Notes: The Île de Feme is fictional, but based on the real Île de Sein.

There is an instance where a character says going blind is "worse than death" which some readers may find hurtful.

Content warnings: war, Nazis, miscarriage, butchering animals, affair, loss of eyesight

Violette Fouquet is a native of the Île de Feme, a French fishing village off the coast of Brittany. When World War II starts, the men leave to fight alongside the British and the women and children are left on the island. Nazi soldiers are eventually stationed on the Île de Feme, making an already hard life more difficult for the women on the island. Without boats, there is no fishing and without fishing, there is no food. The hearty island women will do what they must to survive.

Violette's unexpected ally is a German customs officer named Rainier who helps her by giving her extra food and delivering her letters that are confiscated by the Nazis. Through him, Violette realizes that not all Germans are Nazis and that some Germans also oppose the Nazi regime. Rainier is carrying secrets that could mean his death at the hands of the Nazis, and confiding in Violette eases his mind.

In the present day, Natalie Morgen has moved to the island with her boyfriend François-Xavier. Natalie's memoir details her life in France and her romance with the French chef. The couple returns to François-Xavier's hometown of Île de Feme and plans to renovate the guesthouse Violette's family ran during the war. To an outsider, her life is perfect.

But Natalie's life is a shambles. François-Xavier has left her and gone to Paris and she can't let the islanders know in case they kick her out of the guesthouse. Natalie's sister Alex shows up unexpectedly, and Natalie must eventually tell her what has happened and deal with her traumatic childhood. But Alex is hiding secrets of her own...

Both the WWII and present-day stories are interesting and separate, with the guesthouse being the common thread between the women. In many dual timeline stories, one arc is typically more interesting than the other. The women's stories are all compelling for different reasons and will keep the reader turning the pages.

Recommended for fans of historical fiction and women's fiction.

Representation: gay man, war widow, transgender side character, blind person

An enjoyable read that shows an oft forgotten part of World War II, mixed together with a bit of modern times. Blackwell is an excellent writer who brings the Brittany coast to vibrant life.

“Off the Wild Coast of Brittany” by Juliet Blackwell melded together two storylines—one from World War II era France when the Nazis occupied the secluded islands off the French coast in anticipation of an Allied invasion, and, another storyline set in current times about a modern day American woman famous for writing a memoir and a blog about her difficult childhood in a survivalist household which she escaped for a new life in Paris (that includes a romance with a French chef)—which intersect on a secluded island off the coast of Brittany.

Yes, that was quite a long descriptive sentence! And yes, when I began reading this book it took me a while to get the story lines figured out and to care about the characters. Why was I interested in trying? Because I have visited Brittany and it is a beautiful and unique part of France. And the islands that lie between France and England that belong to both countries are fascinating and have a truly fascinating WWII history.

The author set this book on an island that is patterned after a real one and used the real island’s actual history and culture as a setting for the story. The World War II characters and storyline drew me in much more quickly than did those of the modern day, but I eventually grew to care about them too.

So by the time I was halfway through the book, instead of being apathetic and confused, I was hooked by the storylines, cared about the characters, and ironically wanted to keep reading through to the end rather than doing other things. In other words it was not a perfect book, but I was glad I read it!

In the modern day storyline, the American, Natalie, is joined by her sister, Alex, who has a fascinating storyline of her own.

Natalie writing in the book:

“I moved to Paris and fell in love, and then my Prince Charming and I moved to an island off the Wild Coast of Brittany, and I thought I was living a dream. I was invited into a beautiful old stone home that needed fixing up, given a promise of running a guesthouse and restaurant, and even welcomed into an extended family.

But here’s the truth: I’ve been lying. I’ve lied to friends, to family, and—perhaps least forgivable of all—to my readers, to the people who believed in me and supported my dream all these years.

And needless to say, I’ve been lying to myself.

I moved to the Île de Feme with a man I loved, and who I thought loved me. And it was beautiful—for a while. And then the whole affair took on the rank odor of a fish left out too long in the sun.

