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    The Soldier's Wife
    The Soldier's Wife
    The Soldier's Wife
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Soldier's Wife

    Written by Margaret Leroy

    Narrated by Alison Larkin

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    As World War II draws closer and closer to Guernsey, Vivienne de la Mare knows that there will be sacrifices to be made. Not just for herself, but for her two young daughters and for her mother-in-law, for whom she cares while her husband is away fighting. What she does not expect is that she will fall in love with one of the enigmatic German soldiers who take up residence in the house next door to her home.

    As their relationship intensifies, so do the pressures on Vivienne. Food and resources grow scant, and the restrictions placed upon the residents of the island grow with each passing week. Though Vivienne knows the perils of her love affair with Gunther, she believes that she can keep their relationship-and her family-safe. But when she becomes aware of the full brutality of the Occupation, she must decide if she is willing to risk her personal happiness for the life of a stranger.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateMar 25, 2013
    ISBN9781452682549
    The Soldier's Wife
    Author

    Margaret Leroy

    Margaret Leroy studied music at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, and social work at Leicester University, after which she spent fifteen years as a social worker and counsellor. She is the author of Miscarriage, a self-help book for women, a children’s book, Aristotle Sludge, Pleasure: the Truth about Female Sexuality and Some Girls Do: Why Women Do and Don’t Make the First Move. She has written for several women’s magazines and for the Mail on Sunday, and appeared on numerous television and radio programmes. She lives in Kingson with her husband and two daughters. This is her first novel.

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    Reviews for The Soldier's Wife

