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904 reviews
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Secret Hotel in Berlin: An utterly gripping and heart-wrenching WW2 novel by Catherine Hokin
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
In The Secret Hotel in Berlin she returns readers to the fictional Edel hotel mentioned in The German Child. Hokin notes that prior to World War II, Berlin boasted some of the grandest hotels in the world, most of which were built in the early twentieth century. She modeled the Edel after and pays homage to, among others, the Adlon, which was plagued by “scandal and intrigue, including a thwarted bomb attempt” during the society wedding of the then-Kaiser’s daughter. None of those hotels still exist today. But Hokin says she has always loved the grandeur of luxurious hotels “because there is nowhere like a hotel when it comes to keeping secrets. They really are places where different worlds can exist.”
Less glamorous than the real Adlon, Hokin fashions the Edel as Hitler’s favorite hotel In Berlin. There, he presides over meetings with his top leaders and closest advisers. The stages of the hotel’s existence mirror those of Berlin itself. It is depicted before and during World War II, as well as in 1990, following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Having long languished in a state of decay, the Edel is about to undergo a major renovation and reopen. According to Hokin, over the years, the Edel houses beauty, fear, darkness . . . and secrets.
At the heart of the novel is “a story which has been told so often it has become the truth and, in the telling, has ruined countless lives probably because nobody ever thought to ask who told the story in the first place or why they told it.” The “quest” for the truth compels Hokin’s fully formed and engaging characters, whose lives are transformed when long-concealed and forgotten answers are finally revealed.
The story opens in 1929. Lili Krauss arrives in Berlin from her native Leipzig. She lost both of her parents – her mother succumbed to Spanish flu in 1919 and her father, an elder at the Leipzig synagogue who endeavored to be the “very best German he could be” and raised his daughter to do the same, was tragically killed. Just eighteen years old, she is a young woman with sufficient means to purchase a flower shop and procure papers granting her a new identity and name, Lili Falck. Intent on building “a life no one can touch,” she quickly realizes how naïve she was to believe that she could escape danger.
She soon meets Marius Rodenberg who, at twenty-three years of age, already manages his family’s hotel, the storied Edel. At first, Lili’s only interest in him is strictly professional – she has a lucrative opportunity to supply flowers to the hotel and its guests. But their relationship deepens, and she cannot bring herself to tell Marius who she really is and gives him no reason to suspect that she is Jewish. They marry, have a beautiful daughter, and Lili settles into a life of comfort and safety.
But as the political climate in Germany grows increasingly treacherous, Lili lives in terror as the Edel hosts Hitler; Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda chief; Heinrich Himmler and Herman Goring, architects of the Holocaust; and other party leaders. Marius is a proud German intent on protecting and preserving both his family and they successful business they have created, but Lili is horrified when he salutes the officers, oblivious to the threat they pose to his wife and child, along with many of his employees. “Marius had saluted the officers back without thinking – that was the problem. His arm had shot up and her jaw had dropped. . . . The encounter had left him as untouched as it had terrified her. Because he didn’t see the threat – why would he? He’s never lived in a world where you can lose your footing overnight.” Gradually, life in Germany becomes exponentially more dire for Jews as the Nuremberg laws are enacted and complete Aryanization is mercilessly implemented.
A second narrative begins in 1990, four months after the Berlin Wall falls. Lucy has traveled to Belin for the first time, assigned by her employer to oversee restoration of the Edel hotel and bring it back to life. As she walks through the door, she feels the structure’s magic. “This place has lived through so much history, the past is soaked through its walls. There’s a story here waiting to be uncovered,” she observes. When she meets the lead architect on the project, Adam Wendl, she is surprised to learn he is the grandson of Marius Rodenberg. Adam was raised by his mother, Gabi, in East Berlin, who told him little about his family, including his grandfather who went missing in the 1943 battle for Stalingrad and has for many years been presumed dead. Lili, Adam’s grandmother, gained a reputation during World War II as not just a devoted Nazi, but a close friend of the Fuhrer and his closest advisors because of their frequent patronage of the Edel. When the war ended, she was reviled and classified as a Belastete – a person who profited from their connections to the Nazis. Adam’s relationship with Gabi is fractured for reasons that Hokin discloses as the story proceeds, and he dreads telling his mother that he is the architect in charge of revitalizing the Edel. Gabi grew up believing in the communist philosophies of the German Democratic Republic and has lived an austere life adhering to its principles. Lucy close relationship with her parents was shattered and caused them to become estranged. She is haunted by that development, as well as other circumstances that brought her heartbreak as a young woman that have thus far prevented her from entering a healthy and satisfying romantic relationship.
