Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Bibliophiles and anglophiles will enjoy this book for its embracement of a literary society, references to classic British authors' lives and its epistolary style. Its description of life in the Channel Island of Guernsey during and soon after World War II will raise readers' interest. However, some of the characters seem to be caricatures: few people in Britain have names like "Darsey" except in Bronte-sister books. More research would have made this book more believable and interesting. For example, No-one in 1946 would have taken a sudden trip to Australia and the mail boat to the island took six hours and would not have been an evening sail. The Channel Islands' inhabitants have many traditions that are distinct from those in Britain: many inhabitants have French surnames. A farmer there was unlikely to own one cow. These characteristics did not come out in the book. The facts about wartime life in the island are though, based on true historical events. Although many seem to be included in the book in a very disjointed manner and with not-so-believable effect. Being as I seem to be in the minority in not recommending this book, if after reading this book your interest in wartime life in the Channel Islands is sufficiently raised, may I suggest the true story "Prison without Bars" by Frank Keiller.