Dancing with the Enemy
Diane Armstrong
Reviewed by Helen
This was my first Diane Armstrong book but it won’t be the last, this is a beautifully written story told over two time lines, it pulled me in as I got to know the people who lived on Jersey in The Channel Islands during the German occupation in World War two and then in 2019 a young Australian doctor who discovers more than she ever thought she would on her trip.
It is June 1940 and Dr Hugh Jackson and life as he knew is about to change when England abandons The Channel Islands and Hugh makes a decision to stay for his patients as his pregnant wife leaves for England, Hugh starts a journal that opens up life in these trying times.
In May 1942 young Tom Gaskell is decidedly very angry with what is going on, on the island with Germans taking over everything and even his own mother fraternizing with the Germans he decides that he needs to escape and sets up a plan with his best mates Harry and Frank to do so but what happens will leave him shattered and very guilty.
April 2019 and you Australian Doctor Xanthe Maxwell has come to the end of her tether with the stress and pressure she is under in the hospital when she finds he best friend has committed suicide it is time for her to take a break and she decides on Jersey. At the house she rents she finds and old journal that was written during the occupation in WW11 Dr Hugh Jackson this takes her on a journey back in time to what things were really like on the island the collaboration from some of the residents and the pure strength and caring of others the passion they showed with what they were going through. She also meets another Australian Daniel while he is there studying for his thesis and together they uncover so much about the past.
This is a fabulous story that I would highly recommend, heart-breaking and heart-warming at the same time it is written with honesty and caring and my feelings came to the surface as I got to know Hugh, Tom and Xanthe, a must read for any lover of historical fiction and stories about World War 2 the Chanel Islands and Jersey are a beautiful setting.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy to read and review
It is June 1940 and Dr Hugh Jackson and life as he knew is about to change when England abandons The Channel Islands and Hugh makes a decision to stay for his patients as his pregnant wife leaves for England, Hugh starts a journal that opens up life in these trying times.
In May 1942 young Tom Gaskell is decidedly very angry with what is going on, on the island with Germans taking over everything and even his own mother fraternizing with the Germans he decides that he needs to escape and sets up a plan with his best mates Harry and Frank to do so but what happens will leave him shattered and very guilty.
April 2019 and you Australian Doctor Xanthe Maxwell has come to the end of her tether with the stress and pressure she is under in the hospital when she finds he best friend has committed suicide it is time for her to take a break and she decides on Jersey. At the house she rents she finds and old journal that was written during the occupation in WW11 Dr Hugh Jackson this takes her on a journey back in time to what things were really like on the island the collaboration from some of the residents and the pure strength and caring of others the passion they showed with what they were going through. She also meets another Australian Daniel while he is there studying for his thesis and together they uncover so much about the past.
This is a fabulous story that I would highly recommend, heart-breaking and heart-warming at the same time it is written with honesty and caring and my feelings came to the surface as I got to know Hugh, Tom and Xanthe, a must read for any lover of historical fiction and stories about World War 2 the Chanel Islands and Jersey are a beautiful setting.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy to read and review
5 stars
Published May 4th 2022 by HQ Fiction