Alternating the two narratives, Hokin takes readers on Lili’s journey, showing the truth about it that has been lost to history. Spurred by outrage over the growing atrocities and guilt-ridden about successfully concealing her identity and living a comfortable life inside the Edel – while so many others are losing everything, including their lives – Lili becomes determined to provide share her haven, even if only for one night. Lili could “no longer live with being powerless. She could no longer pretend that the world outside the Edel couldn’t impinge on their lives as long as she kept the world inside it safe.” So she joins a secret network transporting Jews to safety. After all, what better place could there be than a than a hotel to hide someone for a night or two before they continue on their way? With Marius away, she begins journaling as a way of “unloading the secrets she can’t voice,” and communicating with the husband she misses desperately. She plans to ask him to read her diary when he returns home after the war so that he will understand why she had to act when Jews were “being erased, and the city papered over the gaps as if we were never here.” She writes that her father “would be proud of me for making this stand,” even as the Resistance demands that she engage in increasingly risky efforts.
Hokin has crafted a uniquely inventive and gripping tale. In one narrative, she reveals to readers exactly what is happening in Lili’s life. She is a sympathetic, fully developed character and Hokin compassionately illustrates how she reacts to a world gone mad. Initially fueled by a youthful desire to protect herself, time passes, and she matures, falls in love, and becomes a mother. She fully comprehends the duality of her life. She is both sheltered and fed, and in grave peril should her past and true identity become known. She loves her husband and daughter fiercely, as is loyal to and protective of the hotel’s employees. As the Nazis carry out unthinkable atrocities, Lili is repulsed by having to host the architects of those vile acts, and her revulsion, guilt about hiding in plain sight, and moral convictions compel her to join the Resistance. “I’ve been a coward, living my safe life while so many others have had that right stripped away. It’s not enough. I owe my father more than my silence,” Lili says. But Lili is not experienced in espionage. Is she courageous and convincing enough to carry out the dangerous mission into which the Resistance presses her?
Hokin’s more modern characters are equally fascinating. In 1990, as Lucy and Adam grow closer, sharing details about their respective pasts, Ludy discovers Lili’s journal among many abandoned items in the hotel basement. Lucy becomes entranced and, as she reads the entries, it becomes clear that Lili’s legacy has been misrepresented. Intent on piecing together, to the extent possible, what really happened to Lili, Adam joins her in the search for evidence. He also helps her take steps to reconcile her past, while hoping that learning more about his grandparents will facilitate healing in his relationship with Gabi. Adam and Lucy both carry guilt about choices they made as young adults have reverberated in their own and others’ lives. For Adam, his inability to accept the limitations of a life in East Berlin had far-reaching consequences not just for him, but also for Gabi, “a dowdy and functional-looking woman,” is bitter and ailing. She grew up feeling abandoned by her parents and ashamed of being the daughter of a woman condemned for aligning herself with and profiting from Nazis. “Everything Gabi’s done in her life was to redress the shame of having a Nazi for a mother,” Adam notes, even though that characterization of Lili has always been at odds with the loving mother who resides in Gabi’s early childhood memories.
The Secret Hotel in Berlin is well-researched, set against the backdrop of actual events and depicting historical figures, although, as noted, the Edel is a fictional counterpart to the real hotels of the era. Hokin’s riveting story is moving, poignant, and thought-provoking. She explores the various ways in which childhood beliefs impact decision-making and how choices fueled by self-interest have the capacity to profoundly affect those we love. She also examines how the discovery of new evidence disavowing matters previously believed to be true can be life-altering in myriad ways.
The Secret Hotel in Berlin is another beautifully constructed, richly emotional, and memorable work of historical fiction from the exceptionally talented Hokin. She again challenges readers to consider how they would react if placed in challenging circumstances such as her characters face. In the case of Marius and Lili, their contrasting responses merit consideration. And as in The German Child, Hokin invites readers to explore the extent to which one’s identity is derived from family and how much of one’s self-concept is independently formed by acquired beliefs and values. It is definitely one of the best volumes released in 2024.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
The Goddess of Warsaw by Lisa Barr
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A Happier Life by Kristy Woodson Harvey
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Kristy Woodson Harvey says that of all the books she has written to date, A Happier Life is her favorite. She describes it as the story of Keaton Smith “going back to Beaufort, North Carolina, to clean out and sell the house of the grandparents who died long before she was born and, in the process, finding out what actually happened to them — and discovering the next step on her own life’s journey.¬”
The premise of the book may sound unbelievable. But, in fact, the story was inspired by actual events. Harvey’s great-aunt and uncle died under mysterious circumstances in the 1970’s and at just ten years of age, she was “one of the first people to enter their home after it had been closed up for fifty years.” She remembers that “it was just as though someone walked out of the door fifty years ago, sealed the door, and we walked back into it the moment after they left.” In A Happier Life, Keaton’s grandparents, Rebecca (“Becks”) and Townsend Saint James, hosted their final supper of the summer on August 28, 1976 . . . and then vanished. Their vehicle was found submerged in a creek, and neither seatbelt was buckled. But search parties found neither clues as to their whereabouts . . . nor their remains. The mystery of what happened to them is still unsolved. And for the nearly five decades since that fateful night, their home has remained just as they left it (although a handyman has looked after the property). Virginia, Keaton’s mother, and her uncle, Lon, have never been able to bring themselves to return to Beaufort to settle their parents’ affairs. In fact, Keaton had no idea that her grandparents simply disappeared or that her mother and uncle still owned the house she has heard so much about but never visited. Now, to avoid any conflict among their heirs, Virginia and Lon have decided the time has come to get the house ready to sell and put it on the market. Keaton is thirty-three years old, and has just been dumped by her boyfriend and lost the job she loved on the same day, so she welcomes the opportunity for a change of scene and to earn a commission that will make her career transition – whatever that turns out to be – easier, at least from a financial perspective.
