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Beyond Summerland
By Jenny Lecoat
Published by Allen & Unwin
ISBN
9781761470783
This is an absorbing complex story, set in Jersey in the Channel Islands, in June 1945, just as WWII ended and the end of German Occupation.
Emotions are running high for the Islanders with sheer relief at the end of the War. The story begins with Philip Parris, his wife, Violet, their daughter, Jean, whom I assumed was in her late teens or perhaps 20, and their son, Harry, who left before the war and is married and living in Cheltenham, England.
Violet and Jean are anxious for the return of Violet's husband, Philip.
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Philip had an illegal radio at the back of his iron mongery shop so he and his friends could listen to the news on the BBC. It appears he was also involved in some black marketeering. Some person, or persons unknown, reported this to the Germans. Philip was quickly taken into custody and then sent away to a prison camp in Germany. No-one knows who reported Philip Parris, but assumptions are made without actual proof. After they were seen arguing the finger is pointed at Hazel, the school teacher, and her ill and frail father, who live in the flats above the shop.
Philip's daughter, Jean and her mother, go to the States office to enquire where Philip is and when he will return home to them. What they find out shocks them to their core.
Filled with intrigue, supposition and rumours this brilliantly written story, although a novel is based on true events. The author is from Jersey, born and bred on the island and heard many stories from parents and people of her parents age about what happened during and after Occupation.
It shows how rumours can spread, can be embellished by false accusations and cause untold harm beyond the point of return even resulting in the death of innocent people.
This is a web of intriguing stories. Violet's sister, Beattie is married to a relatively well to do farmer and they often comment on how they helped Violet and Jean throughout the Occupation by supplying vegetables, milk and other food but this doesn't quite ring true to Jean who wonders why they say this. She knows they only helped a couple of times during the five years of Occupation. but of course there is an interesting reason that takes the reader by surprise.
Eddie leaving his family in England is an evacuee from Jersey and the brother of Philip Parris, returns to Jersey, to reclaim his house, albeit dilapidated now and to find out what happened to his brother. However, not all is as it seems and he soon creates even more trouble for Jean.
This page turner It is also a story of forbidden love, heightened when Jean begins to question a web of lies and hidden truths about her family. It is also one of friendships and finding ones way during extraordinary times.
Highly recommended enjoyable reading.
The author
Born in Jersey, Channel Islands, Jenny Lecoat's parents were raised under German Occupation, and both families were involved in resistance activity. Lecoat moved to England aged 18, where following a drama degree, she spent a decade on the alternative comedy circuit as a feminist stand-up. She was nominated for the prestigious Perrier Award in 1986. Jenny also wrote for newspapers and women's magazines and presented TV and radio shows, before focusing on screenwriting from sitcom to sketch shows.
The Girl from the Channel Islands (initially published as The Viennese Girl) was her first novel and was a New York Times bestseller.
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