I’ve always loved history relating to everyday life. That’s probably why life on the WWII homefront fascinates me. My WWII romance trilogy, Homefront Hearts, has a lot to do with various aspects of everyday life during the war: food rationing, fashion, air raid shelters, farm work, food production—so many details of everyday life were affected by the war.

My newest novel, The Seamstress on Cider Lane, was just released. It deals with clothing rationing, the clothing black market, and the necessity of adapting older clothes because of shortages. The first in the series, The Hobby Shop on Barnaby Street, focused more on life during the raids of 1940 while the final book in the trilogy, The Land Girl on Lily Road (to be released on March 4), features a city girl adapting to life on a farm as a member of the Women’s Land Army.

I’m a big fan of costume dramas and there are some great ones that portray life during the war while away from the front line. They’re usually less dramatic and certainly less gruesome. But even just facing the day as a civilian during WWII was an act of bravery and resilience.

 

10. Operation Mincemeat (2021)

It wasn’t just the Great Meeting of the Mr. Darcys. Operation Mincemeat is based on the very weird and very real Operation Mincemeat tactical deception orchestrated by British Intelligence. Long story short: they took advantage of an unclaimed body in a morgue (not great, gang, not great!) and disguised him as a fake British major with misleading information planted on his person. The body was strategically relocated to Spain and the Spanish shared the doctored documents with German Intelligence, luring Axis forces away from Sicily.

Almost the entire movie takes place in England. It was a fascinating look at the sneaky and brilliant maneuvering done during the war. I also appreciated the inclusion of one of the British Intelligence officers involved in the plot: Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming. Fleming would later go on to write the James Bond novels.

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9. Suite Française (2015)

Michelle Williams plays a French widow who falls for the reluctant German officer (played by the always dashing Matthias Schoenaerts) who lives at her home during the occupation. It is based on a novel by Irène Némirovsky who was later a Holocaust victim.

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8. Jojo Rabbit (2019)

I will happily watch anything Taika Waititi touches but Jojo Rabbit is definitely one of my top two Taika films. (It’s not higher on this list because it’s not entirely all everyday life stuff. There’s some fighting at the end.) Set in Germany during the later years of WWII, it’s about a young boy who joins the Hitler Youth before a severe injury gets him kicked out. He soon finds out his mother has been hiding a young Jewish girl in their house and he slowly realizes that the man he has looked up to for many years may not be such a great guy.

Also, it’s a dark comedy. And Hitler is his imaginary friend.

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7. Summerland (2020)

Thousands of children were evacuated from British cities as a safety precaution during WWII in case of German invasion or bombing. In the film Summerland, a young boy is assigned to live with an academic recluse in the country. (Despite the way the movie frames it, living privately in a cottage by the sea in Kent and writing seems like a perfect existence to me!) It’s a sad and sweet little movie starring Gemma Arterton.

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6. Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005)

Mrs. Henderson Presents is a comedy based on the true story of Laura Henderson (played by Dame Judi Dench), a bored and wealthy widow who buys a theatre on a whim in the late 1930s. To save it from financial ruin, she and her manager add nude pantomime. The theatre was best known for these tableaux vivants and staying open during the London Blitz. The real theatre was converted to a cinema in the 1960s.

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6. The Night Watch (2011)

Based on a Sarah Waters novel, a large portion of this TV movie takes place during the London Blitz while some takes place just after the war has ended. It portrays the intertwining relationships of a group of friends and lovers whose lives are forever changed by the Blitz. Features Claire Foy, Anna Maxwell and Jodie Whittaker.

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4. Hope and Glory (1987)

A 10-year-old boy and his family cope with life during the London Blitz in this touching comedy-drama. The movie is told from the boy’s perspective which makes it a unique and heartbreaking movie with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.

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3. Their Finest (2016)

I love this semi-hidden gem of a film. One of the many interesting facets of WWII on the British homefront was the government’s Ministry of Information department; they controlled things like posters and propaganda films and specifically what information was shared with the public via the media. In Their Finest, Gemma Arterton (yes, again) and Sam Claflin are hired by the MOI to write a feel-good movie about the “miracle at Dunkirk” to keep British morale up. This romantic comedy (kind of?) is set during the Blitz and also features Bill Nighy at his most Bill Nighyest.

It’s just too bad Sam Claflin’s hair and moustache are historically accurate but so bad.

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2. Atonement (2007)

I’m pretty sure it’s a rule that Atonement appear in every single existing listicle about WWII movies so here it is here. It’s got everything! It’s got tragedy, it’s got the fabulous green dress, it’s got Kiera Knightley, it’s got James McAvoy looking an absolute dish, it’s got Saoirse Ronan, it’s got that one continuous shot of Dunkirk, it’s got the Blitz, it’s got star-crossed lovers, and it’s got one of the most tense and effective musical scores I’ve ever heard.. It’s. Got. Everything.

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1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)

Atonement may have everything but The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society has my heart. The book was excellent and the film adaptation is definitely one of my most favorite movies ever. Although much of the movie takes place just after the war has ended, much of the focus is events that occurred during the war, particularly the German occupation of the island of Guernsey. An English writer happens to connect with a Guernsey farmer and learns about their village’s book club, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. She ends up traveling there to meet the group with plans to research and write about the German occupation… but it gets complicated.

I could never get bored of this comedy/drama/romance and I can easily say it was a big inspiration for my Homefront Hearts trilogy. It’s sweet, it’s silly, it’s heartbreaking, and it’s hopeful. I love it so much.

Side note: this is the third movie in this list featuring Dame Penelope Wilton. The lady is a national treasure.

 

Do you have any favorite wartime movies that should have made the list? We’d love to hear about them in the comments!