Harvey opens the book with a Prologue in the house’s voice. It is an unusual, but effective technique, signaling that the setting will serve as a vibrant character in the story, establishing the particulars of the setting, and drawing readers into the mystery. The two hundred and fifty-four-year-old structure has been owned by one family since it was the first house erected on Sunset Lane in 1769, and it reveals that it alone knows the truth about Becks and Townsend. It has “held the truth right here all this time, if anyone had bothered to uncover it.” Harvey wanted to emphasize that “houses forever hold the stories of their inhabitants.”
Harvey then employs a first-person narrative from Keaton to relate her journey to Beaufort and experiences there. Two third-person narratives are told from the perspectives of Becks, primarily, and Townsend, relating how they met, fell in love, and married, undeterred by the objections and ultimatums of their families because of religious differences. (His family was Catholic and Becks’ father was a Methodist minister.)
Keaton is overwhelmed when she first enters the house with her dog, Salt. (Salt is Harvey’s own dog and “a local celebrity” in Beaufort where she resides with her husband and son in a is one hundred and three-year-old house.) The Saint James family house is obviously dated, and dust coats the interior. Keaton bemoans that it “is like an untouched crime scene . . .creepy.” It feels to her “like everyone walked out of here almost fifty years ago, locked the door and never came back.” Seeing that Salt has immediately put something in his mouth, she retrieves it and finds it is a white leather notebook with “Rebecca Saint James’s Guide to Entertaining – 1976” embossed on the cover. She, like readers, instantly wants to devour its contents and Harvey obliges, starting each chapter focused on Becks with excerpts from her Guide. She wrote it for Virginia, and it is comprised of recipes, menus, guest lists, and tips for successfully hosting parties. Harvey recalls that as she started writing each chapter, “I would just think about something my grandmother would have said,” and the excerpts wound up being one of her favorite elements of the book. Keaton also finds Townsend’s journals. The entries begin in 1935 when he meets the woman who will become his wife. He was a highly decorated pilot who flew missions during World War II before settling in Beaufort with his bride and practicing medicine there for many years.
In alternating chapters, Harvey details the challenges Keaton faces as she begins organizing and sorting through her grandparents’ belongings and working to make the house livable. They include squirrels in the kitchen and necessary repairs, but the grand old home is full of antiques and other valuable collectibles . . . as well as charm and memories galore. She meets Alex, the handyman who has been looking after the house when he’s not dressed as and conducting pirate tours, as well as the next-door neighbors. Anderson is a precocious ten-year-old who is eager to help with renovations but his father, Bowen, a marine biologist, is initially stand-offish and rude, although Keaton finds him “hunky.” She also meets Violet, who was Virginia’s friend when they were young woman, and the other Dockhouse Dames – Suzanne, Arlene, and Better – who fold Keaton into their tribe and provide support, camaraderie, and dating advice, in addition to details about and insight into her grandparents’ lives. She also develops a better understanding of her mother, and not just how different she is from Becks, but why.
Townsend and Becks lived a happy, productive life, although they did experience heartbreak. It was a different era, to be sure, but one in which Becks relished her role as the best hostess in Beaufort and being a traditional wife and mother fulfilled her. Harvey believes “there is a lot you can learn about a person from the way they take care of other people.” And Becks is very much a caregiver, but also a determined woman whose graciousness is matched by her inner fortitude. Becks was completely satisfied with her life, and cherished both her husband (Townsend taught her to fly and they loved taking flights several times per week in their private plane) and children, as well as her friends. There is an especially poignant aspect of her story concerning her estrangement from her parents and how she ultimately deals with it. And her entries expose a potentially scandalous situation involving a Beaufort resident who comes under suspicion. Could Townsend and Becks have been victims of foul play, as some of the townspeople have long postulated?
