BOOK CLUB: Beyond Summerland

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[Total: 4 Average: 4.8]

Beyond Summerland by Jenny Lecoat is a historical fiction story set in the Channel Islands post-World War II. It’s filled with family secrets, suspicion, prejudice, love, resilience, sacrifice and friendship.

In Jersey 1945 the British task force is in the harbour after the official surrender of the German military. For the residents of the Channel Islands, the five brutal years of German occupation had come to an end.

Now in a time of Liberation, the Islanders are engaged in a war amongst themselves. Against those among them who had informed, collaborated, had been involved in the black market and the women who had slept with German soldiers.

Jean Parris was fourteen at the start of the Occupation but she is now 19, a young woman. Jean and her mother Violet are waiting anxiously for news of her deported father. Jean’s father was arrested 15 months prior and taken away on a German Prison boat. His family are optimistic he will be released and return home.

When he doesn’t return, Jean questions the authorities as to where he could be.

As a result of her enquiries, the family discovered a witness report that may identify the person who had informed on him. Desperate for someone to blame, the family immediately suspect Hazel, a teacher who lives in a flat above her father’s shop. The family begin a relentless pursuit to destroy Hazel’s life.

As Jean delves more into her father’s activities she discovers more secrets. As the answers to Jean’s questions unfold she has to look again at everything she thought she knew.

Jean is keeping her own secrets which would destroy both her and her family.

Throw in an obnoxious uncle, a complicated extended family, secrets, an unlikely friendship, plenty of suspicions and the mystery of the informer’s identity — it all keeps you turning the pages.

There are many twists and turns along the way to the surprising ending.

Beyond Summerland is a riveting account of life in the Channel Islands during the Occupation and the lengths people would go to for survival, followed by Liberation as the residents attempt to rebuild their lives.

The book is well-written and easy to read. Jean and Hazel are wonderful characters. Jenny Lecoat was born in Jersey and has drawn on her own family’s experiences during the war. Her grandfather’s siblings sheltered an escaped Russian and were betrayed by local people to the German authorities.

This exceptional, interesting thought-provoking story set in exceptional times is well worth reading.

A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club members are reading Beyond Summerland by Jenny Lecoat. You can read their comments below, or leave your own review.

9 thoughts on “BOOK CLUB: Beyond Summerland

  1. Beyond Summerland

    War time books are fast becoming my favorite and Beyond Summerland was an exceptional read. I got straight into it and loved it.
    1945, Liberation should have been a happy time for Jean and her family but instead secrets were uncovered that changed their lives forever. Jean’s father had died in prison and the family was determined to uncover who had told the Germans about his wireless that placed him there in the first place.
    That’s where it all began, the secrets, lies and deceptions.
    The characters were portrayed well and you felt like you really knew them.
    I highly recommend this book and will be looking forward to many more from Jenny Lecoat.

    Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Allen and Unwin for my copy to read and review.

  2. Absolutely loved this historical fiction storyline as it was such a page turner of twists, turns, betrayals, friendships, romance, secrets and just totally captivating from the first page to the last.

    The story revolves around Jean whose dad is taken from his home and placed in prison for having a wireless for others to hear on. Someone must have reported him but who?

    I had a few thoughts on who it could be but wouldn’t know till towards the end and that’s where you just want to read to find out who.

    The war has finished and in 1945 all Jean and her mother Violet want to know is where and when will their dad and husband return to them. Always just waiting with no news was hard.

    Lives carried on throughout the story. Jean has a secret from her family as well and is too scared to tell them what it is.

    Another character Hazel, you tend to warm to her mid way more as she has a dad that is crippled. It was sad reading their story and I think when drama happens is when I felt sorry for her.

    Thank you to Beauty & Lace and Allen & Unwin. Generally historical books can be a hit or a miss with me, but this one was exceptionally written by the author. I highly recommend for readers to get out there and read this book.

  3. I loved this post war time story set in the beautiful setting of St Helier in Jersey.
    It is the story of lives lived in uncertain times. Jean’s father has been dragged from his home charged with having a contraband radio in his shop. Everyone wonders who has reported him to the authorities.
    Jean becomes friends with Hazel one of the suspects.
    It was interesting to read this historical fiction story.

  4. Thanks Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read Jenny Lecoat’s Beyond Summerland . Set in Jersey 1945 after the liberation from the Nazis the story involves 2 young women and how their lives become intertwined and the family secrets that unfold during the months post war.
    I really enjoyed this historical fiction story and gave it 4 – a great read.

  5. Beyond Summerland
    I love historical fiction and Beyond Summerland was an engrossing read.
    Set in Jersey in the Channel Islands following the war, life should be one of peace and happiness, however; Jean Parris and her family are grieving the loss of their father. Jean’s father had died in prison after being arrested by the Germans and charged with having a forbidden radio. Jean is determined to find out who reported him but more secrets and lies are discovered in the quest for the truth.
    Hazel who lives above the shop Jean’s father owned is accused of reporting him and Jean confronts her but an unlikely friendship between Jean and Hazel forms as they both have secrets they don’t want revealed.
    A great read! I didn’t know much about the WWII Channel Islands German occupation so found this a really interesting read.
    Secrets, deception, lies and life after the hardships and trials of war is not always an easy path to a peaceful life.
    A really engaging and interesting read
    4/5

  6. Beyond Summerland by Jenny Lecoat is set in Jersey, Channel Islands just after they were liberated from German Occupation at the end of World War Two. And, while the war itself has ended, the dangers are not over for those who live on the island. Suspicion, secrets, fear, deception and the lingering effects of occupation abound.

    The story revolves around Jean and Hazel, two young women hiding their secrets from both their family and the outside world as they each struggle to find their place in post occupation Jersey. They come from differing points of view, but their lives become intertwined and an unlikely friendship forms which sees them the keeper of the each others secrets.

    While the author notes that the characters and events are fictional, the location and background are real, this piece of historical fiction could well be someone’s memoir. An engaging page turner that had me hooked from the start

    Thank you to Beauty and Lace and Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to read and review this thought provoking book. I want to visit Jersey and see it for myself now!

  7. Another great novel by Jenny LeCoat. She obviously knows a lot about the history of Jersey Island and how the locals felt after World War 2.
    I loved the beginning and the end. Some parts of the middle were a bit drawn out, but there was enough there to keep me reading.
    I would recommend the book if you are interested in historical fiction.

  8. Jean’s life she thought was already changed as much as it could with the occupation of her island vy the Germans. She did not anticipate that the death of her father in a German jail and return of her uncle would change things so dramatically.
    Love, friendship, betrayal, heartache and a twist. This historical fiction has it all. Tha ks for the amazing read!

  9. Beyond Summerland tells the story of Jean post-WWII and how she and her mother struggle following the death of her father. As time goes on, Jean discovers more and more about the man who she idolised and what it meant to live on Jersey Island under German rule throughout the war.
    Jenny Lecoat provides a story that isn’t often told, what happens after the war and how people try to rebuild the lives they once had.
    The story covers love, unlikely friendships, heartbreaking family relationships and keeps the reader invested in finding out what really happened with Jean’s father.
    Thank you Beauty and Lace and Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to read this story, one I certainly have continued to think about after finishing the book.

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