The Hidden

Amazing, not what i expected and not something I'd ever thought about but this is an eye opening thriller based on a history many would never realise existed. Most know that the channel Islands were occupied for most of the war by the Nazis but let Dora and Joe tell you the story which is so well researched and written even if it can be more harrowing then your average Thriller. Life can be much worse than fiction and the twist turns and treatment by humans on humans will have you enthralled and hooked but mainly just horrified.
The story is set in 1985 and a lady is trying to find the truth of her history which brings Dora a Aryan Jew who lived in Jersey in the War and was a Midwife who feel in love with a farmer. Plus Joe a former Irish boxing champion turned Priest also living in Jersey during the war. Events as they say linked these 2 together even if they never really knew each other in the war but they both knew the farmer and it is the death of the farmers daughter that starts the string of "events" that will change their lives forever. However to find out what happened you really need to read yourself, and once you have started you will not regret finding out. War produces many hero's, villains in films but in real life it is more victims yet the lines can be very confusing deepening on were you view them from. But in the end everyone is a victim in one way or another but it's story behind the individual that decides the title hero, Villan, surviver, wether others see it or know it, facts are the only truth. And to make sense of that all i can say is please read this book because it can change how you view others. If you only believe what you see then you may miss the true person in front of you.
I want to thank Mary Chamberlain for opening my eyes and NetGalley for my copy of this book.

Dora lives a quiet life in London where no one knows her past. In the Channel Islands live Geoffrey and Joe on a quiet farm. All are living out their retirement years giving as little thought as possible to the past. Enter Barbara Hummel. A German woman who seems determined to discover the stories of the Occupation of the Channel Islands. The past becomes disturbed and Dora, Joe & Geoffrey must face the past - the terrible times & the better ones.

I have previously read books on the occupation of the Channel Islands - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society springs to mind. This book takes the story a little deeper. There are some terribly dark times for the people in the story, especially Dora, during the war. In places it was quite difficult to read. The standard of research was high and the book detailed.

Dora, Joe and Geoffrey are caught up in a whirl of events which they thought they had some control of but which disappeared rapidly. Dora was of German Jewish descent but claimed to be Swedish. This was accepted and she seemed quite happy (as the circumstances allowed) as a midwife and also seeing Geoffrey. Joe was a doubting Irish Priest who taught young boys boxing and took a German occupying nurse birdwatching. Unfortunately, they became part of a bigger plan which tore them apart and which they only fully began to understand when Barbara appears on the scene. I can't explain more as I am avoiding spoliers - I suggest you read it yourself!

This was a well written book with three dimensional characters. The author pulled no punches in her descriptions and the book was better because of that. I am glad that I read it.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

The story involves Dora, a German Jew who is trying to keep her religion a secret so pretending to be a Swedish Aryan. Joe, a Catholic Priest and ex boxing champion and Geoffrey, a farmer. The backdrop is WW2 interspersed with scenes in the 1980s, all taking place in the Channel Islands.

The book is well researched, and whilst the characters and plot are fictional, the stories are based on various people living at the time, and their stories -amalgamated and embellished for literary effect.

Definitely one to read.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and found the story powerful and thought provoking. I would definitely recommend this book to those interested in this location and period of history.

This book is simply incredible and one of my favourite reads so far this year.

Dora, Geoffrey and Joe are quietly living their lives in retirement when a young German woman called Barbara Hummel comes along asking searching questions and looking for answers. None of them want to go back to their pasts and relive the horror of living in Jersey during the Second World War and the German occupation of the Island. But Barbara is adamant she must know who the mystery woman is in a photo she discovered in her late mother's possessions and will not take no for an answer...

Dora is not whom she seems and must be careful around the Germans. She's working as a midwife and starts a love affair with Geoffrey, the farmer who she's told to stay away from. Joe is the parish's Catholic priest who has secrets from his past and in the current day. They are caught up in atrocities of war which made for disturbing reading (as the story is based on things which happened to real people during WW2) but they manage to come out the other side a little bit broken but still alive.