As her days in Beaufort fly by, Keaton develops an appreciation of and admiration for the grandparents she never had a chance to meet. And she falls in love – with the town, her family’s house, her newfound friends, Anderson, and, naturally, his father. But she spent twelve years establishing her career in New York City. Is she ready to give up her professional dreams? She is readying the house to be sold and it will become the property of a new family for the first time in its long history. Although she is finally getting to know her grandparents, she knows that even if the mystery surrounding their disappearance is solved, they will not be coming back to Beaufort. And Bowen, her initially grumpy neighbor, has his own complicated romantic history in addition to a son who needs to have a healthy and consistent relationship with his mother, if that is possible.
Townsend and Becks are lovingly conceived, memorable characters. They are both accomplished, intelligent, opinionated, and strong. They built a life together, raised two children, and cultivated lasting friendships in a community they loved. Through the years they remained steadfastly devoted to each other, still delighting in each other’s company. All of which makes their story a moving, thoughtful meditation on several themes, including aging, dignity, and autonomy, as well as the importance of choosing what we will leave to the next generation and the power to craft one’s own legacy.
Harvey’s love for the “quirky, historic, seaside town and the people in it” is evident on every page, as is her compassion for the characters she brings to life. A Happier Life is an homage to what she calls “that sacred space that is held between the future and the past, the push-pull of preserving tradition while keeping today’s pace, of trying to reconcile the beauty of what those who came before created with the reality of how we live today.” The story is a delightful mixture of genres. It is replete with the kind of light-hearted moments readers expect in romantic comedies and the requisite happy ending. But it is also riveting mystery (within which Harvey deftly weaves yet another mystery) and examination of profound topics, adeptly presented with a light touch and nonjudgmental tone that invite readers to contemplate the characters’ dilemmas and ponder what they would do under similar circumstances in order to find their own happier life.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book and to the publisher for a paperback copy.
The premise of the book may sound unbelievable. But, in fact, the story was inspired by actual events. Harvey’s great-aunt and uncle died under mysterious circumstances in the 1970’s and at just ten years of age, she was “one of the first people to enter their home after it had been closed up for fifty years.” She remembers that “it was just as though someone walked out of the door fifty years ago, sealed the door, and we walked back into it the moment after they left.” In A Happier Life, Keaton’s grandparents, Rebecca (“Becks”) and Townsend Saint James, hosted their final supper of the summer on August 28, 1976 . . . and then vanished. Their vehicle was found submerged in a creek, and neither seatbelt was buckled. But search parties found neither clues as to their whereabouts . . . nor their remains. The mystery of what happened to them is still unsolved. And for the nearly five decades since that fateful night, their home has remained just as they left it (although a handyman has looked after the property). Virginia, Keaton’s mother, and her uncle, Lon, have never been able to bring themselves to return to Beaufort to settle their parents’ affairs. In fact, Keaton had no idea that her grandparents simply disappeared or that her mother and uncle still owned the house she has heard so much about but never visited. Now, to avoid any conflict among their heirs, Virginia and Lon have decided the time has come to get the house ready to sell and put it on the market. Keaton is thirty-three years old, and has just been dumped by her boyfriend and lost the job she loved on the same day, so she welcomes the opportunity for a change of scene and to earn a commission that will make her career transition – whatever that turns out to be – easier, at least from a financial perspective.
Harvey opens the book with a Prologue in the house’s voice. It is an unusual, but effective technique, signaling that the setting will serve as a vibrant character in the story, establishing the particulars of the setting, and drawing readers into the mystery. The two hundred and fifty-four-year-old structure has been owned by one family since it was the first house erected on Sunset Lane in 1769, and it reveals that it alone knows the truth about Becks and Townsend. It has “held the truth right here all this time, if anyone had bothered to uncover it.” Harvey wanted to emphasize that “houses forever hold the stories of their inhabitants.”
Harvey then employs a first-person narrative from Keaton to relate her journey to Beaufort and experiences there. Two third-person narratives are told from the perspectives of Becks, primarily, and Townsend, relating how they met, fell in love, and married, undeterred by the objections and ultimatums of their families because of religious differences. (His family was Catholic and Becks’ father was a Methodist minister.)
