This book was just ok for me. I found it to be too much like other historical books in that people turn on each other and friends are no longer friends. Fear of being outed. Fear of anyone knowing you was friends with a Jew. It was an area that I had not read about yet so I did learn something.

Thank you #NetGalley for this ARC.

This book was a DNF for me. I got to 30% and decided it was not for me. Hopefully it will be a good fit for someone else!

Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, was captured during WWII. The Germans cracked down on the residents and many of the residents turned on each other in order to curry favor with the enemy. Jean, now 19, watched her father hauled off by the German soldiers. Now, with the end of the war and the soldiers gone, Jean and her mother have no idea whether Mr. Parris is dead or alive. Jean's uncle who spent the war in England comes to the island to try to sort out everything, or so he says. It seems he spends most of his time arguing with the authorities, or grumbling to his friends at the bar.

Jean finds that Hazel, who lives above Mr. Parris' iron shop, may have been the one who turned her father in to the Germans for having an illegal radio used to pick up the BBC broadcasts. Jean seeks revenge on Hazel. In turn, Hazel discovers Jean's secret. The suspicions hovering during the war come home to take root all over the island. Will the terrible effects of the occupation ever leave the villagers? Will they ever be able to trust one another again?

In this World War II historical fiction novel, Lecoat explores the aftermath of the German occupation of the Channel Islands, the only British territory captured during the war. No longer the idyllic vacation spot, Jersey’s inhabitants, particularly Jean Parris, are coming to terms with the tension between suspected collaborators and the rest of the village. When rumors about who reported her arrested and now-deceased father start to swirl and point fingers at local teacher Hazel, Jean tries to uncover the truth about his arrest until Hazel blackmails her. Both women harbor dangerous wartime secrets that could destroy their reputations on Jersey and still just might. Jean is an incredibly flawed heroine with serious faults, while Hazel also has a compelling backstory and her own issues stemming from the war and these accusations. Lecoat has brought the tensions and dubious morals of the postwar life of people in formerly occupied territory to life, and the mystery about Jean’s father at the heart of the novel is just as complicated as the rest of this book. With its vivid setting and realistic, difficult characters, Lecoat’s novel shows that the end of a war is not happily ever after and life will not return to how it was Before.

Jenny Lecoat has a way of writing that is peaceful even when she is talking about horrific acts of war and heartbreak that just draws you in from the beginning. I knew I had to read Beyond Summerland when I first saw it and I am not disappointed at all.

My first experience with Lecoat was her novel The Girl from the Channel Islands and it was so heartbreakingly beautiful that I instantly wanted to reread it. Lecoat brings a different level of knowledge to her stories, as she was born in the Channel Islands and her parents grew up there under German Occupation during World War II. This story follows Jean and Hazel as their two lives collide with devastating consequences. I loved watching how while they were from different lives, their circumstances came jarringly close because of the war.

Lecoat developed these characters in such a way that you learned their story and then started to cheer for them, even when you may not have agreed with all their decisions and actions. I liked the character growth we got to see in each character, even the ones we disliked and how they adapted to their environment. There were so many underlying lessons in this story we got to watch these characters learn; family doesn’t always mean they will love you forever, sometimes people you think are your enemy are not, and sometimes leaving home is the best thing for you.

Overall this was a good book. My only issue is I felt the beginning was a little too slow on the build for me so it took me a while to get into. Other than that, though, once I got into it more I had to know how it ended. Lecoat is one of my favorite historical fiction writers because she gives a different view of the war from the Channel Islands and it’s always intertwined with the best stories and lessons.

If you haven’t picked this book up yet, you absolutely should. And then go back and read her others too!

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.

4.5 *

What a great story! Impressive writing! I enjoyed my first Jenny Lecoat novel. The story takes place on one of the British Channel Islands, Jersey Island- which was occupied for 5 years by the Nazis in WW II. Just after the liberation of Jersey there is much joy amongst the locals but that joy is also mixed with anger.

Jean lives with her mother Violet. Her father Philip Parris was jailed and taken away by the Nazis to a Camp after someone "snitched" on him for having a radio. Hazel and her father lived in the flat about Philip Parris's Ironmongery. Hazel is accused of being the one to tattle on Jean's father. The stories alternate between Jean and Hazel and soon their lives will intertwine.

Both girl's stories are sad. With the backdrop of a troubled island this only added more emotion to the story. I liked that this was a little different than the WW II books that I usually read as it took place just after the war. There were 12 chapters and they were long but I liked that there was an epilogue that tied everything up nicely. The author's notes were interesting to read as this story was inspired partly by her own family's war experience.

