Occupied Guernsey during World War II

The Book of Lost Children by Jenny O'Brien      

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The islands of Guernsey were occupied by the Nazis during World War II. The population suffered and were under the yoke of an unforgiving invader.

Evelyn Nightingale lost the love of her life, Joseph in the early days of the war. Through a series of happenings she’s now nursing (not registered) at the Emergency Hospital in Câtel.

It’s here she meets the pregnant collaborator Marise and her friend Camille. Marise is having a child to an SS officer. An angry man who wants his unborn child to be sent back to Germany to become a child of the Reich.

Why these things happen are never straightforward. Unerlieutenant Jannick Klein is a dreadful man. He has the habit of beating his women when they didn’t please him.

Evelyn is determined to help thwart him.

Fast forward to Dublin of 2018 and we have Kitty White, an antiques and second hand dealer, buying a violin from a woman off the streets. It helps the story come full circle. Evelyn Nightingale had been an accomplished violinist.

It’s when Kitty looks at the violin case that she discovers a history of her own that she’d known nothing about.

The execution of the plot is seamless, the tale unique. Violence against women plays its part with the particular SS Officer involved so could be a trigger.

This is a heart stopping read.

A Storm Pub. ARC via NetGalley.                                              

Many thanks to the author and publisher.