Keaton is overwhelmed when she first enters the house with her dog, Salt. (Salt is Harvey’s own dog and “a local celebrity” in Beaufort where she resides with her husband and son in a is one hundred and three-year-old house.) The Saint James family house is obviously dated, and dust coats the interior. Keaton bemoans that it “is like an untouched crime scene . . .creepy.” It feels to her “like everyone walked out of here almost fifty years ago, locked the door and never came back.” Seeing that Salt has immediately put something in his mouth, she retrieves it and finds it is a white leather notebook with “Rebecca Saint James’s Guide to Entertaining – 1976” embossed on the cover. She, like readers, instantly wants to devour its contents and Harvey obliges, starting each chapter focused on Becks with excerpts from her Guide. She wrote it for Virginia, and it is comprised of recipes, menus, guest lists, and tips for successfully hosting parties. Harvey recalls that as she started writing each chapter, “I would just think about something my grandmother would have said,” and the excerpts wound up being one of her favorite elements of the book. Keaton also finds Townsend’s journals. The entries begin in 1935 when he meets the woman who will become his wife. He was a highly decorated pilot who flew missions during World War II before settling in Beaufort with his bride and practicing medicine there for many years.
In alternating chapters, Harvey details the challenges Keaton faces as she begins organizing and sorting through her grandparents’ belongings and working to make the house livable. They include squirrels in the kitchen and necessary repairs, but the grand old home is full of antiques and other valuable collectibles . . . as well as charm and memories galore. She meets Alex, the handyman who has been looking after the house when he’s not dressed as and conducting pirate tours, as well as the next-door neighbors. Anderson is a precocious ten-year-old who is eager to help with renovations but his father, Bowen, a marine biologist, is initially stand-offish and rude, although Keaton finds him “hunky.” She also meets Violet, who was Virginia’s friend when they were young woman, and the other Dockhouse Dames – Suzanne, Arlene, and Better – who fold Keaton into their tribe and provide support, camaraderie, and dating advice, in addition to details about and insight into her grandparents’ lives. She also develops a better understanding of her mother, and not just how different she is from Becks, but why.
Townsend and Becks lived a happy, productive life, although they did experience heartbreak. It was a different era, to be sure, but one in which Becks relished her role as the best hostess in Beaufort and being a traditional wife and mother fulfilled her. Harvey believes “there is a lot you can learn about a person from the way they take care of other people.” And Becks is very much a caregiver, but also a determined woman whose graciousness is matched by her inner fortitude. Becks was completely satisfied with her life, and cherished both her husband (Townsend taught her to fly and they loved taking flights several times per week in their private plane) and children, as well as her friends. There is an especially poignant aspect of her story concerning her estrangement from her parents and how she ultimately deals with it. And her entries expose a potentially scandalous situation involving a Beaufort resident who comes under suspicion. Could Townsend and Becks have been victims of foul play, as some of the townspeople have long postulated?
As her days in Beaufort fly by, Keaton develops an appreciation of and admiration for the grandparents she never had a chance to meet. And she falls in love – with the town, her family’s house, her newfound friends, Anderson, and, naturally, his father. But she spent twelve years establishing her career in New York City. Is she ready to give up her professional dreams? She is readying the house to be sold and it will become the property of a new family for the first time in its long history. Although she is finally getting to know her grandparents, she knows that even if the mystery surrounding their disappearance is solved, they will not be coming back to Beaufort. And Bowen, her initially grumpy neighbor, has his own complicated romantic history in addition to a son who needs to have a healthy and consistent relationship with his mother, if that is possible.
Townsend and Becks are lovingly conceived, memorable characters. They are both accomplished, intelligent, opinionated, and strong. They built a life together, raised two children, and cultivated lasting friendships in a community they loved. Through the years they remained steadfastly devoted to each other, still delighting in each other’s company. All of which makes their story a moving, thoughtful meditation on several themes, including aging, dignity, and autonomy, as well as the importance of choosing what we will leave to the next generation and the power to craft one’s own legacy.
Harvey’s love for the “quirky, historic, seaside town and the people in it” is evident on every page, as is her compassion for the characters she brings to life. A Happier Life is an homage to what she calls “that sacred space that is held between the future and the past, the push-pull of preserving tradition while keeping today’s pace, of trying to reconcile the beauty of what those who came before created with the reality of how we live today.” The story is a delightful mixture of genres. It is replete with the kind of light-hearted moments readers expect in romantic comedies and the requisite happy ending. But it is also riveting mystery (within which Harvey deftly weaves yet another mystery) and examination of profound topics, adeptly presented with a light touch and nonjudgmental tone that invite readers to contemplate the characters’ dilemmas and ponder what they would do under similar circumstances in order to find their own happier life.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book and to the publisher for a paperback copy.
