This heartwarming story takes place on the British island of Jersey, occupied by Nazi troops during the Second World War. It alternates between the first-person experiences of the librarian Grace and her childhood friend, Bea. The narrative shows how they overcome the various challenges that arise during that time of scarcity and limited freedom. The story is very well grounded in what everyday life on the island might have been like, as well as in the tensions with the German occupiers and among the local inhabitants themselves, depending on their allegiances.
The fact that Grace is a librarian allows the author to introduce many literary works that were presumably popular at the time and to address the issue of censorship. This aspect adds an extra layer of interest to the story, which is already compelling.
The various violent scenes in the work, inevitable in a story set during wartime, do not include graphic or gory details. For the same reason, there are also a few scenes with mild sexual content and some coarse language, but these are handled with considerable decorum.
There are tangential references to God in the text, but the Anglican Church (as the territory is part of the United Kingdom) is barely mentioned, even though heroic acts of some of its representatives, such as the rector of Saint Saviour’s Church, are cited in the final documentation. Given the level of detail the book provides, I personally missed a greater focus on the role that Christian faith may have played in this story. Apart from this point, it is a work that conveys multiple values, such as true friendship, loyalty, honesty, charity, and the protection of newborn life.