I don't read a ton of historical fiction, but the premise of this one seemed really interesting to me. This is definitely a pretty heavy read that deals with a lot of dark issues. The island where this is set has just endured significant trauma after living through Nazi occupation. A place that should be beautiful is left devastated with residents suspicious and untrusting of one another. This book tells the story of trauma, war, distrust, and betrayal in post-WWII England and the real struggles people and communities faced during this time period. It is definitely heart wrenching, but very well written with the two FMC's being intriguing with a lot of depth.

I’m taking part today in the blog tour for Beyond Summerland, an engaging and somewhat intense read of post-WWII. Jean’s father has been arrested for owning (and using) a radio during German occupation in the Channel Islands, and she is trying to keep her and her mother’s life together while they search for where he might be. This is complicated by secrets that more than one person are trying to keep. This is a memorable read and beautifully written. Lecoat’s writing is wonderfully evocative of time and place. I had read her first novel The Girl from the Channel Islands in 2021.
Thank you for my copy and for having me as part of the tour!

The Channel Islands were occupied by the Nazis for five years, causing distrust, hardship and scarcity. At the end of the war, neighbors were turning against neighbors, reporting when collaborators worked with the Nazis. Jean’s father was arrested and sent to a camp, while Jean and her mother tried to survive. As the war ends, and they find out her father died, Jean’s beliefs and ideas about her family begin to change. At the same time, Hazel is living with her disabled father, struggling to make ends meet. Hazel is accused of reporting Jean’s father, and she is shunned by the community, becoming desperate to explain to Jean that she was not the person. As they develop a friendship, loyalty and duplicity become evident. I recommend this book, since there is not much written about the postwar time on the Channel Islands, and the long road to recovery. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Beyond Summerland
By: Jenny Lecoat
Review Score: 4 Stars

Boogie’s Bulletpoints
•There are so many layers to this story!

•Lecoat does a great job of bringing you to the Channel Islands after the war.

•No spoilers, but Jean’s Uncle is… something else.

•It was interesting to see Jean and Hazel’s friendship evolve as the story unfolds.

————————————————————————————————

Beyond Summerland was kindly provided as an ARC by Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing. Thank you for allowing me to enjoy this wonderful book!

Release Date: 7/2/24

Wow y’all. This book was intense. We meet Jean, a girl who lived on the Channel Islands during World War 2. We find out that her Dad had been sent to a concentration camp for having a radio, and there is speculation as to who did it.

As the story unfolds, we meet more people living on the island, including her Uncle (a terrible man) and Hazel, the supposed woman who told on her Dad.

Obviously, that is the bare bones of the story, and there are so many more layers and plot twists. But wow. I was hooked on the character’s stories, and wanted to know what would happen!

I will say, a lot of the plot wasn’t exactly World War 2-esque. What I mean is, you could drop some of the characters and stories into any time, and the story would have still flowed. That doesn’t take away from the book itself, but it was just an observation when I ended the book.

Anyway, I think that was a good book. I feel like anyone would like it, even if they do not read a ton of historical fiction.

Beyond Summerland follows two women in post-World War II England, in a small island in the British Isles. Jean's father was arrested during the war, and she learns that Hazel, a local schoolteacher who lives above Jean's Dad's shop, may have been responsible.

At first reading the description of the book, I expected a bit more action and more of a women's fiction vibe, but this story is heavily historical fiction. With that said, while I did enjoy the book, I was in the mood for something lighter and this wasn't it. I still found the story to be interesting, but I thought the first half was SLOW. The second half picked up substantially and I'm glad I stuck with it because it ultimately had a strong ending.

This is a good one, but know it's historical fiction, not general women's fiction.

Thank you HTP Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
3.5/5 stars

Post-WWII story about two young women struggling with the aftermath of Nazi occupation in the Channel Islands. One is grieving her father's death at the hands of the Nazis, and when her family accuses another woman of betraying him, she must look beyond her assumptions to find the truth. I've read a lot about WWII, but not as much about the aftermath, so this was a welcome perspective.

Moving story about an untold part of history. I had no idea what happened after Liberation on the Jersey islands and was surprised at the mistrust and unease still present. This story is hard but necessary to tell the islanders' stories. The author's personal connection to the island is also poignant.

The German occupation is over. The Channel Islands, the only captured territory within the British Isles, are finally liberated. But the people of Jersey are left as scarred as the landscape. No longer a “summerland” holiday paradise, the island now boils with tension as locals seek revenge on anyone suspected of collaborating with the enemy during the war.