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      Set during the German Occupation of the island of Guernsey during the second world war and full of the sights, sounds, and smells of this beautiful place. Such a simply told, but remarkably evocative and sensual novel.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. The chapters were short which made it fun to read. Sometimes when the chapters are super long it is hard to get into a book. I loved the story.This book is set during WW2 in Guernsey. During the occupation and how the people on the island dealt with it. I found myself wondering how we as a society would handle something like this. Would we act the same way? Would we try to defend ourselves more? Could you actually fall in love with someone from the enemy side?The ending was one that I had expected and was pleased with it.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed this book and found it difficult to put down. The story of Vivienne and her life on Guernsey Island was full of well written characters and showed how difficult the war was for everyone, not just the Islanders, but the German soldiers as well. The book focuses more on the everyday life of Vivienne and how she was able to take care of her children and mother-in-law than on her romance with a German soldier. So often historical novels make everything look black and white, but when you are living those times the choices are never as clear cut and easy.
    • 1/5
      I think this one suffered from the fact that I had re-read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society right before I read it. It does not come anywhere near in comparison, in my opinion. I didn't really like the main character, so I eventually just gave up. If you want to read about the Guernsey occupation, read TGLAPPPS.
    • 2/5
      The writing quality was good - and that is really the best that I can say for this novel. Set in WWII in the island of Guernsey, a woman begins a relationship with a German soldier and then is put in a situation where she helps a prisoner in a work camp. The "angle" of this is that she must make this big decision or choice - but it never really materializes. In fact, her emotions throughtout the book are muted and minimal for the weight of what would have really been occuring. I guess superficial is the what I would call it. She says she feels guilty about sleeping with the German soldier repeatedly, but never really shows in her actions that she feels guilty about it. She feels protective for her children but doesn't really change her own actions in order to secure her children. I just never believed this character so I didn't really care what happened to her or the people around her. Her emotions and actions were non-realistic. But the writing is quite deft. The uninteresting story was told well and was well crafted. I just didn't care.
    • 4/5
      This book was set in my favorite time period and favorite location: Europe during WWII. More specifically, it begins on Guernsey Island right as German soldiers are beginning their occupation. It is the story of Vivienne, a mother of two daughters, who is taking care of her children, aging mother in law, and her home as her emotionally distant husband is away at war.I loved reading about the life on the island - Vivienne works hard around the home to make sure her daughters are provided for by planting vegetables in place of her beautiful flowers, getting creative in the kitchen with the rations she has, drinkings lots of tea, and eventually chopping down her fruit-filled orchard in order to have fire for heat. Vivienne's youngest daughter befriends a man who is captive in the concentration camp on the island and, although it is very dangerous, Vivienne works hard to keep him fed and as safe as possible. This book reminds us that we are all connected in the world and we mustn't be complacent about what happens to others around us. Excusing ourselves with, "I was just doing my job," or "I had no idea what was really going on" is not good enough. It is particularly relevant with the wars that the US is fighting now and with the political/economical climate the US is facing.What I didn't enjoy about this book was the love story. Vivienne has an affair with a German soldier that took over the house next door. Moving beyond the fact that she slept with a Nazi is the feeling that this storyline didn't need to be added - I think there was enough opportunity to add drama and unpredictability to the story of life on the island. We didn't really need the predictability of a doomed relationship. Another piece that bothered me throughout the book was the choppy sentence structure, but I believe the author was intending the book to read as though we were witnessing Vivienne's day to day thoughts and not reading artful, thoughtful prose. All in all, I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for an easy, quick summer read or who enjoys reading about Europe in WWII.
    • 4/5
      A journey into a portion of World War II that is rarely covered in books, this novel portrays a woman's life during the Nazi occupation of her island in the English Channel. Margaret Levoy does an excellent job at showing how difficult life was and how strong women had to be to survive. It is a heartwretching story of pain, suffering, survival, love and hope.
    • 4/5
      The story was beautifully written, but I felt the 'story' was lacking. Vivienne's husband is away at war and she decides to stay on the small island of Guernsey with her daughters. German soldiers move in next door and Vivienne embarks on an affair with one of them. It was just so unlikely this would have been kept secret for any length of time. The story just lacked substance and ended in a very predictable way.
    • 4/5
      This is a slightly interesting historical novel set on the island of Guernsey during the German occupation of WWII. It is a bit slow-paced at times, but in some ways the slow pace captures the monotony and fatigue of a people who are held hostage by war, but who are not on the battlefield.
    • 5/5
      At first I thought The Soldier's Wife was going to tell a story that would be a lot like the David Lean film Ryan's Daughter, because both are about forbidden love during a war. But Margaret Leroy's book takes a few turns along the way. It's about love of family as much as it is about romantic love and dealing with the risks that occur when the two types of love conflict. It's also about duty and compassion. The plot has tension and romance and is set in Guernsey, one of the channel islands off the coast of Normandy. The time frame is World War II, when Germany took over the island.One of the interesting aspects of this novel is the story of how Vivienne has to deal with the normal problems of raising a family while the war puts extra burdens on her. She has two daughters, Blanche, a teenager and her much younger sister, Millie. She is also living with her mother-in-law, who is suffering from dementia. The case is mild at first but grows worse as the story continues. Vivienne's husband is away fighting against Germany. She doesn't have his help, but it doesn't sound as if he was much help before he went off to war. Blanche is starting to like boys when many of them are the young German soldiers occupying the island, so that presents a complication. Meanwhile, Millie has the naivete of a child, but is forced to grow up quickly. Both daughters love their mother, but can rebel at inopportune times.Margaret Leroy makes Guernsey sound like a beautiful place, one I would like to visit sometime – when there's no war there. Vivienne keeps a garden, picks berries in a nearby field, and travels everywhere by bicycle. The descriptions reminded me of Bermuda. There are a few situations that seem unbelievable at times, but overall the story rings true and Vivienne is someone I can care about. I think this is a great read for people who like World War II novels with interesting settings.Steve Lindahl – author of Motherless Soul and White Horse Regressions
    • 5/5
      Vivienne de la Mare is from London, but now lives on Guernsey, after marrying an islander. Eugene is away fighting in the war and so Vivienne is alone with her two daughters, and her mother-in-law. When Guernsey is occupied by the Germans in 1940, she finds herself living next door to them and having to make a decision about whether to make them her enemy, or to try to live alongside them. She becomes particularly close to one of the officers, Captain Lehmann, and the story of forbidden love between them is absolutely beautiful.The story is told in the present tense by Vivienne. This doesn't always work well, but in this book it is exactly right as it gives the opportunity for the reader to really feel the love, the tension, the anxiety, and all the other feelings that she has.Margaret Leroy's writing is so elegant. I found myself not wanting to rush this book at all. Even near the end, when normally I find myself speeding up, I was reading slowly to savour every word. And when I did get to the end I found it so sad and moving that I cried.This book is definitely a candidate for my book of the year, and I'm looking forward to reading more of this author's work.
    • 4/5
      I'm not quite sure how to describe this book. It's...feminine, without being chick-lit; WWII fiction, but imbued with light and even some romance. And yet, this book is filled with conflict. I'm not sure, even, how I feel about some of the characters and their choices.

