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flipgirl12 t1_jdzbjwr wrote

I knew nothing about the Channel Islands before reading this.

I do not remember most of the details of the story, but one thing that stood out was about how Eben (I think, Eben?) said that the war made him miss his nephew's childhood. That part seemed so sad to me. It is one of those casualties of war that people don't think much about.

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Also, I read the Wiki page about the author after reading the book, and the author actually died before the book was published (and possibly it was her only book?). That gave the book even kind of a different feel, as if it was really important to the author, more so than just an ordinary book in a series of books written by someone.

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carrotwhirl OP t1_je03ap5 wrote

Yes, I agree.. a five year occupation — children sent away at eight years of age would have been in their teens when they returned, perhaps to find that their family had perished in the occupation.

I also think about how it goes on about the Germans' point of view — they came treating it like a holiday. Eventually they starved with the rest of the villagers but not quite so badly; I remember the mention of the German soldier who smashed a cat's head against a wall, skinned it and cooked and ate it on the spot.

Also Remy's storyline was really interesting and painful. It had been the first time I heard of Ravensbruck.

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vivahermione t1_je1zp4e wrote

Ravensbruck rings a bell. I think Auguste van Pels (from Anne Frank's diary) went there. Sadly, she didn't survive.

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