Guernsey Fiction
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by G B Edwards
This wonderful book is to be reprinted in June 2007 by the New York Review of Books - pre-order your copy today !
Fictional autobiography of Guernseyman, Ebenezer le Page, tracing his life from the late 19th century through to the 1960s. Foreword by John Fowles.
See our new page dedicated to The Book of Ebenezer Le Page.
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page (New York Review Books Classics)
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page (New York Review Book Classics)
Not The Enemy by Damian Cavanagh
German occupied Guernsey, May 1944, just one week before D-Day. One local girl, Rose Le Page, has fallen in love. But her love is forbidden, as she has fallen in love with one of the enemy. Glorious Guernsey, fifty five years later, a young Englishman arrives to train as a helicopter pilot. For William Sweetman it will be the fulfilment of a lifetime ambition. However, for Stella Vogel, a wealthy German businesswoman, her visit to Guernsey is something of a mercy mission, to accompany her ageing father as he pays his respects to his comrades who perished during the German occupation of the island in World War Two. A chance encounter brings William and Stella together into a passionate and thrilling love affair. But their discovery of a disturbing secret from the island's wartime past puts their whole relationship in jeopardy. As preconceptions are shattered they both need to know the truth about what really happened to their families fifty five years ago. Moving between the present and the wartime past, the book explores the dark secrets that families keep and the effects they have when they are revealed generations later.
Izette - The Last Days of Childhood by Viv Packer
Imagine that the Second World War had turned out differently. Imagine there being a swastika hanging from every public building and seeing German soldiers on every street corner. Imagine having to witness the forced deportation of people you care about. To some, this is an nightmare scenario but, for the people of the Channel Islands, such as teenager Izette, it is a stark reality. For Izette's family and friends there is food rationing, fear, illness and murder but there is also defiance, bravery and passion. And there is, too, the tricky problem of having to tread that very thin line between co-operation and collaboration.
The Reincarnation of Isaac Brock by AB Robinson
How did Great Britain bungle away her colonies in North America? How did she manage to save Canada from the Americans? And how has Canada managed to survive in the face of American imperialism, and a divisive French-speaking minority? These questions are the main subject matter of the novel, with a modern love story thrown in for good measure. In 1993, widower Fred Bonney, 55 years old, a dreamer and social misfit, is downsized from the Canadian Public Service. To save himself from alcoholism, he decides to write a book about his North American ancestors. The title is inspired by Guernseyman, Major General Sir Isaac Brock, who led the defence of Upper Canada during the war of 1812.
New novel (published Nov 2004) set during the WW2 German Occupation of the Channel Islands.
A Wrinkle in the Skin
by J Christopher
"After cataclysmic earthquakes have destroyed most of Guernsey and drained the English Channel, this novel follows the story of a vinery worker's attempt to reach his daughter in England, by walking!"
Duncan Smith, Trans. Soc. Guern, 1987.
Equipped with love, Mr Pye lands on the island of Sark; his mission is to convert the inhabitants into a crusading force for the undiluted goodness that he feels within. Mr Pye is, however, prone to excess and this is very nearly his downfall.
Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo
A new paperback edition of the novel written by Victor Hugo during his exile in Guernsey & dedicated to the people of Guernsey. It tells the story of Gilliatt, a Guernsey fisherman who falls in love with the daughter of a local shipowner.
"It is only now being recognised as an important moment in the history of the novel".
"Victor Hugo" Graham Robb (see Hugo books)
Two Men and a Woman by James Marr
"Romance and rampage. Read about: An armed underground resistance movement against enemy occupation - the storming of Castle Cornet to eject the French - a Guernsey woman's appeal to the King in person to uphold the innocence of honourable men - a brave girl's constancy in love in the face of adversity - La Clameur de Haro curtailing worship in the House of God - Guernsey privateers exploits under Elizabeth I - larceny, lust and lechery on the part of wreckers and smugglers ... and all involving genuine historical characters in the islands' past"
from Review of Guernsey Society, Summer 2003
Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge
Bestselling romantic novel written in 1944, set in the 19th century. The story of a young woman, Marianne Patourel, who emigrates from Guernsey to New Zealand to marry Royal Navy deserter, William Ozanne. Made into a film in 1947 starring Lana Turner & Richard Hart.
Novel set in German-occupied Channel Islands during WW2.
Order it from amazon.com
(US title "Lying with the Enemy")
Witchery Hill by Welwyn Wilton Katz
Children's thriller about an young boy who gets caught up in witchcraft in the island of Guernsey.
"...A skilful and highly exciting rites-of-passage novel." -- Toronto Globe and Mail, 1987