      Regardless, it's beautifully written, and strongly evocative. I'd love to move into Vivienne's home. I feel I can see it and her village and island quite clearly. Sounds lovely!
    • 5/5
      This is a beautifully written story set during World War II in Guernsey, Vivienne de la Mare husband is a soldier faraway. She is raising young daughters and caring for her mother in law. German soldiers who take up residence next door to her home. Though Vivienne knows the danger of her love affair with a German soldier she believes that she can hide their relationship and still be loyal to her own.  As she becomes aware of the cruelty of the invasion, she must decide if she is willing to put everyone in danger
    • 4/5
      **Review of Advanced Reading Edition**Husband off to war, caring for two girls and an addled mother-in-law, our heroine, Vivienne must quickly decide if she must evacuate to the mainland from Guernsey and the Channel Islands. Each choice is fraught with potential problems. It’s early in World War II and England herself is being bombed. London, where Vivienne has connections, is perilous. An impending invasion by the Nazis carries unknown risks, but rumors are rife. Surely the War won’t last long? At the last, she packs up her daughters and trundles granny to a neighbor. Waiting to board the last boat out, she belatedly opts for perceived safety once she sees the tiny boat and the numbers of refugees queuing to board her. And this only takes us through the first 25 pages! Vivenne must live with this decision, despite bombings, deprivation and the stationing of Nazi officers at the house next door. Where does compromise to survive bleed into complicity with the enemy? How does one raise teenagers in wartime? How far does one go to protect a stranger? I truly enjoyed this book. The description of the bombing of the harbor was particularly harrowing. Leroy’s portrayal of the daughters, one in grade school, the other a teenager were spot on. So believable. Also ringing true was the relationship with the mother-in-law whose mind is starting to wander. These are true, fleshed out characterizations. The story is fast paced – the pages just kept on turning. I wish the love story with Gunther was equally compelling. Yes, it is forbidden, yes, it was fraught with danger, but no, it didn’t work for me. Because the other story lines were so involving, I kept with it to the end, although I would have been quite happy without the epilogue.
    • 4/5
      I absolutely loved this read. Margaret took me to Guernsey. LOVED LOVED LOVED THIS!
    • 4/5
      When I first heard about the release of Margaret Leroy's The Soldier's Wife, I had a suspician that it might be a mediocre WWll story, trying to capitalize on the recent popularity of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Happily, I couldn't have been more wrong. The Soldier's Wife is thoughtful and well written, clearly portaying life in Nazi occupied Guernsey. The characters, including both the islanders and the Germans, are believable and well defined, and Ms. Leroy makes the setting come alive. The story is much more than just a love story between Vivienne de la Mare and the German officer in the house nextdoor. Vivienne's relationships with her neighbors, daughters, ailing mother-in-law, and prisoners of war are lyrically described and add to the complexity of the story. Juxtaposed to Vivienne's wartime existance are the fairytales she reads aloud to her young daughter. I enjoyed this book very much.
    • 4/5
      For 90% of this book, I really loved it. I was engrossed in the story, the love affair, the angst and I was full of questions regarding the future but the last few chapters were just...deflating. The story is simple - a woman is raising her family in occupied Guernsey and begins a relationship with a German soldier who moves in next door. Her daily life is often at odds with her life after dark when she and her lover lay in her room and leave the war and everything else at the door.