I moved to the Île de Feme, and my life fell apart.”

This section from the book is from sister Alex’s viewpoint:

“Why in the world did Nat move to such a godforsaken island?

The Île de Feme revealed itself coquettishly, first appearing through the ocean mist like a vague mirage, the kind that shimmered along the highways on the hottest days in the remote Northern California mountains where they had grown up.

Alex squinted as she tried to make out the strip of low gray land. On the map the distance between the island and the mainland didn’t look that far, but she and her fellow passengers had left the dock at Audierne more than an hour ago.

The bobbing ferry had headed north at first, only turning to the west as they crossed the Pointe du Raz, no doubt fighting the channel’s famous currents and avoiding the perilous reefs that lurked just below the surface, a vast underwater maze protecting the island. According to the travel guide—Alex always did her homework before beginning something new—the jagged rocks had brought catastrophe to legions of sailors and ships over the years. There had been 127 documented shipwrecks in this strait, and that was only since they’d started keeping track, back in the seventeenth century.”

The World War II storyline is told from the viewpoint of a young woman—Violette— whose family is forced to house and feed Nazi officers. One of the German officers actually ends up being a sympathetic character with a heart—Rainer. Here is some dialogue between he and Violette in the book:

““I miss wood fires,” said Rainer wincing as he crouched down before the hearth. He rubbed his knee for a moment before filling the fireplace with a tightly wound, dried circle of goémon and touching a match to one leaf.

“Have you read the works of Thomas Bailey Aldrich? He wrote: ‘Do you hear those little chirps and twitters coming out of that piece of applewood? Those are the ghosts of the robins and bluebirds that sang upon the bough when it was in blossom last spring.’”

I said nothing, unsure how to respond.

“I suppose it sounds better in the original English,” he said.

“How did you learn to speak English?”

He shook his head. “I wouldn’t say I speak it, exactly.”

“But you read their poets?”

“I’ll read anything I can get my hands on. Aldrich also wrote one of my favorite phrases: ‘What is lovely never dies, but passes into other loveliness, stardust, or sea-foam, flower or winged air.’”

“You sing and play the piano, read poetry, and make fires from kelp. Is there anything you cannot do, monsieur?”

“I can’t make you happy, apparently.”

“That’s not true: You could make me very happy simply by leaving the island—and taking your friends with you.””

Thank you publisher Berkeley and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book and for allowing me to review it. (9 March 2021 publication date)

Off The Wild Coast of Brittany was an engaging novel with a present day story of two sisters that are working through some of their childhood issues as they grow closer to knowing each other through restoring guesthouse on the island of Brittany and a look into the resilience and determination shown by the residents of that same island during its occupation by German soldiers during WWII.

Natalie finds herself at a crossroads in life. She is supposed to be writing her next novel and restoring the guesthouse with her boyfriend Francois Xavier, but he has left her to return to France and she finds herself with nothing to write about. Her sister Alex shows up seemingly out of the blue, and the two sisters begin to work on their strained relationship and guesthouse renovations.

Newly married Violette is shocked when her husband leaves the island to support the French troops and then German soldiers take over their town. She finds an unlikely friend and confidante in the German officer Rainier, who has his own secrets to keep.

I really enjoyed this completely unique novel about WWII and felt transported to the charming island of Brittany. Both the present day as well as the story set during the war were equally compelling. I did feel the ending was a bit rushed, but perhaps that was because I wasn't quite ready to let go of the characters and have their stories come to an end.

