If you loved the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, you'll enjoy this one. I am a hig fan of historical fiction especially when set in WWII era. The author really helped bring these characters to life.

An enjoyable and interesting book on a short but worrisome period of life and testing decisions made by parents of three children immediately before the German occupation of Guernsey during World War 2, as well as following the orders given to a compassionate German pilot at the same time. I enjoyed the author’s descriptive narrative, forming a picture of life in Guernsey at that time, and found it easy to switch between the chapters about Laurence’s family and the pilot, Bernard. Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for providing a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a lovely read. Guernsey in 1940 from the perspective of both local inhabitants and a German bomber pilot. Families parted, uncertainty but life goes on. A thoroughly captivating story based on true events.

I was born and brought up on Guernsey, so the events of the Second World War have been told to me since I was a child. My father was one of the Elizabeth College school boys who were evacuated to Great Hucklow in the Peak District, so this is a story very close to my heart.
Brassell's book is undoubtedly factually accurate, but I found it lacking in warmth and soul, possibly due to his overly technical writing style when discussing the machines of war, combined with a relatively dry and matter-of-fact way of writing when describing the day-to-day activities of the main characters. Maybe my Dad just did such a good job of bringing that dark period in his childhood to life for me, that anything else is going to pale into insignificance.
While it has a fascinating story at its heart, personally I found the style of writing too unengaging. I've seen other reviews saying it should be a companion piece to the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. That could work as GLPPS is such a misleading piece of garbage about life in the Islands, that this could actually add some realism to the mix. Maybe if you combined the two you'd get a decent book out of it. As it is, you're currently faced with two pretty poor choices.

I feel bad not being able to give this a higher rating but this story came off flat for me and I normally enjoy reading fiction about real lives during World War 2. The characters never came alive to me. What should have been a tense, harrowing story about a fearful and dangerous time in the island's history just was not and was too emotionless.
Plus this book is dearly in need of editing.
Thanks to NetGalley for a digital ARC.

This was a captivating story about a family living on the island of Guernsey during WWII after the Germans had taken France. The characters and their everyday lives are so well written that you can feel the fear simmering under the surface of everything they do. They make the best of a frightening situation and continue to live their lives. The story alternates between viewpoints of the the husband and wife, their oldest daughter and a German fighter pilot. I found it to be fascinating and horrifying at the same time. I strongly recommend this book.

Ten Days One Guernsey Summer by Tony Brassel is a heart warming book about the love of family. This book is based upon the memoirs of Tony Brassel's grandparents. The book tells of his family’s story on the 10 days prior to Germany's invasion during WWII of the island of Guernsey, which is one of the Channel Islands. The story follows Laurence, Lily and their children alternating between the story of a German bomber pilot. One of the interesting parts was that Laurence and Lily had to decide whether to send their oldest daughter to safe location in Scotland. Most of the book takes place during only ten days. It was interesting and heartwarming. The story is a homage to the author’s grandparents and parents. The story also alludes to the fact that all Nazi soldiers were horrible because the one in this story has a conscience.

The only disappointing part for me was the end of the book. I was left with questions. I think the author could have told us more about the family’s life away from Guernsey. It never explained why they didn’t take Lily’s Ma. Otherwise I enjoyed the information about Guernsey and some of the Channel Islands.

This is a really well written story based on one families life just before the German occupation of Guernsey. It also tells briefly of life before and tells us their fate at the end of the war. This is beautifully written and gripped me from the start. I learnt more about a part of history I know very little about. I will remember this book for a long time.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I felt it was a privilege to read this story of a wonderful family during WWII. It is incredible to think of the struggles these families had, the difficult decisions that had to be made. To read how the people of Guernsey had to keep it together, was emotional. I actually felt as if I was living there with them as I picked up the book and read it from cover-to-cover in the space of one afternoon.

The author wrote three interwoven stories. One story line involves a Nazi pilot, Bernard, as he follows orders on bombing runs to France, England, and eventually the Channel Islands. Another involves two anguished parents living in Guernsey making the difficult decision to send their school-aged daughter to safety in England, and the third follows that daughter, Rachel, as she adapts to life as one of the refugee children. The book only covered the 10 days in Guernsey before the Nazi occupation.

My thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a disappointment. With so much to work with in terms of history, time and place - this book could have been so engaging and interesting. Set during World War II after the fall of France to Germany - the Channel Islands were occupied by the Germans from June 1940 to May 1945. The novel is set over 10 days in the run up to the German invasion. But the language was so basic, and the characters barely one dimensional that I ponder how the book could have been published. The one star is for the attempt to set the story in a time period in world history that the people of Guernsey will never forget. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book. It’s unfortunate that I cannot offer a more positive review of the book.

This book was a very quick and interesting read based on the memoirs of the author’s grandparents. The story is told from two perspectives, the family living on Guernsey trying to decide whether to evacuate the island during WWII, and also from that of a young German pilot who is trying to do the right thing. I like the personal touch of the author.

This book is based upon the memoirs of Tony Brassell's grandparents. It covers their family's story on the 10 days prior to Germany's invasion of their island of Guernsey. The story varies between his grandparents and their kids, a German bomber pilot with a conscience, and the story of their oldest daughter, sent with her school to a safe location in Scotland.

This is a book written with love, about a loving family and their gentle lives during that time, and the difficult decisions they had to make in a time of war. It wasn't fast moving, but I read it in one day because it was so compelling. It was so interesting I went to the internet to find out more about Guernsey and The Channel Islands. I felt I had been there by the time the book ended. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in WWII, or the history of Guernsey.

Princess Fuzzypants here: This is a novel based on the true story of the author’s grandparents. There is literary license taken but for the most part, it tells the facts faced by so many people in the UK in 1940. Mainland Europe had been conquered by the Nazis and the British stood alone. Families were wrenched apart as bombs fell and parents tried to figure out what was safest and best for their family. Stay or go was the decision and to go often meant the uncertainty of ever being reunited. It is impossible to imagine the agony of those decisions.
On the Channel Islands, they were cut off from the rest of the country, undefended, and right in the path of any Nazi blitz. While they were unscathed, the window of opportunity for escape was closing. Laurence and Lily sent their oldest child off with her school. Rachel ended up in Scotland in a Mansion but not all evacuees had such good luck. There are countless stories of how the urban children were received by the rural folk and the two cultures clashed almost as badly as the countries at war.
The book is done well with points of view of the Guernsey residents and a Luftwaffe pilot. He is a decent chap who much regrets bombing innocents so he too is a sympathetic character. Much of the first part of the book is slow paced but it builds as the danger to both the island and to the pilots increase.
It is a fascinating read if you are, like me, a fan of historical fiction and a student of WWII. It will be impossible not to care about the outcome of these ten days on all involved. There was never any doubt that the Germans would occupy the island until the end of the war but the suspense was real on the human level.
I give it four purrs and two paws up.

I am in tears . I have read a lot of historical fiction books but this is one of rare books that has a happy ending . I'd love to visit Guernsey one day . These types of books are the reason i love historical fiction .

Laurence and Lily lives on Guernsey island in English channel with their three kids Rachel , Michael and Laura . Lily's mother also lives on the island . Bad time comes when the island is threatened by Nazi invasion . Almost of of the population flew to England before the Nazi invaded the island . The family go through bad times and flew the island . The story is based on historical facts and the names are changed for their privacy . 5 stars from me for this lovely book ❤

I just finished Ten Days One Guernsey Summer by
Tony Brassell and would like to thank Net Galley for the advanced copy. I like any books dealing with WWII and this book was good. It was a great story and kept me interested. I did find that there was a lot of constantly reading the same things throughout the book which dragged out the story. Other than that I did like the book for its story about the Guernsey people and a German pilot who was troubled about bombing Guernsey. Again thanks for the advanced copy.

Having previously holidayed on Jersey and visited the Underground War Hospital, I was very much looking forward to reading Ten Days One Guernsey Summer to get more information and idea of what times were like during this turbulent time. It is a good read capturing the feelings and sentiment on the Island at that time, I felt the writing was very simplistic and did take away somewhat from my enjoyment of the story, however, I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the Channel Islands at this point in their history.

The writing style of this book is more ĺike history than fiction. That being said, it is quite interesting, especially having the viewpoint of a German flyer in addition to the Guernsey residents. Worth reading if you are interested in the Channel Islands and/or WW2.

Again a story set amidst the Great War and one in an idyllic setting. Actually all the stories I've read have been idyllic settings.