The story jumps between the past and the present. I was desperate to find Barbara's connection with their stories which are interwoven together. An absolutely stunning must-read. I so loved it.

Call me naive or even ignorant but it had never occurred to me that the Nazis sex trafficked during World War II. This, along with the brutality of living in concentration camps and how war can shape and change lives and communities is vividly explored in The Hidden. Yes, at times it is a painful read but it is also such a brilliant read, brimming with humanity and emotion.

Set in Jersey, The Hidden is the story of Dora, a Jewish refugee desperately trying to conceal her true identity when the island is occupied by the Germans during World War II. Although she doesn’t realise it, Dora’s wartime experience is entwined with Joe’s, a young Irish priest also living on the occupied island.

Both Dora and Joe physically survive the brutality of the war. But when a young woman comes knocking at their doors over 40 years later, deep emotional scars are ripped open for both of them.

Inspired by horrific true events and real people, The Hidden is such a skillfully crafted novel portraying the power of silence and guilt. Thank you NetGalley and Point Blank for my advance copy.

Published on 7 February 2019, The Hidden is an unbelievable read that you can’t afford to miss.

Having lived on Jersey in the mid 1990's, a mere 10 years after the fictional setting of this book in 1985 and having visited The Jersey War Museum and the unfinished German Underground Hospital many times on visits back to the Island, I chose this book to read because I love WW2 historical fiction and I am also keenly aware of the occupation of Jersey and the cost to its residents.

This book is set in two time periods, 1985 and 1943-45 and surrounds Dora, a German Jewish nurse living in St. Helier passing herself off as a Swedish aryian, Fr. Joe O'Cleary, a conflicted Irish priest, and Geoffrey, a local Jersey farmer. When a German woman comes looking for details of her own heritage in 1985, a chain of events is set off whereby Dora, Joe and Geoffrey have to confront and reconcile themselves with memories of the past.

The story tells the good times and the horrific times the characters, and indeed Islanders generally, experienced during the war. It is very well researched and I could imagine, and was familiar with, a lot of the Jersey locations mentioned at that time during the occupation.

I really enjoyed this story. It is a slow burner and not too many details are given away throughout the book, only hinted at. If you are a fan of The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society or indeed 20th century historical fiction, then this book will appeal to you. It is a deeply human story and it evokes a great empathy in the reader for the as it tells of everyday life at the hands of the Nazis on the Island.

This book looks at the experiences of three main characters living on Jersey towards the end of World War Two. Dora is a midwife who meets farmer Geoffrey when called to a birth at his farm. Joe is an Irish priest and boxer. The memories of what happened to them during the war is brought back to them by visits and letters from a woman trying to find out about her mother who was also in Jersey during the war. She has photographs which bring so many memories flooding back, memories of shame and heartbreak.

I love dual timeline stories where there is a mystery connecting past and present waiting to be solved. I also am drawn to books set in wartime. This book brought to light an element of women's experiences in WW2 which I was unaware of and I was fascinated, though also horrified, to read the facts that this story was based on and inspired by. It was interesting and rather puzzling to read that Britain chose not to prosecute these atrocities and war crimes carried out on the Channel Islands, the only part of UK soil occupied during the war.

This book is well named with so many secrets kept hidden for so many years. I could easily understand why the characters, and Dora in particular, didn't want to talk about what happened and when you hear about these experiences, it's not surprising. The characters felt compelled to hide parts of their personality, their backgrounds and their feelings during the war too in order to keep safe, and who could blame them? I'm not sure that I could have been as brave as they were faced with such appalling circumstances.

The Hidden explores the capacity of human spirit to survive and carry on. Mary Chamberlain clearly shows the enormous feelings of guilt felt by her characters even though they were not the ones who should be feeling guilty. Her compelling novel weaves together past and present, telling a story of women in war that is perhaps not widely known.