review: the soldier's wife by margaret leroy

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The Soldier’s Wife opens during the summer of 1940 on an isolated island. Vivienne’s husband is in England with the army, so she, her daughters, and mother-in-law are vulnerable to the pending occupation. When Vivienne makes a last minute decision to stay in Guernsey, she forever changes the outcome of all of their lives.

Although there were times when I wanted to throttle Vivienne for her actions, I appreciated that Margaret Leroy presented the German soldiers and the citizens of Guernsey with shades of gray. Rather than have the soldiers as absolute evil and others as absolute good, the characters were realistically human with mistakes made along with acts of kindness. The details of their lives and how the soldiers and citizens coexisted were all very vivid and interesting.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Hyperion Voice.