This one amongst the peaceful Guernsey group of islands. A family living a quiet life, most of the inhabitants never having left the islands and then we have forced evacuation. First their eldest girl taken from them along with many other school children and sent by ship to England. For the family and the child it was devastating. The child recovers swiftly as she is placed in an aristocratic home in Scotland with many comforts - a stark contrast to the simple life in the island. For her parents it was an uneasy time, subsequently having to take decisions to move out themselves when the islands became occupied.

It also descriptively and in detail sets out the life of a bomber on the other side. His daily forays, his ideas, his total commitment to the German cause and the orders he undertakes without question as to the damage and suffering he causes. His diaries reveal in great detail the life he undertook when he joined the German airforce.

This was a poignant, emotional read but not a soppy one. It was pragmatic and down to earth at the same time. Both sides knew that this had to be gone through - at whatever price.

I really, really wanted to enjoy this book – it was written by the grandson of the main characters, it involves a period of history that I find interesting, set in a place about which I know very little. The reviewers on Net Galley gave it five stars almost unanimously, with very flattering write-ups. I was looking forward to a story that hooked me from the first pages, that would “grab your heart and not let go until you can breathe a sigh of relief at the last page” (as one reviewer wrote.

I think you can probably tell that there is a big “but” coming….

BUT…

I’m afraid that I found the story, and the telling of it, incredibly pedestrian. There was not a lot to hold my interest, just a slightly tedious recounting of everyday life (albeit during a momentous time in history) wherein the protagonists go to work, come home, discuss options, make decisions…but not much else happens until the day before the invasion of the island by the Nazi army.

I was more interested by the non-familial story, that of the German bomber pilot. This story held a little more jeopardy, and it was interesting to read “the other side”. Bernhard was a sympathetic character, an ordinary German, who was doing a job that he had to do, in as “moral” a way possible. He tried to avoid killing defenceless civilians, he acknowledged the bravery of his opponents, he wrote to his family and girlfriend, keeping the worst of the war from them. He was a likeable character, but we didn’t get much insight into his psyche: it was more a straightforward description of his actions, and what he did.

And I think this was my problem with the telling of this story: it read very much like an account of actions, without much going beyond this. There was very little dialogue, very little descriptive writing, very little observation about motivation and character. So much so, that by the end I didn’t really care what happened to any of them, let alone being moved to tears, as one reviewer promised. Yes, I learned about how people went about their every day life on Guernsey in early 1940; I found out a little about the tomato growing and export business on the island; I even discovered information about the food that was eaten…but I had no sense of getting under the skin of the characters.

As readers of my reviews will know, I also find myself getting irritated by bad punctuation and poor writing, and there were examples of both in this book. When I was teaching 9 and 10 year olds, I refused to allow them to use the adjective “nice” – I explained that this was lazy writing, and always pushed them to find another adjective that told me more about the thing they were describing. The author uses “nice” too many times for my liking: and, I’m afraid, not many other adjectives.

He also thanks his proof reader – I wouldn’t be thanking someone who has such a poor understanding of the use of apostrophes. They were used in a very random fashion: frequently used for plurals (which is wrong. Example “The three K’s climbed into the plane”), sometimes used for the third person singular neutral possessive (which is wrong. Example: It’s wings shone in the sunlight), sometimes NOT used to denote a missing letter ( which is wrong: “Its a lovely day today” ) It’s this lazy editing that really annoys me, and I seem to find it so frequently! I’m sorry, regular readers, that you get subjected to my rants about it so often!

I’m not sure if it is an editing, or a proof reading, or an e-reader problem but there were also rather too many occasions when the spacing of words was incorrect, with words broken in the middle, or running into the next word with no space between them. Only a small matter, but a tad irritating.

I’m sorry to sound so down on this book, as it is obviously a subject close to the author’s heart. At the end of the book he talks about his love of Guernsey, of his grandparents and his family; he tells us how he has lived and worked on the island for all his life, and describes his childhood experiences. I really wanted to like this book, and maybe that’s why I gave it three stars – because finally, the author’s love for the subject shone through. In my opinion, it isn’t well written, but at least I knew that there was a passion in the writing, that the people meant something to the author, even if, sadly, I ended up not being terribly interested in what happened to them.

Based on the memoirs of the author's grandfather, this love story will grab your heart and not let go until you can breathe a sigh of relief at the last page.

Thoroughly captivating and enjoyable.

I read this EARC courtesy of Net Galley and Books Go Social.. pub date 07/10/18