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• What a cracking book! Two stories twist about each other; both wrapped in the way that we lie to each other; and even worse, to ourselves. Sometimes, they hardly seem like lies; and sometimes we are confronted by the evil of a character's lies, only to find that there is another perspective which diminishes the guilt of, or exonerates the perpetrator completely.The stories pirouette right up until the final page where, as in real life, we are left on something of a cliffhanger (pun intended - and if you want to know what the pun is, then read the book: you really should!)Mary Horlock was born on Guernsey and, I would guess that some of the dislike of a captive group of islanders is autobiographical. The stories are those of two young girls in 1985, one popular and one less so, and a family in occupied Guernsey - as recreated in 1965. The claustrophobic atmosphere of fear, lies and more lies runs like a thread through this book whilst, somehow, makes one laugh at the same time. Mary is better than most authors at writing from the perspective of young people: her characters are all believable and the stories, which would sound preposterous were I to retell them, read as eminently realistic. It is surprising how many deep issues are confronted by a book that initially appears to be a light read: for example, one is presented with the hopelessness which the people of Guernsey must have felt when occupied, their feeling of a lack of sympathy from the Allies when rescue came and the difficulty of a young person coming to terms with their family history, to name but two (or is that three?) The book does not spoon feed the reader and, as we are warned in a letter from Catherine to her mother, near the end of the tale, we need to read between the lines, as well as the printed word. Lots to chew over: I shall watch out for further works by Mary Horlock with interest.

  5.00 out of 5

  the.ken.petersen

• Set on Guernsey in the Channel Islands in 1985 and, in memories and flashback, during the German occupation of the Islands during WWII. Told from the point of view of a teenaged girl who is hiding her involvement with the death of a school mate. A well-told story with lots of new-to-me information.

  4.00 out of 5

  ParadisePorch

• I really enjoyed this book. As the author points out in her acknowledgements, the title is deceptive because there is plenty of fact within the fictional story. Told in a journal/diary style by Cat Rozier and her late father Emile, it is set on the island of Guernsey in 1985 and the 1940s respectively. Emile's journals, written in the 1960s, are based on information left by his older brother concerning the lead up to their father's death, shot by the occupying German forces in 1942. Teenager Cat's diary deals with both the death of her own father and her "best friend" Nic. Cat tells us at the beginning of the novel, that she has killed Nic by pushing her off a cliff at Clarence Batterie. Thus begins a gripping story which I found hard to put down. Although events take place 40 years apart, there are striking similarities between their two stories. Deception, lust, murder and misunderstandings abound. The historical portrait of Guernsey during the German Occupation is really fascinating. Being such a small island of just over 3 miles across, everyone knows everyone else and it would appear to be difficult to keep secrets. This is most definitely not the case in both the 40s and 80s. It is these secrets and misunderstandings which form the fabric of this story. Some of the characters have lived their whole lives beieving things which are not true and the sadness this brings is well handled here. I would recommend this book, both as enjoyable fiction and an insight in to how the people of Guernsey dealt with a very difficult time in their history. It appears that they were treated very shabbily by the British Government during the Second World War and this novel highlights their struggle and how it altered the whole community structure for many many years.This book was made available to me, prior to publication, for an honest review.

  4.00 out of 5

  teresa1953

• This is primarily the story of Catherine Rozier, a teenager living on the island of Guernsey. Her friend has died falling from the cliffs and Catherine tells the story of the friendship and what happened. Alternated with her story is a transcript of a taped interview with her uncle who died twenty years earlier, and his story goes back to the German occupation of Guernsey during World War II.This is an intriguing read. It took me a while to get fully into it and to really understand the different voices. Catherine's voice is slightly irritating at times, but by the half way point I’d got used to it. And I did enjoy the story that her uncle told about his experiences during the war.What was particularly interesting about this book was the details about the German occupation and the effect it had on the islanders as some people collaborated with them, some had to work with them, and some were totally against them. The book doesn't really do a lot for Guernsey tourism though, with Catherine's bleak view of island life.This is quite a dark book really, underneath the teenage woes, and I found myself racing through it.

  4.00 out of 5

  nicx27

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