I received this book courtesy of the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A ferry crossing the choppy Atlantic from France’s Wild Coast of Brittany, Côte Sauvage, shuttles tourists onto the docks along the rocky shore of the island known as Île de Feme. Juliet Blackwell artfully guides readers from the dock on the present-day island with touristy souvenir shops and pubs with Wi-Fi to the seaweed covered steps of the lighthouse guarded by Nazi soldiers in July 1940.
Only a few steps from the dock sits the ancient three-story stone house Natalie Morgen is supposed to be renovating into a quaint guesthouse & restaurant with her famous boyfriend-chef, Francois-Xavier. The “pie in the sky” plans of Natalie, best-selling memoir author and social media sensation, have gone awry. The sudden & mysterious arrival of older sister, Alex, not seen for 10 years, adds to her financial stress and lack of writing “oomph.” The sisters, raised in a survivalist compound in California, have certainly survived but with their own set of emotional and physical issues to face. Juliet Blackwell expertly weaves current issues facing Nat, Alex and women today with the women on the Île de Feme in 1940. Based on Général de Gaul’s exhortation, all the men of fighting age sailed to England to join the Free French Forces fighting the Nazi invasion of France, while 300 Germans occupied the island. Violette, a young islander, introduces readers to the legend of the Gallizenae, the herbs and cures of the village healer, the German invasion of the island and how the women survived. Juliet Blackwell’s Off the Wild Coast of Brittany, presented in dual timeline with three narrators, examines the themes of allegiance to one’s country and family values, life altering physical conditions, isolation, independence and self-worth. An “island” view of World War II.

Juliet Blackwell modeled her fictional island, Ile de Feme, after a fishing island in the region of Brittany. Relying upon supplies carried by boat from the mainland required some forethought and planning for the inhabitants of the island. But planning is something Natalie has always been good at. Raised in a survivalist home, she had learned to plan for every eventuality except one: losing the love of her life.

Natalie had been drawn to the island by dreams of opening a guesthouse with one of the island's native sons. Their plans to renovate and offer a top-notch lodging and dining experience had been all she had thought about. Their idyllic location and love story had helped her pen a best-selling novel which painted her life as all sunshine and roses. The absence of Natalie's boyfriend, however, creates an awkward situation for Natalie whose publisher is waiting for a sequel to her first book's success.

And then Natalie's sister, Alex, turns up unexpectedly. She is curious about the experiences Natalie has written about. And although they shared an unusual childhood, they took very different paths. Natalie is too ashamed to admit that she was jilted and tries to make excuses to her sister and the islanders. Alex, not one to let any grass grow beneath her feet, dives into the renovations with gusto. Through the work, the sisters develop a greater appreciation for each other.

Although the guesthouse is far from ready for guests, a desperate visitor begs to stay and he soon makes himself useful as a friend. Jean-Luc has his own hurts and disappointments but offers a fresh perspective on life and loss that encourages the sisters to live life more fully.

Woven throughout the story are characters that lived on the island during World War II. Readers will be fascinated by the lengths islanders went to defy the Nazi occupiers. And as Natalie seeks to learn about the events from the past, she learns to be honest and vulnerable with others and finds the courage to forge a new path for herself.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of Off the Wild Coast of Brittany from NetGalley for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

This gentle exploration of the relationships between sisters and friends provided a lovely interlude on a gray, rainy Sunday for this reader. I’ve long been a fan of Blackwell’s Lily Ivory series which is hip and witchy, but have come to appreciate her novels set in France for their relatable characters and clever plots.

Here the story flips between present day and World War II. Each time features a female protagonist who struggles with love, ambition, and curiosity about life outside the small worlds in which they grew up. Our present day heroine, Nat, is an influencer who has made a career out of traveling the world and asking “Porquois Pas?” However, she finds that the lifestyle that landed her on a remote island off the coast of France is no longer fulfilling. Having her sister show up unannounced leads her down a different path, one that ends in truth for both of them.

The World War II era story features a previous tenant of the guest house Nat runs in the present time. Violette longs for something more than the primitive and remote island life, but the influx of German soldiers flips her reality upside down. The story of how these island women channeled the magic of earlier inhabitants and used their own imaginations and determination to trick the Nazis is one of the most enjoyable tales I’ve read in a long time.

Blackwell does a nice job of knitting the past and present together, leaving me feeling sad the story ended. Fans of Blackwell’s previous work will not be disappointed; fans of Jenny Colgan will also find this an enjoyable read.