The Out-of-Town Lawyer by Robert Rotstein
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Beyond Summerland by Jenny Lecoat
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Author Jenny Lecoat was born in Jersey, Channel Islands, fifteen years after the end of World War II. The islands, situated fourteen miles from the coast of France, are part of the British Isles and the only British territory occupied by the Nazis. Both sides of Lecoat’s family were heavily involved in resistance activity during the war, and one of her grandfathers built crystal audio sets capable of accessing the BBC, which was, of course, illegal. Her great aunt, Louisa Gould, was reported for harboring an escaped Russian slave worker, and perished in the gas chamber at Ravensbrüch. Harold Gould, her great uncle, became the only British survivor of Bergen Belsen. The two elderly sisters her family blamed for the betrayal were never prosecuted due to a lack of evidence, and Lecoat does not know whether they were truly guilty, although she notes that they were “ostracized for the rest of their lives.” The story was the basis of a feature film released in the United Kingdom, Another Mother’s Son, in 2017 and in 2020, her first novel, The Girl from the Channel Islands, was published and became a New York Times bestseller.
Her family’s wartime experiences provided inspiration for Beyond Summerland, which she spent three years researching and writing. She says her story began coming to life in 2020 during the pandemic and was born into “a world increasingly divided by opposing certainties, with so many reluctant to challenge deeply held convictions.”
As the book opens, it is June 1945, just one month after Liberation Day. Violet Parris, forty-six years old but having aged greatly during the preceding five-year Nazi Occupation, and her nineteen-year-old daughter, Jean, are hoping for information about Jean’s father, Philip, who was arrested fifteen months earlier. It has been a year since they received a letter from him. He was only sentenced to serve fifteen months, so they are hoping he has been released and is on his way home. He was convicted of illegally possessing a wireless radio at his shop, P. Parris, Ironmongers, where he permitted neighbors to listen to broadcasts with him. But the Constable can provide no update about his status.
Violet hopes that Philip’s younger brother, Eddie, will be able to assist when he returns to Jersey. Jean dreads his arrival. Her father disapproved of his brother’s decision to escape a week before the Occupation began. Eddie has been working in England ever since. When he discovers the wreckage of the home he built fifteen years ago, he moves in with Violet and Jean. Worse, a man names Charles Clement appears at their door to inform them that he was imprisoned with Philip, who succumbed to dysentery on a cold winter day. They know he is telling the truth when he produces a treasured family photo that Philip carried with him, explaining that he promised Philip he would deliver the news in person if he was lucky enough to survive.
In the aftermath, Jean and her family learn for the first time that Philip’s radio wasn’t discovered during a random search of his shop, as they had been led to believe. They are horrified to belatedly find out that someone reported him. And a witness observed him arguing with a tall woman in her late twenties with reddish hair several times in the weeks leading up to his arrest. But who would report a pillar of the community, a kind man beloved by his friends and neighbors? And who was the woman he argued with? What could he possibly have quarreled about with her? Jean vows that she will not only get answers to all the questions surrounding her father’s demise but also seek justice for him.
Hazel Le Tourneur lives with her arthritic father in an apartment above Philip’s shop which has remained shuttered and fallen into disrepair since the day German soldiers ransacked it and emerged with the radio, returning shortly thereafter to confiscate the rest of its useful contents. News of Philip’s death greatly upsets her, even though she had criticized him harshly as BBC broadcasts emanated loudly from his contraband radio through open windows, putting everyone in the area in jeopardy. She had never liked Philip, “but a death like that, in the squalor of a foreign jail, alone and terrified . . .” was unconscionable. Her heart goes out to Violet and Jean, and Hazel knows that she must “be part of something, useful.” She decides to join the Democratic Movement and work to ensure Jersey’s future.
Thirty-one people attend Philip’s memorial service and Hazel is among them. When Jean spots her, she asks her mother if she recognizes Hazel, who matches the description of the woman seen arguing with Philip. Violet identifies her as one of the residents of the apartments about the shop. And someone who hated Philip.
In Beyond Summerland, Lecoat credibly crafts a portrait of a town in turmoil and on the cusp of what will come next. Even though World War II has ended and the Nazis have been defeated, life does not, of course, immediately revert to the way it was before the Occupation. The islanders are still suffering. Nazis overtook and wreaked havoc in Jersey, and as some of the residents return, they find all the ways that the town has changed dramatically. In Eddie’s case, the house he lovingly built was ransacked and destroyed as people foraged for food, supplies, and shelter after being displaced from their own homes and jobs. He is bitter and angry, and with his brother’s death confirmed, he takes up residence in Philip’s home, usurping the role of head of the household with Violet’s assent. Jean has always found him overbearing and boorish, and she resents both the sense of entitlement he displays, as well as the transformation she sees in Violet who, at first, was inconsolable as she mourned Philip. Worse, they are intent on pushing Violet into a relationship with Tom Maloret, who works as a clerk in the States office. He is pleasant enough and a gentleman, but Jean cannot reveal why she is not attracted to him. Even though she is wracked with guilt, she proceeds to “use him mercilessly for her own ends” to conceal her romance with a German soldier. Naively optimistic, she does understand that her secret, if revealed, would have draconian consequences.
