish families. This one is a little bit of a cheat in terms of the overall theme here, because it ranges from 1845 to 2011. But mid-twentieth century is definitely part of it!