I like Juliet Blackwell's Off the Wild Coast of Brittany more than I thought I would. Indeed, this book wasn't quite what I thought it would be. I think it's really a women's fiction book recast, at least partially as historical fiction. I was invested in the characters and they were not overshadowed by the flashbacks to World War II. Blackwell has found a niche are within historical fiction and I believe that many readers will enjoy this book (probably a bit more than I did).

Off the Wild Coast of Brittany tells the stories of two sisters who have come through an unconventional and rigorous upbringing. Natalie is renovating an old inn, and it’s not going according to plan. The inn and the island are charming and carry so much history. Perhaps that history can bring these sisters together. Then we travel to the past, to the woman who occupied the cottage the girls are renovating. Set in World War II, the secrets Natalie and Alex are discovering come to light. The opposing points of view and timelines tell a complete and utterly engaging story.

If there was anything I didn’t love, it was Blackwell’s focus on Natalie’s jaw. We know she’s stressed, so we didn’t need the constant reminder of it. But when I look past that minor thing, there is a lot to like in this book. I like both the present and the past stories. I loved Alex and how good she was for her sister. I’m also a big fan of historical fiction set in WWII, and I liked Violette’s story just as much. The island is captivating, and I loved its quirks and its history. Sometimes, small-town life is just the thing a person needs to move on. Overall, an incredibly enjoyable read. Thank you, Berkley Publishing, for sending this along!

I love home front stories, I always enjoy Juliet Blackwell's books and this one reminded me a touch of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which is one of my favorite books. So my expectations going in to this one were crazy high.

Unfortunately, it didn't quite live up to them. Both stories are fascinating. An island of women left on their own when all their men go off to war. Left to care for the young and the elderly, find food on an island, and deal with a German occupation the women must band together for survival. The story pulled at me but I had trouble really connecting with Violetta. In the present day story line I had the same issue with Natalie. The story of the lifestyle blogger whose perfect life is falling apart and isn't sure what to do is interesting but Natalie was so frozen I got frustrated with her at times. I also felt like it had a bit of a slow start. While we were introduced to the characters it took a little while for the story to gain real traction.

Just because I didn't love it as much as I expected doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it because I absolutely did. Alex is a great character and while I wished that she and Nat would just talk to each other I loved how the sister relationship evolved. I also loved the setting and the home renovation. Alex is just so capable and Natalie seemed so helpless at times that it was interesting to see them play off each other. I loved the history of the island and the house and seeing the changes between life there during the war and present day life. Blackwell's writing style never disappoints and is always quick to draw me in and makes the setting come alive even when the story isn't the fastest.

While not perfect this was an enjoyable read in an unusual setting. I'm already looking forward to more of Blackwell's fiction titles.

A house on an island has brought the mystery of who lived there during WWII together with the present day. As Natalie and her sister, Alex, work to remodel a house they find many hidden treasures and turn to the island’s residents to decipher them. As Natalie and Alex work towards their future, solve some of the mysteries of the past, they must also come to understand what their own histories mean for themselves and be able to accept it.

Juliet Blackwell tells a story that pulled me in, kept me reading, and had me invested in Natalie, Alex and Violette. I love the flashbacks to WWII just as much as I love the sisterhood between Alex and Natalie. Their stories intertwine and come together perfectly telling a beautiful and enchanting story of family, friendship, and acceptance.

Juliet Blackwell always has books that draw you in from the beginning and keeps you interested to the end. This definitely one that does that.
This is a story of 3 women whose lives connect them to the past and present. The story takes place a tiny fishing village off the coast of Brittany. which is as much a character in the book as are the 3 women.
Natalie Morgan is struggling with trying to put her life back together after falling in love with a classically trained chef that leaves, breaking her heart and leaving her without the funds to finish renovating the guesthouse they planned to open together. To further complicate her life, her estranged sister shows up unannounced.
Natalie has no idea that her life is going to be even more complicated when she and her sister unearth old cookbook hidden away, that will take them back to WWII and the secrets of the German occupation of their tiny island.
Fans of historical fiction will find this one they want to read.

Really enjoyed this dual timeline story. I loved the characters and the setting. Highly recommend!