Nineteen-year-old Jean Parris, still adjusting to this fractious peace, is shocked to learn that Hazel, a teacher who lives over her dad’s shop, may be responsible for her father’s wartime arrest. Hazel denies all accusations but has reasons to conceal what really happened.

As rumors of Hazel’s guilt swell to a fury, Jean discovers new clues that suggest there were other, more sinister factors at play. When Hazel learns of Jean’s own ruinous secret, the women form an unexpected bond that sets them apart from the rest of Jean’s family and the frenzied demands for retribution. But in the end, Jean’s need to know the truth about her father may consume everything she once believed about her home, her family and herself.


This is a well written and very interesting story. Since I was in middle school (now 40), I have always loved historical fiction books that are based around the WWII era. This story can be difficult to read at times, as most stories that are written around this war and the Holocaust usually are. Do I think you should read this even though there are times where it may be hard? Absolutely!

This book highlights the impacts of the war, survival and how life was after the war. If you like books with amazing character development, story lines and pulling of the heart strings, this one is for you!

I love a good historical fiction story and most are usually set in WWII for some reason. I've read my fair share and a lot of times the stories all start to blend together. I've never read one that took place in the Channel Islands so I was excited to read it. I enjoyed the story telling in this book and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a new place and story line set in WWII

Beyond Summerland is set just after WW11 on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands. The people had suffered under the German occupation for the whole of the war. It was a time of great hardship and unfortunately a time that was to have repercussions way into the future.

We meet two women, Hazel and Jean, young women who by strange means find friendship. Hazel cares for her sick father, Jean lives with her mother, her father was taken away because he had a radio. In the beginning Jean thinks of her Dad as a hero, but as we know we can get to know a person by what others say and what that person has done. With Jean we see that not all was as it seems. Hazel lives over the shop of Jean’s Dad and Hazel is blamed by some as the person who told the Germans about the radio he had.

It is a time of great upheaval as opposing factions grow, and some blame and judge, while others are guilty of betrayal. Families are split. Truly as the truth comes out it is heartbreaking and shocking.

I found as I read that I became immersed in the lives of Hazel and Jean and all that they suffered. And yet I cheered for them as they took steps to go into the future that could only be better. I didn’t enjoy all the events they went through. Occupation was terrible, but what people did to each other afterwards seemed even worse.

I first learned of Jersey and all they went through during the occupation from Kate Thompson’s book The Wartime Book Club. These two books go together very well, documenting through fiction the very devastating realities of war and its aftermath.

The war is finally over. Jean and her mother have just discovered that her father, who was taken away by the Nazis, has died in prison. They are still wondering who in their town turned him in for his contraband radio. They will not rest until they discover the traitor.

There are a lot of moving parts to this tale…lies, betrayals, and more lies. The Nazis have just left the Channel Islands and the whole town is trying to regroup. But, there is so much mistrust because everyone sees everyone else as a collaborator with the Nazis. When Jean discovers one of their neighbors, Hazel, had a fight with her father, the whole family causes so much grief for this poor woman. They are determined that Hazel is the one who turned him in and caused his death. But, they soon discover that he was not as upstanding as they thought.

I did feel the ending was a bit rushed. Also, I was not a fan of any of the characters. Jean does redeem herself in the end and she was my favorite. But all of these characters lie to each other 😂. You know, real life stuff😏.

Need a good, historical fiction novel full of betrayals and redemption…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

WWII historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and there are a lot of books set during this time. I love finding books about lessor known parts of the war and this book fits perfectly. Jersey island is off the coast of France between France and England. The book is set after the Nazi’s have left the island and the former occupants were coming back. Some people stayed on the island during the Nazi occupation and they are dealing with those terrible memories as well as finding out what happened off the island during the war. The writing style is so vivid that I felt I was on the island see the destruction and changes of the war and as people tried to rebuild their lives. This is an excellent book that I loved reading.

This is Jenny Lecoat’s second work of historical fiction. She has again written a dramatic and involving story. The novel is set on Jersey. Many may not know that the island was occupied by the Nazis which, of course, led to a difficult life for the islanders with subsequent issues of loyalty, collaboration and more. When the war ended there were many complex personal situations left in its wake.

This novel tells the story of two of these women and those around them. They are Jean and Hazel. Their stories and connections will engage readers in this work of historical fiction with a bit of mystery and an involving plot.

Note that the author’s parents experienced life under the Nazis. This adds a deep understanding to the author’s work.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HTP for this title. All opinions are my own.