I was fortunate enough to read this novel through Net Galley for my honest opinion. This book covers a short period of time during WWII on a small British island and written by a family descendant. The story hooks you immediately and won't let go until long after you finish reading! You will need a few tissues but remember this is written by a family member! I strongly recommend this novel!!

This book captures the mood on the British Channel Island of Guernsey at a moment in time. It was the summer of 1940. The Nazis had overrun Holland, Belgium and France. England was surely next. The Channel Islands stood in full view of Occupied France. To some Islanders, it seemed inevitable that the Germans would invade. Others hoped the demilitarized Islands would be left in peace.
Tony Brassell tells the story of his grandparents--maybe some of the conversations are fictionalized but the account is true. It was told to Brassells by his "Grumps and Nan."
Although history has told us the outcome of WWII and we know that the Germans did, indeed, occupy the Channel Islands from 1940 until 1945. Still, Brassell tells the story in such a way that we live day by day, knowing only what the residents know. What their hear on the wireless, read in the paper or in back-fence conversations.
Woven throughout is the story of a "good" German--a flying ace with a conscience who is demoted when he suggests that the trucks that German reconnaissance has identified as military targets are farm vehicles.
It is a well-told story--much in the wistful, nostalgic of the 1971 film Summer of '42.