      As someone not overly aware of what life was like during the island occupations, the book was interesting in that regard and as life became tougher and the information gleaned from gossip became more and more dark, it was easy to see how hard it could have been. Throw in seeing first hand the plight of some of the POW's and the brutality by some of the soldiers and it could have been just another 'bad German' book. This didn't happen though and the book is saved from the pure stereotyping by showing the humanity of some of the occupiers - be it a couple of the soldiers next door (Max, a former doctor who calls Vivienne's daughter over to see a butterfly) or Gunther, Vivienne's lover who worries over his son who was recruited into the army - at one stage we even see a party held by young German soldiers. I think this balance is often lacking in books - the lack of acknowledgement that not all Germans were bad, and to be honest I find books that can admit that to be a much more gratifying read. In a book like this in particular, where we are being asked to buy into a love story, it was absolutely necessary.

      The first person narrative means we never really get to know anyone other than Vivienne in the book. I found her a decent narrator, a little naive at times, a little abrupt at others but because we lived all these experiences with her it was easy to see why she reacted in certain ways, for better or for worse and the narrative was well written. I often find first person narratives lazy, but this suited the story and the experiences well. We felt what she felt and wondered about the same things and you couldn't help but wonder, 'how would I have reacted in her place?'

      It was easy to invest in her, and her life, and her lover - she had come from an unhappy marriage and had found an all-consuming love, but as the later chapters showed, in a lot of ways, it wasn't real enough. Realistically, even when the war ended she and Gunther were never going to have a happily ever after, yet reading it you tried to ignore the sense of impending doom and hope for the best. Naturally, the best doesn't happen and she ends the relationship after a POW who she was helping is shot and she blames him for turning her in. Even with the same information she has, it was clear to me that she was jumping to the wrong conclusions and that was one of the things that bothered me about the ending of the book - their relationship ending would have been tragic enough, but for it to coincide with Gunther's son dying and him being shipped off to Russia and THEN dying while Vivienne becomes pregnant just felt like melodrama that cheapened things. It irritated me that even after Vivienne learned that Gunther hadn't betrayed her and that the reason he was upset that last nigh wasn't because he'd betrayed her, but was instead because his son had died that she still didn't go and comfort him even knowing he was going to the Eastern Front - this was a woman who hadn't conformed to what she 'should' have done throughout the book, so it was hard to accept that there was that indifference in her. The man she had professed to love, who had helped her family, who had allowed her to stay in her home had just been horribly bereaved and she didn't ever speak to him after the break-up and wrongly accusing him (at least internally) of such an ooc betrayal? As I said...deflating.

      There were a lot of good things in the book - it was a quick read, the secondary characters were interesting, it was layered with interesting subplots with the children, the POW's and her mother in law, but I wish the ending had been different. The epilogue tied up loose ends (a little too neatly) but I will admit to almost shedding a tear as she got the bookmark back. In a way though, it still only served to make me more irritated with her behaviour at the end of the book - it was all a little too late and I wanted to nip back in time and hug Gunther that night, since she didn't do it!

