Resistance

Resistance is the debut novel by the award-winning Welsh poet Owen Sheers. It is 1944 and the Nazis have invaded Britain following their defeat of the Soviets on the eastern front.

The women of a remote Welsh farming village awake one morning to discover all the men gone to join the resistance against the German occupiers. A small German patrol enters the valley with unknown intentions.

A severe winter forces these two groups together as they fight for survival against the extreme weather. Romance blossoms between the Welsh women and the homesick German soldiers.

This is a convincing re-imaging of the events of World War 2. Jan Morris, writing in the Guardian, states that “Sheers treads his tricky path with infinite subtlety, sometimes leading us towards one conclusion, sometimes to another. Resistance is at once a brilliant and sometimes frightening thriller, and a mature exploration of human blur and compromise.”
 

Sheers, Owen. Resistance, London: Faber and Faber, 2007

References:

Books in Print Professional Reviews 
Owen Sheers' Website

Jan Morris' Review in the Guardian UK

Goodreads Reader Reviews

SS-GB Nazi-occupied Britain, 1941

Prolific English writer Len Deighton's SS-GB: Nazi occupied Britain 1941 is one of the earlier titles in this genre with the title referring to the branch of the Nazi SS that controls Britain.

Published in 1978 it depicts London in 1941 suffering under German rule nine months after Britain's surrender to the Nazis. Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer is investigating the murder of a prominent nuclear physicist involved in the resistance against Nazi rule.

In this novel King George VI is imprisoned in the Tower of London and his daughters have sought exile in New Zealand. Winston Churchill has been arrested and executed by the Nazis.

Archer battles a power struggle between his Nazi SS overlords as he attempts to solve the crime. He discovers the Resistance is attempting to free the King.

British author Graeme Shimmin writes in his blog that “SS-GB is a convoluted and downbeat story with no heroes and no easy answers, but Deighton’s skill keeps the reader engrossed and creates an entirely believable world. It is one of the key novels of alternate history, and a must read for all alternate history fans.”


Deighton, Len. SS-GB: Nazi occupied Britain 1941, London: Book Club Associates, 1978.

References:

Graeme Shimmin's Review 
Existential Ennui Blog Review 
SS-GB Wiki 
Goodreads Reader reviews
Len Deighton's Website