Lecoat’s characters are richly drawn, complicated, and deeply and fascinatingly flawed. Both Jean and Hazel are sympathetic, and Lecoat’s compassionate depiction of their struggles resonates. At the heart of the story is a deftly constructed, compelling, and very clever mystery concerning Philip around which swirls a tale of two determined young women who must come to grips with the past in order to fashion their futures. It is a tumultuous journey for both of them.
Jean takes a job as housekeeper for her mother’s sister and her husband, even though she resents the way she is treated and the little concern they displayed for her and Violet during the war. Hazel is hired as a teacher, but her political association threatens her ability to earn even a meager living. Jean’s relentless pursuit of the facts surrounding her father’s arrest and imprisonment have reverberations for Hazel, who discovers Jean’s secret. Each of them is required to assess the knowledge they have gained and make choices about what they will do with the information. Revelations about her parents’ marriage, as well as Violet’s relationships with her sister and Eddie, add to Jean’s consternation. Initially intent on not just learning the truth, but also exacting revenge on the person who reported her father, Jean is forced to reconsider her course of action. Hazel feels the lasting impact of the Occupation and islanders’ continuing obsession with finding and reporting collaborators. “I’m outspoken. People don’t like that, especially in women,” she laments. And even after she leaves the Democratic Movement, she is “viewed with suspicion. . . . Once people have marked you as the enemy, it’s hard to change their minds.” As in the case of the women accused of reporting Lecoat’s relatives, Hazel knows that a conviction is not necessary to destroy a life. “They’ll just ostracize us. Work, shopping, social events. . . . You don’t need to send people away – you can just banish them perfectly well in their own homes,” Hazel notes. Both women want to be free to live their lives as they see fit but recognize they will have to fight to achieve their goal. For Jean, in particular, that means accepting truths that are at odds with everything she thought she knew about her family and moving forward with a radically altered worldview after the “lines between truth, lies, wishful thinking, and pure fantasy” become hopelessly blurred.
Beyond Summerland is a riveting examination of the repercussions of war, as well as a study of the lengths to which people will go to survive it, the power of secrets, the price of revenge, and the bravery required to forgive. It is also an exploration of how real and lasting friendships can surprisingly be forged from convoluted and tragic shared experiences. Lecoat says she hopes readers will experience “interesting female characters struggling with huge dilemmas, a page-turning story, and echoes of our contemporary world amid the 1945 setting — human nature never really changes.” She has achieved and exceeded that goal. Beyond Summerland is a unique and must-read volume for fans of World War II-era historical fiction.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Her family’s wartime experiences provided inspiration for Beyond Summerland, which she spent three years researching and writing. She says her story began coming to life in 2020 during the pandemic and was born into “a world increasingly divided by opposing certainties, with so many reluctant to challenge deeply held convictions.”
As the book opens, it is June 1945, just one month after Liberation Day. Violet Parris, forty-six years old but having aged greatly during the preceding five-year Nazi Occupation, and her nineteen-year-old daughter, Jean, are hoping for information about Jean’s father, Philip, who was arrested fifteen months earlier. It has been a year since they received a letter from him. He was only sentenced to serve fifteen months, so they are hoping he has been released and is on his way home. He was convicted of illegally possessing a wireless radio at his shop, P. Parris, Ironmongers, where he permitted neighbors to listen to broadcasts with him. But the Constable can provide no update about his status.
Violet hopes that Philip’s younger brother, Eddie, will be able to assist when he returns to Jersey. Jean dreads his arrival. Her father disapproved of his brother’s decision to escape a week before the Occupation began. Eddie has been working in England ever since. When he discovers the wreckage of the home he built fifteen years ago, he moves in with Violet and Jean. Worse, a man names Charles Clement appears at their door to inform them that he was imprisoned with Philip, who succumbed to dysentery on a cold winter day. They know he is telling the truth when he produces a treasured family photo that Philip carried with him, explaining that he promised Philip he would deliver the news in person if he was lucky enough to survive.
In the aftermath, Jean and her family learn for the first time that Philip’s radio wasn’t discovered during a random search of his shop, as they had been led to believe. They are horrified to belatedly find out that someone reported him. And a witness observed him arguing with a tall woman in her late twenties with reddish hair several times in the weeks leading up to his arrest. But who would report a pillar of the community, a kind man beloved by his friends and neighbors? And who was the woman he argued with? What could he possibly have quarreled about with her? Jean vows that she will not only get answers to all the questions surrounding her father’s demise but also seek justice for him.
