Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg

Set in Chicago in the 1940's, Elizabeth Berg's novel Dream When You're Feeling Blue is the story of three sisters: Kitty, Louise, and Tish.  Along with their two brothers and their parents, they all live together and are affected in different ways by World War II.  The girls do what they can for the war effort.  They volunteer at the USO and Kitty even gets a factory job building planes much to the consternation of her father.  In an effort to lift the spirits and morale of the men fighting overseas, each girl writes letters to soldiers they've met at USO dances as well as to their sweethearts. 

The three sisters share a bedroom and the reader is included in the sisters' intimate conversations they share with one another about their hopes, dreams, and fears.  It's through their letters to soldiers and their private conversations that the reader really feels a connection to the characters.  Elizabeth Berg does a excellent job of making the reader feel like they're part of this fictitious family.  With such detailed descriptions and superb writing, you really feel like you are in 1943 and the characters of Kitty and her sisters, Louise, and Tish are people that you feel you know. 

Other good books about World War II