“Some powder, blush, a touch of mascara, and a sweep of pink lipstick, and I was ready to go.”
Craving some emotional fiction books? Stories that centre around courageous women during conflict? Jane Healy’s The Beantown Girls is a bestselling historical fiction novel filled with female friendships, wartime resilience, and a unique focus on the Red Cross Clubmobile girls. Whether it’s stories with strong female leads, books set during WWII, or novels that focus on women in wartime roles, we here at What We Reading thought we would pay homage to Healy’s bestseller with a list of other works that echo the same spirit. From gripping tales of nurses and resistance fighters to uplifting tales of love, loss, and hope during history’s darkest hours, these books are the best books like The Beantown Girls. Read on for unforgettable reads that bring women’s wartime experiences to life – perfect if you’re wondering what to read after The Beantown Girls or on the lookout for your next historical fiction escape!
The Beantown Girls Summary
Set in 1944, The Beantown Girls orbits around Fiona Denning, a woman who has entire life is planned out. She’ll work in city hall, settle down in the Boston suburbs, and finally marry her fiancé once he returns home from the war. At least, that was the plan. When her fiancé is reported missing after being shot down, Fiona departs Boston to volunteer abroad as a Red Cross Clubmobile girl.
Alongside her are her two best friends. Viviana is perfectly happy to leave behind her secretarial job in search of adventure. Dottie is an introverted and shy music tutor whose talents promise to bring heart and hope to the men on the frontlines. But, despite their collective charms and resilience, the trio isn’t ready for the full extent of the horrors of warfare. Jane Healy’s novel follows the three friends as they tackle the challenges of adapting to life at the heart of conflict, discovering new friendships, connections and potentially even romances along the way.
The Nightingale – Kristin Hannah
First stop on our list of books like The Beantown Girls is Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, a historical fiction novel that follows two French sisters, Vianne and Isabelle Mauriac, whose lives are upended by the Nazi occupation of France. Vianne, the elder of the two, is a schoolteacher and mother who attempts to keep her family safe after her husband is sent to the front. Forced to house a German officer, she is forced to find quiet, courageous ways to resist the regime whilst protecting her daughter.
Isabelle, the rebellious and fiery younger sister, refuses to sit idly by as her country is invaded. She joins the French Resistance, becoming known as “The Nightingale” – helping downed Allied pilots escape Nazi territory – renowned for her fearless actions. As the war progresses, both sisters are soon forced into making impossible decisions and sacrifices.
Check Out The Best Books Like The Nightingale
The Girls Of Pearl Harbor – Soraya M. Lane
When Grace, April, and Poppy join the US Army Nurse Corps, they view it as little more than an adventure, one made all the better by their first station: Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. Joined at the hip, the hip, idealistic Grace, exuberant Poppy, and brave but haunted April soon find themselves frolicking in the sun, attending parties, and flirting with the handsome soldiers also stationed there. Just like the sun sitting high in the Hawaiian sky, their futures appear to be warm and bright – until the infamous morning of December 7, 1941.
Within just a handful of horrifying hours, their sparkling hopes turn to black rubble and ash. Caught up in a terrible war they never could have envisioned, the friends must decide what truly matters to them as they face grief as they never have before. Perfect for anyone who loved The Beantown Girls, The Girls of Pearl Harbor is both heartbreaking and uplifting, charting the women’s paths as they attempt to find happiness and themselves in the midst of the carnage.
Girls On The Line – Aimie K. Runyan
Inspired by the true story of the “Hello Girls” – America’s first female Army telephone operators – Aimie Runyan’s Girls on the Line opens in December 1917 with twenty-four-year-old Ruby Wagner preparing for her wedding to a social scion. But when her old brother is killed in combat, Ruby follows her heart and enlists as a female operator in the Army Signal Corps overseas.
As one of the trailblazing “Hello Girls” deployed across war-torn France, Ruby must find her place in the military strata, fight for authority and respect amongst her Allied peers, and forge a victory for the cause. Soon, however, balancing her service to her country becomes complicated by a blossoming relationship with army medic Andrew Carrigan. Similar to The Beantown Girls, what starts out as a harmless friendship soon blossoms into something more, forcing Ruby to choose between the conventions of a well-ordered life back home and the risk of an uncertain future.
When We Had Wings – Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris, Susan Meissner
When U.S. Navy nurse Eleanor Lindstrom, U.S. Army nurse Penny Franklin, and Filipina nurse Lita Capel forge a friendship at the Army-Navy Club in Manila, Philippines, they believe that they’re living the perfect assignment. All three of them are looking for a way to escape their pasts, but soon the beauty and promise of their surroundings give way to the horrors of war.
Caught in the crosshairs of a fight between the Americans and Japanese for control of the Philippines, the nurses are forced to serve under combat conditions and, ultimately, endure captivity as the first female prisoners of WWII. As their resiliency is pushed to unimaginable limits, the women strive to keep their hope – and one another – alive. One of the best books like The Beantown Girls and based on the real-life experiences of the “Angels of Bataan”, When We Had Wings is a captivating historical fiction novel about women during wartime and a heartfelt tribute to female friendship.
Radar Girls – Sara Ackerman
Daisy Wilder prefers the company of horses to people, bare feet and salt water to high heels and society parties. Then, in the dizzying aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbour, Daisy finds herself enrolling in a top-secret program, replacing male soldiers in a war zone for the first time. Under fear of an imminent invasion, the WARDS guide pilots into blacked-out airstrips and track unidentified planes across the Pacific skies.
Yet not everyone believes these women are up to the job, and the new recruits are forced to rise above their differences and work alongside each other, despite the resistance and heartache they encounter along the way. From radar towers on remote mountaintops to flooded bomb shelters, Daisy will need her new team when the stakes are ramped up to their highest. Sara Ackerman’s Radar Girls is an extraordinary historical fiction tale based on the real Women’s Air Raid Defence and a homage to pioneering, unsung heroines across history, perfect for anyone who loved The Beantown Girls and is wondering what to read next.
Mercy Road – Ann Howard Creel
It’s 1917, and after her home burns to the ground with her father in it, Arlene Favier must find a way to support her mother and younger brother. If she isn’t able to, they will all be impoverished. Job opportunities are scarce. Arlene’s only option appears to be the American Women’s Hospital, a trailblazing, all-female team of doctors and nurses bound for war-torn France.
On the front lines, Arlene and her fellow ambulance drivers work day and night to help injured soldiers and civilians. In between dangerous and daring ambulance runs Arlene finds herself reuniting with an old childhood friend, Jimmy Tucker, a soldier who opens her heart like no other. But she has also caught the attention of Felix Brohammer, a charismatic army captain who harbours a dark, treacherous secret. To expose Brohammer means risking her family’s future and the promise of love. Arlene must make a stay in the safety of silence, or risk taking the greatest chance of her life.
The Light Over London – Julia Kelly
The Light Over London is another historical novel similar to The Beantown Girls that blends past and present through a compelling dual timeline. In contemporary England, antique dealer Carla Hargreaves stumbles upon a forgotten diary in an old tin, kick-starting a journey to uncover the life of a woman who served as a gunner girl during the Blitz.
Flashing back to 1941, Louise Keene is a young woman from a quiet Cornish village who defies her family’s expectations to join the British anti-aircraft gun unit. As Louise falls in love and wrestles with the harsh realities of wartime, her story intertwines with Carla’s own search for truth, resilience, and healing. Rich with emotion and brimming with wartime courage, The Light Over London offers strong female protagonists, a blend of love and sacrifice, and a heartfelt tribute to the often-overlooked women who served during the Second World War.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