Brittany revelations!

Natalie Morgen and Alex are sisters who share a weird childhood. Their parents were survivalists and bought their children up to be able to carry on after Armageddon. The two are very different, as seen by the differing nature and abilities during their extreme childhood days.
Natalie becomes a successful blogger and writer of a runaway bestseller, “Pourquoi Pas? A Memoir of Life, Love, and Food.”
She and her love François-Xavier, pronounced Fran-swah Ex-ah-vee-ay (I loved that touch), a gorgeous looking French chef, move to Île de Feme off Brittany’s Côte Sauvage. They plan to renovate his family’s historic guest house and run a gourmet restaurant
When François-Xavier leaves to attend to business in Paris it’s supposed to be only for a short visit— it seems the swine has other ideas!
Nat’s reluctant to let his family know about François-Xavier’s desertion in case they renege on the guesthouse usage deal, especially as all her money has been sunk into getting the business started. Now Nat is facing writer’s block and she needs more funds. She’s panicking. And then the sister she’s had little contact with over the years turns up on her doorstep.
As Nat’s story continues it crosses back to that of a previous daughter of the house Violette Fouquet / Guilcher during World War II. We start to see the history of the island during the occupation. The men leave for England to join the war effort just before the Nazis arrive. The island women are left to handle the invaders. The island fronts a sea lane and is an important link for the German occupation of France.
I found myself completely captivated by the story of both ages as told from the perspective of the three women Nat, Alex and Violette.
The three face very different challenges, yet all are looking to find themselves. Over the years the island is held together by strong females, of Celtic heritage, where wise women and different gods hold sway. These three are sisters under the skin, bound together by their tenacity.
Once again family cookbooks, ignored by the enemy, give the women a way to move invisibly throughout the island during the occupation. And it’s those same recipes and cookbook that will fill the future.
An unusual story that speaks!

A Berkley Group ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for an advanced copy of Off the Wild Coast of Brittany.

I was drawn to Off the Wild Coast of Brittany by the synopsis of a historical fiction set on a remote island off the coast of Brittany, France and a dual timline in the present and the 1940s. During WWII all of the men of fighting age have just left the island to join the British and Free French forces and 300 German troops have just arrived on the island as it is in a key location. In the present day, Natalie has written a memior about overcoming her childhood and finding a new life in France. She had moved to the island with her chef boyfriend to renovate a guesthouse on the island where his family is from when he leaves her. Her sister has just arrived and when they find an old cookbook hidden in the house, it unravels old secrets of the island.

I didn't want to put this book down, I was fascinated by the WWII story, but I felt like it the ending was too rushed, a lot of the action didn't happen until more than halfway through the book. With the modern story, liked seeing the sisters get closer and hear more about their childhood growing up in a "prepper" father.

I was googling a lot as I read as the historian in me wanted all of the details! There wasn't a note at the end of the ARC but it looked like there might be a reader's guide. I did find a bookclub guide, which answered some of my questions, but I would have liked more of a hsitorical note. I did research a bit as I was reading, the setting of Ile de Feme is the Isle de Seine and I want to plan a trip there. I have a thing for remote islands.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I love reading about some of the random and fascinating bits of history and liked both the modern and historical story lines.

In Juliet Blackwell's newest book we have Natalie,  a woman who grew up home-schooled & taught to live off the land by her prepper parents . Natalie never took to that life though & all she wanted was to get away & live civilized and normal. Off to Paris she went as soon as she got of age. This story is also about another young woman whose dreams of life did not match her parents. Their stories are told together in two parts of this book.

I highly enjoyed this book. Both women's stories are told so beautifully.  I was utterly charmed by this book & I think historical fiction fans will love it also. I highly recommend this book

Off the Wild Coast of Brittany, by Juliet Blackwell, takes readers to a fictional island off the coast of Brittany, Ile de Feme, both in present day and during the occupation of France during World War 2. Told with three narrators, the book tells the story of three women, Natalie, Alex, and Violette and their lives on the “island of women”.

