Family Stories Month rolls around every November. This is a time when families join together to share stories from the past. Who knows what amazing stories your family have to share?
Here at Cranthorpe Millner Publishers, we love to hear stories about families, as they seem to make history come alive. Check out the below list of books to find the perfect family story for you to dive into this month…
Leaving Fatherland by Matt Graydon
With scenes inspired by real events, Matt Graydon’s Leaving Fatherland follows book-loving protagonist Oskar from his childhood in Nazi Germany to New York City and beyond, as he struggles to come to terms with his father’s abuse.
This gripping story portrays a tapestry of characters who straddle both sides of the conflict, highlighting the uncomfortable truth that we are often driven by our parents’ wishes, rather than our own. With scenes based on the real life experiences of his German uncle, Leaving Fatherland is inspired by Graydon’s meticulous research into the complexities of the war.
His uncle’s wartime crash in the North African desert, which had become family legend but ultimately remained a mystery for many years, is graphically described in the book. The opportunity to uncover his relative’s rich history revealed details that informed this deeply impactful novel, now destined to become a staple on all history lover’s bookshelves.
Matt says…
“The account of my German uncle’s time before the war in the US and his desert air crash in the Second World War had been talked about many times around the dinner table. However, no one researched the story properly. I knew it was a story I wanted to tell and had thought about it for years.”
Gwendoline by Jeremy Bending
Based on a true story, Gwendoline explores the challenges facing women in the 1900s, the struggles confronted by individuals suffering from mental health issues, and the devastating impact these issues can have on their families.
Based on the real-life hardships faced by the author’s mother, readers will be left heartbroken by this young woman’s tragic story, as she struggles to deal with the pressures placed on her as a woman, nurse and mother in the 1900s. Highlighting the devastating impact of mental illness on those affected, and their families, alongside the harsh realities of life during wartime, Gwendoline is a must-read for lovers of historical fiction and romantic tragedies.
Dear Mr Snippet by Roseanna Rolph (Coming April 2025!)
Dear Mr Snippet follows newly-married couple John and Rita, as their lives, home and family are transformed by the trials of World War II. Featuring photographs alongside real letters and diary entries shared between the couple and their children, transcribed painstakingly by their granddaughter Roseanna, this touching World War II memoir sheds light not only John and Rita’s story, but also the highs and lows faced by many military families, both during World War II and beyond.
Roseanna says…
“It was during one of her last days that my mother, Rosemary, placed a rather ordinary-looking cardboard box into my hands, a look of great expectation on her face, telling me that there was something very special about its contents. Looking inside revealed several bundles of letters, tied with ribbon and written in emerald-green ink, a trademark of my grandmother. These were her letters, written to my grandfather during the Second World War, which had been closely cherished and guarded, and this was the moment that their custody was being handed to the next generation.
It was when clearing my mother’s study that I found my grandmother’s treasure box, shown and promised to me a few years before: an old, battered hat box, displaying the faded remains of rose-pink stripes and summer blooms. In amongst leatherbound diaries, photographs, miscellaneous notebooks and papers, sat a stack of letters in my grandfather’s handwriting, the dates revealing some of the Second World War years. I wondered… if ordered and dovetailed, could these letters speak to one another? Would they reveal a conversation over those years? What stories would unfold, and what snippets of Rita and John’s daily lives could be revealed from their personal and military diaries? This was how Dear Mr Snippet was born.”
Which book will you be diving into in celebration of Family Stories Month?
