Pam Jenoff: The eternal appeal of wartime romance

Pam Jenoff, author of the recently released The Winter Guest, contributes to the conversation about romance in a time of war.

Pam: I suspect most authors who write novels set during the Second World War (including myself) would hesitate to call our books "romance." This has nothing to do with the romance genre (which I adore) or about genre labels in general (a topic for a whole other blog), but rather about the sensitivity with which one must address the era. Indeed when I wrote my first novel, The Kommandant's Girl, I'd never considered the question (a romance where the female lead and her husband are apart most of the book and where the only other possible love interest was a Nazi official?) until Publishers Weekly called it "historical romance at its finest."

But whether we call them "historical romance" or "historical fiction with a strong love story," there is no denying the appeal of the World War II era to readers and moviegoers alike. Since Casablanca and before, wartime love stories have stood out in books and film, and the recent proliferation of novels set during the war shows no signs of stopping. Here, I offer a few suggestions as to why love stories set during the war are so popular and suggest some of my favorites, including a few you might have missed.

• Ordinary people, extraordinary circumstances. The war took people right out of the lives they might have led and into roles they never imagined: from secretary to spy as in Susan Isaacs' Shining Through, or Frankie Bard in Sarah Blake's The Postmistress, who, while working for Ed Murrow in London, finds herself drawn deeper and deeper into the Second World War. Check out also Susan Elia McNeal's fabulous series featuring typist-turned-spy Maggie Hope. (Start with Mr. Churchill's Secretary.)

• Fateful meetings. Because people were put into unusual circumstances, they encountered others from backgrounds and nationalities that otherwise they would have not — often with electrifying results. For example, in David Gillham's City of Women, Nazi officer's wife finds herself protecting — and in love with — a Jewish man. And no discussion would be complete without mentioning Jenna Blum's Those Who Save Us, the epic story of a woman in Germany who withstands a relationship with a Nazi officer to protect those she loves.

• Tragic farewells. Just as war brought people together, it could just as quickly pull them apart. I'm thinking of the ill-fated lovers in Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient. Equally compelling is Kristina McMorris' Letters from Home, a heart-wrenching tale of long-distance courtship during the war inspired by the author's own grandparents.

• Inherent conflict. In the dire days of the war, people faced stark choices between doing what was right and what was necessary, and between pursuing personal desires or sacrificing them for the greater good. The result was great acts of sacrifice and horrific betrayals. Check out Lisa Barr's Fugitive Colors which details the passions and rivals among the painters in Paris on the eve of the Second World War. Another great story is Sarah McCoy's The Baker's Daughter, about a young German girl who will risk everything to help a Jewish boy.

• Danger (even in the most unexpected of places). Life during the war was high-stakes, and the sense that any moment could be one's last certainly fueled passion. One of my favorite hidden gems in recent years is All That I Am by Anna Funder, a taut, suspenseful take which shows German exiles (two of whom are lovers) in fierce peril from the Germans — even though they are living in London.

• Grand reunions. Through all of the strife, we authors who write love stories still like to give readers what they want: a happy ending. There are so many books I can't mention in this category without spoiling them for you! But I will say that Amanda Hodgkinson's 22 Britannia Road, about a Polish couple struggling to reunite in postwar London, is phenomenal.

For all of the above reasons, stories set during the war allow us to put the reader in the shoes of the protagonist and ask, "What would I have done?" This is the essence of great storytelling. And there are still many wonderful books to come: I'm super-excited this fall about Lisette's List by Susan Vreeland and Sleep in Peace Tonight by James MacManus.

Happy reading!

Here's the blurb about The Winter Guest:

Life is a constant struggle for the eighteen-year-old Nowak twins as they raise their three younger siblings in rural Poland under the shadow of the Nazi occupation. The constant threat of arrest has made everyone in their village a spy, and turned neighbor against neighbor. Though rugged, independent Helena and pretty, gentle Ruth couldn't be more different, they are staunch allies in protecting their family from the threats the war brings closer to their doorstep with each passing day.

Then Helena discovers an American paratrooper stranded outside their small mountain village, wounded, but alive. Risking the safety of herself and her family, she hides Sam—a Jew—but Helena's concern for the American grows into something much deeper. Defying the perils that render a future together all but impossible, Sam and Helena make plans for the family to flee. But Helena is forced to contend with the jealousy her choices have sparked in Ruth, culminating in a singular act of betrayal that endangers them all—and setting in motion a chain of events that will reverberate across continents and decades.

Find out more about Pam and her books at www.pamjenoff.com.