      My criticism probably sounds a bit harsh for a book that I have given 4 stars to, but I genuinely did love most of the book. The silly flaws such as Vivienne's preferential treatment (not being deported) not being met with bad treatment from the other islanders, the lack of resolution regarding how everyone reacted to her pregnancy didn't really bother me that much. As I said, for 90% of this I would have given the story 5 stars but I needed more from the resolution than I got. I didn't need a HEA, I just didn't need the soapy melodrama.
    • 4/5
      I received this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. The book tells the story of Vivienne, a mother of two girls living on Guernsey island off the cost of France during World War II. The island was occupied by Germans early in the war, and several soldiers moved into the house next door. Vivienne begins a secret relationship with one of the soldiers, and struggles with coming to terms that she could fall in love with a man who's on the wrong side. I found this to be an excellent read, and I love how none of the characters in the book are perfect. They're all flawed in some way, and I find that's what makes the story interesting. A great book!
    • 2/5
      This book is a story of the German occupation of the Island of Guernsey and the relationship of one of the islanders with a German officer. There isn't much more than that to be said about the premise of this book, IMO.Vivienne de la Mare is a middle aged wife/mother who is left on Guernsey with her two daughters and her aging mother-in-law at the start of WWII. Indecisive as to whether to leave for the British main island or stay, her decisions throughout are not too well throughout or are too compulsive. Vivienne's very passive personality and voice in the book doesn't lead to much activity to hold the reader. The love affair that develops between Vivienne and Gunther (a German officer) seems to be more an accident than passion.I really had a hard time with this book. I like stories that have a bit more action and here Vivienne was constantly trying to re-think or analyze her feelings and I couldn't hang with her. 150 pages in and still nothing had happened - it's nice to have character development but there has to be action to go along with it. Others have raved about this book so I guess it just shows not every book is right for everyone.
    • 4/5
      Nazi occupation on Guernsey during WWII. Doesn't really conjure up images of a lovely romance for me but I think this is considered Historical Romance. The only thing I found romantic about it was the language and the setting but I did enjoy it. While reading it the star rating swung from 4 to 2 to 4 and finally settled on 3 but then just at the last page jumped it back to 4 again, at the last second. I didn't like the ending particularly but I didn't see it coming so it got an extra star for the shock factor.

      Vivienne, a soldier's wife, is living on Guernsey with her 2 daughters and her mother-in-law while her husband is away fighting for his country. When the German army come to occupy the island she learns to come to terms with restricted living. When a few Nazi soldiers commandeer her empty neighbour's house she's drawn to one of them in particular (Gunther), and so begins the 'romance'. Vivienne's marriage is an unhappy one and I get the impression that her marriage was over a long time before her husband left to fight but to be honest I still have no clue what she ever saw in Gunther. He didn't strike me as romance material but I think Viv was just miserably unhappy and lonely and whichever of the Nazi's had shown an interest in her would have had just as much chance to get with her.

      I didn't feel that the romance was actually the focal point of the story for me. It was always there in the background but I was more interested in the Historical aspects. The Resistance from the Islanders, the Prisoners of War, the shortages and rationing...in general the results of the Occupation on the island. There were some really touching moments and some harrowing moments, as you'd expect from a war-time drama and all the characters were really well written and I really cared what happened to them.

      I was frustrated with the ending though. I was all set to give it 3 stars overall and file it under 'a good read' but then I got to the end and I lost my footing. I'm still not sure how to deal with it. Not sure if I liked the ending, neither am I sure I disliked it. It took me by surprise and when I read it I wanted to know more and was annoyed that I'd never find out...then back pedalled and thought the shock ending was the right way to deal with it. Argh! I don't know. I'll just say it was a surprising end to a good book. Not sure if it was good or bad ending but it was surprising.

      It's a nice gentle read, despite the war theme and the occupation and I'd maybe read more by this author.