There are many things I enjoyed while reading Off the Wild Coast of Brittany, especially the present-day story of sisters Natalie and Alex. Blackwell does a beautiful job of bringing these two characters to life and showcasing their love for each other. Despite a shared childhood off the grid with their paranoid, doomsday-prepper father, the two women found themselves very different people. When Alex appears on Natalie’s doorstep on Ile de Feme, they find themselves with a chance to be true sisters. Their journey to rediscovering each other and building a strong relationship was the highlight of the book. As they reconnected, their affection and respect for each other, originally based on growing up together, grew into a true sisterly bond and a strong friendship.

It was also the inhabitants of the present-day Ile de Feme that made Off the Wild Coast of Brittany an enjoyable read. They are a true cast of characters from the grumpy restaurant owner to the elderly healer to newcomer Jean-Luc. Together all of these characters made reading the present-day chapters a true joy as Blackwell gave them dynamic personalities that I was eager to get to know.

It was the historical portion of Off the Wild Coast of Brittany that eventually fell flat for me. While Blackwell’s descriptions of the island were lovely, the story of Violette never quite took off and the idea of an “island of women”, whose men left to fight the war, never gained the traction I had hoped it would. Instead, there’s an absence of vitality in Violette’s chapters that I found in Alex and Natalie’s. From Alex and Natalie, we get a sense of expectation as their stories unwind, an eagerness to keep reading. From Violette there was a heaviness that never found purpose.

It’s hard for me to rate this as I loved more than half of it, yet the letdown of the historical portions seems like a huge disappointment. Overall, I give Off the Wild Coast of Brittany 3.5 stars.

The dual timeline works well with this piece of historical fiction, set in the Isle of Ferme during WWII and the current time. Natalie ended up on the island renovating an old bed and breakfast, after her boyfriend returns to Paris without any intent to return. Natalie’s experiences as an American in Paris with her chef boyfriend was the basis for her popular lifestyle book, which is challenging her as she attempts to write a sequel. Alex, one of her sisters, arrives on the island and their secrets slowly unfold. Violette is the main character in the historical timeline, as the Nazis occupy the island after most of the able bodied men left to join the war against Germany. Befriending one of the soldiers, a gentle man who opposes everything the Nazis stand for, she is able to assist the women of the island survive. Both storylines were appealing and well written. I recommend this book and thank NetGalley for the ARC.

Oh my heavens, this book is going to leave you spinning, but wanting more! It was fabulously written, and you become invested in the characters, each unique personality bringing something to the story. I absolutely loved this one, and will be recommending this one out to read!

Sisters meeting on an isolated island off the coast of Brittany after not seeing each other for ten years is where we meet Alex and Natalie.

Alex arrived unannounced and didn't tell her sister why.

Natalie was restoring a beautiful home but had to stop because her boyfriend returned to France and wasn’t planning to come back. Natalie is also an author of a popular book about this island and her love life which is now non-existent. She has to worry about the next book which was to be focused on the romance between her and Francois-Xavier.

Both sisters had secrets which they finally shared with each other.

While exploring the house, they found a hidden space in the attic that held an old cookbook, costumes, and beautifully embroidered linens. Why were these things hidden?

We then travel back to the island during WWII and meet the women left to fend for themselves after all the men had gone off to war.

The women weren't alone for long, though, because the Germans invaded the island, lived in their homes, took their food, and gave orders.

The characters will steal your heart and make you want to immediately book a plane to this island to soak up its quaintness.

As you begin to love the characters and the island, the two stories blend together through the cookbook that holds the secrets to the island's past..

A hundred-year-old resident also helped to reveal secrets.

Ms. Blackwell’s writing pulls you in and puts you right into the story line to enjoy what the characters are enjoying and what they are suffering through.

You may even learn some French and learn about French cooking and cooking terms.

If you are a fan of WWII, authors, lovely, isolated islands, hidden spaces, long-kept secrets, and Ms. Blackwell’s books, do not miss OFF THE WILD COAST OF BRITTANY. 4/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.