Channel Islands – Cleopatra Loves Books

Historical Fiction 5*'s — Historical Fiction
5*’s

This is one of those books that I’ve been meaning to read for some time, the focus being the German Occupation of Guernsey. Living in Jersey which was also occupied this is a familiar subject as the history of this time surrounds me with the bunkers and fortifications left behind as well as the German Underground Hospital which has now been rebranded as the War Tunnels.

The beginning of the book strongly reminded me of 84 Charing Cross Road by Hannah Hanff, not only is this an epistolary but one of the earliest letters from Dawsey Adams, Guernsey to Juliet Ashton, the chief correspondent, mentions not only a book that belonged to her but a request for a book, there being no book shops left in Guernsey in 1946.
Juliet responds “I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.” What a delightful idea. Juliet is a novelist, her witty war-time column has been collated into a book and she is doing a tour of the UK to promote it. She corresponds to her publisher, also a friend, as well as a close friend in Scotland and then prompted by Dawsey’s mention of The Literary and Potato Peel Pie society she begins to probe at the stories, and the flood-gates open as the Islander’s oblige.

German Army Band in the High Street courtesy BBC Guernsey

Juliet gets to know the inhabitants, even those who disapprove of the project, the nasty minded Christian who is determined to tell the author all about the society member’s failings, but as more stories are told Juliet realises that she wants to visit the island of Guernsey and see her pen-pals in real life. The genius of this book is the perfect mix of horrific stories, those people who were deported, those who lived in fear along with the lack of food, but these are balanced out by some tender moments, with memories of bravery and humour and compassion, not least at the society’s meetings. There were some letters that took my breath away despite being familiar with the nature of the events that occurred.

Guernsey – The Telegraph

But this isn’t just a book about the island the letters also tell us about Juliet, her burgeoning relationship with a publisher, her friendship with her own publisher and friend Mark Stephens and his sister Sophie, living in Scotland with two young children. This mix of her private life with fancy dinners and hotels with the correspondence with the islanders who are rebuilding their lives following the departure of the Germans further highlights the horror of wartime.

I can’t recommend this enough, I wouldn’t have thought it possible to pack so much into a bunch of letters but the author has constructed this so well, reporting items back to her friends as well as corresponding directly to the Islanders giving a light and chatty overtone to the darker moments.

I believe this book is being made into a film although rumour has it that it is being shot in Cornwall rather than Guernsey and I’m keen to see how the construct will alter to enable the audience to fall in love with the lightness of touch which makes this such an enjoyable read.

Before I moved to Jersey, like every other child in the British Isles I learnt a lot about World War II in history lessons, but I never realised that the Channel Islands were occupied by the Germans. This happened when it was deemed by Ministry of War that the islands were indefensible. Now it may be that I wasn’t paying attention being more concerned with growing the hole in the sleeve of my jumper or whispering to my friends but I was truly surprised that it hadn’t been mentioned (I was quite good at and very interested in history)

Living here the signs of the occupation are still around and whenever we have guests to stay we go to the War Tunnels which demonstrates what life was like in the islands at that time. Jersey War Tunnels

This means that being offered a free book to review which centres on the very cusp of that time, June to July 1940, is always going to be a fascinating read, but there is so much more to this book than familiar surnames and place names (although I love that part too)

Historical Fiction 4*'s — Historical Fiction
4*’s

So here is my review:

The Last Boat is the sequel to Against the Tide and as the reader I was plunged straight back into Jack Renouf and his adventures along with all the other characters met in the first book. In all honesty I hadn’t realised how much I missed them all. The Last Boat brings an extra depth to these characters, Jack himself is a year older, a little wiser but still a young man with a lot to learn about life, love and himself.

The book starts in France in June 1940, Jack having left his studies due to the war is involved in the rescue of some of the thousands of Allied soldiers from the beaches around Dunkirk. This book has switched from swimming to sailing, the timings of the tides become crucial to the various missions that litter the pages as Jack begins to realise what type of man he really is. I found myself much more involved with the characters, I actually shed a tear before I was halfway through the book as actions and decisions in the past begin to have very real consequences in the present.

Living in Jersey and having often thought about the sheer enormousness of the decision the locals had to make; to stay and live under German rule or go and leave everything they knew behind, balancing the safety of their loved ones on an uncertain set of scales. John Hanley has done a fantastic job of bringing the scenes to life, those when it was clear the islands could not be defended along with the queues to register for evacuation.

So in conclusion don’t read this without reading Against the Tide, the characters you meet there will explain a lot in this story. Expect a more thoughtful book; the Famous Five mad missions, hiding and carrying out daring deeds, are all still there, but this time the magnitude of what is at stake is far more apparent. I loved it. there is something for everyone within the pages of this book, pure history, the story of a young man finding his way in the world along with some boat-fixing and various other mechanical skills I never knew I wanted to know.

John Hanley has provided some useful timelines and notes at the end of this book which I wish I’d realised whilst reading as they provide answers to some of the questions I had. I was even more delighted to discover that there is to be another episode to find out what happens to Jack and the others.
I received a free copy of this book from the author in return for this honest review.

See my review of the Against the Tide by clicking on the book cover. I now wish I had asked for a physical book rather than the e-book as the symmetry in the two covers look amazing.

Read more about The Last Boat and John F Hanley from HBS Author’s Spotlight or if you’d like to see a little bit more history regarding the Occupation look at the Jersey War Tunnels