    • 5/5
      As WW11 draws closer to Guernsey, Vivienne de la Mare knows their will be sacrifices to be made. Not just for herself, but for her two young daughters and for her mother-in-law. What she does not expect is that she will fall in love with one of the German officers who move in next door.
    • 4/5
      The main thing that I really enjoyed about this book was although it went at an enormously slow pace it was the detailed writing that made it really good. The story itself was also really good, despite the theme being bleak and only gets much more bleaker towards the ending. The writing throughout the book was very well done I especially liked the descriptions of the island, despite the war theme, the island was separated from all that and really seemed like a beautiful place to be.The beginning of the book goes pretty slow. Well, the pace is actually pretty slow throughout, however it’s fitting because it’s like living on this island, time seems to go slow since it’s not really directly involved in the war (not so much as other countries that is). It picks up a little through the second half although not considerably. The characters in the book seem to be very well done. Vivienne and Gunther together just seemed to fit well. I’d rather hoped the outcome would have been different for the both of them but their endings were very well done and realistic in accordance to the time period of the story. Despite the slow pace of the book, it’s still worth a read. The bleak theme and the idyllic setting is an interesting contrast but provides a good balance between the two. It’s a well written dramatic plot that will stick with you even after you finish the book.
    • 4/5
      "The Soldier's Wife" by Margaret Leroy is a thoughtful, well-told tale based on the true German occupation of the small Channel Island of Guernsey during World War II. After I read the novel, I researched the facts of the occupation, and the real story is just as compelling as the fictional account. Reading them both enhances the collective story content. Vivienne de la Mare is the wife of an English soldier, and she and her two daughters live with her mother-in-law at the family home in Guernsey. Vivienne's husband was absent from her life long before he went off to war. His affair with an actress alienated him from Vivienne's heart. Left to care for her mother-in-law, who is rapidly succumbing to dementia, Vivienne makes life as pleasant as possible for her two young daughters. When the German occupation arrives in an intense and violent manner, many rapid changes occur in the life of the islanders. German soldiers take over the empty house next to Vivienne's, and she becomes involved with one the officers. Theirs is a poignant, passionate, and ultimately improbable affair. During the time of the occupation, Vivienne is faced with many difficult decisions, some of which may have dangerous consequences for those she loves. "The Soldier's Wife" is written in a beautifully descriptive style, and it offers glimpses into both sides of the horror of the second world war. The shades of survivorship are well represented. Review copy provided by Hyperion VOICE
    • 5/5
      Vivienne de la Mare is not your usual protagonist because she is not a hero with preconceived opinions but as a real person that struggles with all the same shadowy doubts that we encounter. Vivienne de la Mare’s dilemmas start in her spontaneous announcement that she and her daughters are leaving the Island, because the Germans are coming, to her looking at that little ship and turning around in an about face. The story is about the occupation of Island of Guernsey by the Germans in WWII. It is another side of the people in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.This book is about parallel paths you take or would you follow Vivienne de la Mare’s path.It starts by wondering if she should take her daughter go to England or stay. As she stays and has to confront her loveless marriage to her solider husband, the atrocious acts by a special branch of the Nazi army, starving people , life or death, and even in trusting her daughters with information. This will be a wonderful book for Book Clubs as there is a wealth of discussion material as different views of black, white, and gray emerges. The end has a little surprise as the loose ends are tied up.
    • 4/5
      It took me a day or two to get into this book--probably because it was so different than the book I had just finished. But once I was into it, I couldn't put it down. The tension created by the choices that Vivienne makes throughout the book just kept growing, and by the last few chapters I was so worried about all of the characters.Having said that, though, I admit that I never fully understood the attraction between the Gunther and Vivienne. It seemed to happen so quickly that I didn't fully buy into it. What was most appealing in the book were the descriptions of daily life--of the cooking, gathering food, daily routines--that made up life during the occupation. I could see it all vividly.Overall, I do recommend this book. As another reviewer here said, it's a good, old-fashioned read, with a complicated protagonist and vivid prose.
    • 3/5