Hazel Le Tourneur lives with her arthritic father in an apartment above Philip’s shop which has remained shuttered and fallen into disrepair since the day German soldiers ransacked it and emerged with the radio, returning shortly thereafter to confiscate the rest of its useful contents. News of Philip’s death greatly upsets her, even though she had criticized him harshly as BBC broadcasts emanated loudly from his contraband radio through open windows, putting everyone in the area in jeopardy. She had never liked Philip, “but a death like that, in the squalor of a foreign jail, alone and terrified . . .” was unconscionable. Her heart goes out to Violet and Jean, and Hazel knows that she must “be part of something, useful.” She decides to join the Democratic Movement and work to ensure Jersey’s future.
Thirty-one people attend Philip’s memorial service and Hazel is among them. When Jean spots her, she asks her mother if she recognizes Hazel, who matches the description of the woman seen arguing with Philip. Violet identifies her as one of the residents of the apartments about the shop. And someone who hated Philip.
In Beyond Summerland, Lecoat credibly crafts a portrait of a town in turmoil and on the cusp of what will come next. Even though World War II has ended and the Nazis have been defeated, life does not, of course, immediately revert to the way it was before the Occupation. The islanders are still suffering. Nazis overtook and wreaked havoc in Jersey, and as some of the residents return, they find all the ways that the town has changed dramatically. In Eddie’s case, the house he lovingly built was ransacked and destroyed as people foraged for food, supplies, and shelter after being displaced from their own homes and jobs. He is bitter and angry, and with his brother’s death confirmed, he takes up residence in Philip’s home, usurping the role of head of the household with Violet’s assent. Jean has always found him overbearing and boorish, and she resents both the sense of entitlement he displays, as well as the transformation she sees in Violet who, at first, was inconsolable as she mourned Philip. Worse, they are intent on pushing Violet into a relationship with Tom Maloret, who works as a clerk in the States office. He is pleasant enough and a gentleman, but Jean cannot reveal why she is not attracted to him. Even though she is wracked with guilt, she proceeds to “use him mercilessly for her own ends” to conceal her romance with a German soldier. Naively optimistic, she does understand that her secret, if revealed, would have draconian consequences.
Lecoat’s characters are richly drawn, complicated, and deeply and fascinatingly flawed. Both Jean and Hazel are sympathetic, and Lecoat’s compassionate depiction of their struggles resonates. At the heart of the story is a deftly constructed, compelling, and very clever mystery concerning Philip around which swirls a tale of two determined young women who must come to grips with the past in order to fashion their futures. It is a tumultuous journey for both of them.
Jean takes a job as housekeeper for her mother’s sister and her husband, even though she resents the way she is treated and the little concern they displayed for her and Violet during the war. Hazel is hired as a teacher, but her political association threatens her ability to earn even a meager living. Jean’s relentless pursuit of the facts surrounding her father’s arrest and imprisonment have reverberations for Hazel, who discovers Jean’s secret. Each of them is required to assess the knowledge they have gained and make choices about what they will do with the information. Revelations about her parents’ marriage, as well as Violet’s relationships with her sister and Eddie, add to Jean’s consternation. Initially intent on not just learning the truth, but also exacting revenge on the person who reported her father, Jean is forced to reconsider her course of action. Hazel feels the lasting impact of the Occupation and islanders’ continuing obsession with finding and reporting collaborators. “I’m outspoken. People don’t like that, especially in women,” she laments. And even after she leaves the Democratic Movement, she is “viewed with suspicion. . . . Once people have marked you as the enemy, it’s hard to change their minds.” As in the case of the women accused of reporting Lecoat’s relatives, Hazel knows that a conviction is not necessary to destroy a life. “They’ll just ostracize us. Work, shopping, social events. . . . You don’t need to send people away – you can just banish them perfectly well in their own homes,” Hazel notes. Both women want to be free to live their lives as they see fit but recognize they will have to fight to achieve their goal. For Jean, in particular, that means accepting truths that are at odds with everything she thought she knew about her family and moving forward with a radically altered worldview after the “lines between truth, lies, wishful thinking, and pure fantasy” become hopelessly blurred.
Beyond Summerland is a riveting examination of the repercussions of war, as well as a study of the lengths to which people will go to survive it, the power of secrets, the price of revenge, and the bravery required to forgive. It is also an exploration of how real and lasting friendships can surprisingly be forged from convoluted and tragic shared experiences. Lecoat says she hopes readers will experience “interesting female characters struggling with huge dilemmas, a page-turning story, and echoes of our contemporary world amid the 1945 setting — human nature never really changes.” She has achieved and exceeded that goal. Beyond Summerland is a unique and must-read volume for fans of World War II-era historical fiction.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
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emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
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dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
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- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
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4.0