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.returnreturnI 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.returnreturnWhat 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. returnreturnAll 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.