      While her husband is away in the army, Vivienne de la Mare, living in a farmhouse on World War II-occupied Guernsey in the Channel Island with her two daughters and mother-in-law, falls in love with a German officer and must make a difficult decision that could tear her family apart. From BPL websiteMs Leroy writes with period charm: the reader could easily mistake this for a book written shortly after World War II. Her characters seem real—except for Eugene, the husband away at war—and we feel their impotence and confusion under occupying German forces (Guernsey is roughly 30 square miles!). Ms Leroy said it was important for the characters to be unsure about the outcome of the war. Should they accommodate the German troops in, as it seemed then—the likely event that Hitler would win? Too many WWII novels forget that the Allies’ victory was definitely not a forgone conclusion. The Soldier’s Wife challenges our ideas of “enemy” and “stranger”.
    • 4/5
      The Soldier's Wife takes place during WWII on the tiny island of Guernsey. Vivienne lives on the island with her two daughters and mother-in-law during the German occupation while her husband is off fighting in the war. I found myself empathizing with Vivienne as she struggles to take care of her family. This book was a satisfying read.
    • 4/5
      The Soldier's Wife begins on the day that Guernsey islanders have their last chance to evacuate to England before the Germans invade. As Vivienne De la Mare waits in line with her elderly mother-in-law and her two young daughters, she begins to rethink her decision to leave. The boat is small and seems to be so overcrowded that they might capsize . . . or what if the Germans torpedo them in the middle of the Channel? On impulse, Vivienne decides it will be safer to stay and take her chances with the German occupiers. When the bombing starts, she wonders if she has made the right choice. And then a group of German officers move into the house next door.Overall, Leroy does a fine job of depicting life on the occupied island. Her description of the initial bombing is truly horrendous. Afterwards, everyone struggles as supplies from the mainland are cut off. Vivienne tries to make do with turnip jam and bread made from beans, and she worries that her teenage daughter, Blanche, disgruntled because her dreams of London life were shattered, has no young men to associate with--except the Germans. But it is Vivienne herself, not Blanche, who falls into the arms of the enemy.The romance is probably my least favorite part of the novel, even though it is central to it. As Vivienne becomes increasingly attracted to the colonel, we learn that her husband has long been unfaithful and that perhaps they were never really in love, giving her an easy excuse for an affair. And it is just too convenient that Gunther's wife had such a difficult time birthing their only son that they can no longer have sexual relations. What I found truly unbelievable is that they carried on their affair for years, meeting almost nightly in Vivienne's bedroom, and no one else living in the house suspected a thing. Only once is she threatened with exposure for fraternizing with the enemy: when the son of a friend tells her that she was seen riding in a truck with a German on a rainy day. Vivienne easily explains that away because she had a small child at home, it was raining heavily, her bicycle had a flat, . . . and she agrees that it was a mistake that she will never make again.When she isn't in bed with Gunther or making coffee from some unlikely plant, Vivienne worries about the safety of her family. Evelyn, her mother-in-law, seems to be losing touch with reality, Blanche is missing out on what should be the best years of her life, and Millie is too young to realize the dangers all around her.Eventually, Vivienne does wake up to the fact that there are worse things happening on the island than are happening in her kitchen, something the younger residents of the island have long known and have even tried to surmount. There comes a point for everyone, apparently, when ignoring reality no longer works.Leroy tacks on a post-war epilogue that was all too predictable and might better have been left out. But aside from that and the overly-hasty and convenient romance, I enjoyed the book and the realistic depiction of daily life on an occupied island.
    • 5/5
      I was very excited to receive a copy of this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewer’s program. The reason this book caught my attention was because the setting of the book takes place during the German occupation of island of Guernsey. I have been very interested in this island recently largely due to the book The Guernsey Potato Peel and Literary Society, which was the first book I have read about this particular area of the Chanel Islands and some of the things these people went through during occupation. I found the stories in Potato Peel and Literary Society to be intense and I was looking forward to reading more about this island and the brave men and women who lived there. This story is told through the perspective of Vivienne de la Mare whose husband is off fighting in the war while she is left behind to take care of her two young daughters and her ailing mother-in-law. Vivienne has to make a