This is a wonderful story about two children who meet by chance on one of the Channel Islands during the period of German occupation in WW2. The thirteen-year-old girl, Rachel Levi, is the only known survivor of the Nazi persecution and the disbandment of the wealthy Jewish Levi family in Munich, and she is alive and in the Channel Islands solely because her astute but desperate mother bribed a German army officer so that it was distinctly in his interest to keep Rachel alive. So instead of sending Rachel to a concentration camp with her mother, he put her to work in the kitchen of a slave camp on the island of Alderney, from which she has just escaped under cover of darkness. Fifteen-year-old Tom Le Breton - the son of a Guernsey family who is desperately hiding his boat and himself from the Germans after straying beyond limits while night-fishing - finds Rachel sobbing on the beach, alone and desperate. Tom's young heart goes out to her and he vows to help her escape from the camp.
So begins a friendship that soon develops into a bond which is destined to stand the test of time as Tom and his relatives risk their lives keeping Rachel safe from discovery. But the Germans are closing in on Rachel and when a chance to send her to the safety of England presents itself, they seize it, even though it means a sad parting for the young couple. Meanwhile, in the confusion of her hasty departure from her hiding place on the island of Herm, Rachel forgets her mother's often-repeated advice to keep her shoes, especially the right one, by her. She consequently leaves it somewhere in her island hideaway, not knowing that her loving mother has hidden a clue to her daughter's legacy within the shoe.
Then one day in May 1945, the British finally liberate the Channel Islands and Tom unexpectedly finds Rachel back in his arms, this time for ever, they pledge. In time, they marry and raise a family in a very modest cottage on Guernsey, blissfully unaware of sinister plans afoot in Germany to end Rachel's life. Along the way, these also result in the murder of the only person who could have shed light on the obscure mystery surrounding Rachel's old shoe. However, with suspicions raised, her family set off on a trail of discovery about the significance of the shoe.
From here, the story develops even further in its completely gripping fashion, extending beyond romance, heroism and loyalty into unexpected dark happenings, betrayals and evil intentions. It becomes virtually impossible to put the book down until its breathless climax arrives in Germany at the shareholders' meeting of a large company. The exciting denouement-- best described as in the style of "a grand movie finale"-- brings this beautifully crafted and highly recommended novel to a very satisfying and rewarding ending. Rachel's Shoe
A young girl is alone expect for the protection of a friendly German guard on the prison camp island of Alderney during World War 2. Both her parents are dead, she is a Jewess and her sole protector is about to be transferred to the Russian Front.
In the bleakest hour of her short life, Tom, a teenage boy from Guernsey, hauls his fishing boat onto the Alderney shore and carries her off to the tiny island of Herm. To say more would spoil what is a first class story of danger, love and intrigue under the noses of an occupying army. The characters are sensitively drawn and credible and the plot is intriguing, unpredictable and completely engaging.
This is a story that could only be told by an author with in-depth local knowledge of the islands and a period in history that many people over here were blissfully unaware of.
What a great read! The author keeps you absorbed throughout and it's a wonderful story for any book lover, whatever their age. His mix of fact and fiction about the subject of the occupation of the Channel Islands is done perfectly. Other books have attempted to do this and failed to deliver. I want to read a sequel soon and as other reviewers have stated, it would make an excellent movie too!
An excellent read, very difficult to put down. A combination of Romance and thriller set mainly in the Channel Island Bailwick of Guernsey, spanning the German occupation of the channel islands during the second world war and then into the 60's/70's. If you like Romance & Thrillers you will enjoy this book. If you know Guernsey, Alderney and Herm, which make up the Baliwick of Guernsey in the Channel islands, this book will have even more interest.
A must buy book
This story is set in the occupied Channel Island of Guernsey and it's clear from the start the author knows his island and it's history intimately. The book is more authentic than other recent novels with the possible exception of The Book of Ebenezer Le Page (New York Review Books Classics) which is also written with great local knowledge and details but lacks the storyline of Rachel's Shoe. The story is captivating and you'd have to be pretty thick skinned not to form an attachment with both Rachel and Tom, the main characters. Their plight, through the dangers of war and later the unscrupulous greed of big business, is well crafted and very believable.
I also purchased the sequel The Causeway which brings the story to a dramatic and unexpected conclusion. Another highly enjoyable read.
Having read and enjoyed the paperback version of this authentic novel, I'm delighted to see it available on Kindle.Rachel's Shoe is a story set in the occupied Channel Island of Guernsey during World War Two.
The tale gets off to a highly atmospheric and gripping start as a teenage boy, alone and at sea in his fishing boat, evades capture from a German patrol launch. In his bid to escape, he lands on a nearby island where he finds and rescues a young Jewish girl - Rachel.
Well developed characters and a strong sense of place, as well as a story that is difficult to put down, make this a highly enjoyable read; especially as you can now take it with you more conveniently on Kindle! - Occupation - Channel Islands - Historical Fiction - Historical Romance'
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