lot of sacrifices in order for her family to survive and when a group of German soldiers move into the house next to hers she feels a certain amount of anger in this intrusion of her privacy. Slowly a relationship between one of the soldiers leads into a passionate love affair and Vivienne finds herself trying to keep this affair secret so that her family can be kept safe. Vivienne is put into a desperate situation when her youngest daughter befriends a prisoner from one of the work camps on the island and Vivienne must decide if she is going to sacrifice her intense relationship to help save and protect this prisoner. I really enjoyed this book even more than I expected. I admit the love story can be a bit predictable but I thought that the author handled it well because her writing was so honest, touching and poetic. I don’t think I would have enjoyed this book half as much if it had been written in a different way. All of her characters are honest, intense and gritty. She makes them real and I can almost imagine what Gunther looks like she paints such an accurate portrait of him. Another thing I really enjoyed about this book is all of the supplemental information about Guernsey from the island fairy tales to the wonderful descriptions of the landscape, I really felt like I was there with the characters, everything felt so real. I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed reading this book it is truly a story about family survival, making the best of a bad situation and how much love can conquer all, I would gladly recommend this to anyone interested in the time period.
    • 4/5
      Vivienne de la Mare is the mother of two daughters; daughter-in-law to an elderly woman in the throes of Alzheimer’s; and wife to a soldier from whom she is emotionally separated. With her husband off fighting the war, Vivienne is responsible for feeding and caring for her small family as well as protecting them.Guernsey is a small island in the English Channel where the islanders had once felt removed from the war. All of that changed on the day the Germans moved in. Vivienne witnesses the horrors of war when the harbor town of the island is bombed and her best friend’s husband dies in front of her eyes. Her thoughts fly to her small family – her daughters and mother-in-law – and prays that they are alright on the family farm. She is relieved when she returns home and finds them alive and well.But the Occupation has begun and the German soldiers move in, requisitioning homes, vehicles, and other items for their own use. A handful of German soldiers moves in next door to Vivienne’s farm. As the Germans go about their business Vivienne is drawn to watching them. One especially piques her interest. In time she accepts the man, Gunther, as her lover. They are circumspect in their meetings so that neither Vivienne’s daughters or mother-in-law are aware of their affair.As things on the island go from bad to worse, Vivienne comes face-to-face with her emotions. She realizes that she has fallen in love with Gunther and he in turn saves her from being sent away from the island since she was not a native-born islander.Secretly, Vivienne helps an escaped prisoner who her youngest daughter has befriended. Her guilt at keeping this from Gunther takes on a life of its own when she hides the man, Kirill, in her attic and Gunther hears his coughing late at night. Vivienne passes it off as her mother-in-law being sick but worries that Gunther will report her nonetheless. When he goes off for a two week leave, the authorities raid her home. To take suspicion off of her, Kirill, openly walks through the orchard knowing full well that he will die. He is shot in full sight of Vivienne, Evelyn (the mother-in-law), and Millie (the six year old daughter). Thankfully none of the women are arrested.When Gunther returns Vivienne breaks off their romance, hating herself but feeling that Gunther had betrayed her before he went on leave. When he is reassigned to the Russian front, she belatedly realizes that she wants him back but misses him before his departure.This story was well-told and described. I felt that I was there during the different seasons on Guernsey and could feel the chill of the salt air in winter as well as the warm sun of summer. I would have liked a bit more of dialogue between Vivienne and Gunther but they didn’t seem like folks who talked a lot, even in private. There are so many conflicting emotions running through Vivienne at any given time as I’m sure there were with most people during the war.But the thread that weaves this story together is the question of what a person would do to keep their family safe, keep food on the table, and keep clothes on their backs. It is a question that we would do well to keep in mind in precarious economic times.A Soldier’s Wife gives us this different perspective of life during World War II. The islanders are at a distance from the fighting for one thing. Through the handful of Vivienne’s German neighbors, we see the occupying army not so much as a military body but as real men who had other lives and occupations; indeed, some of them dislike the war as much as the islanders. This book caused me to delve into my own emotions. What would each of us do to protect someone we love?