The Soldier's Wife

The Soldier's Wife

It took me awhile to decide which book to review first on this blog of mine.  I wanted the book to be something I loved, something that I thought a lot of people would enjoy, and also something that was a good representation of who I am as a reader.

So let me introduce you to Vivienne.  She lives on Guernsey Island with her mother-in-law and her 2 daughters.  It is World War II, and her husband is fighting in France.  The Germans have occupied the Channel Islands, and she finds herself living next door to a house full of soldiers who are aligned with the enemy.  The story takes place over the course of 6 years, so we are given a good idea of how things evolved over the course of the war.  Nothing is left untouched.  Flower beds become vegetable gardens as food rations grow scarce.  Curtains become clothing as children grow, yet have nowhere to purchase new things.  Enemies become lovers as black and white ideals become gray.

One of my favorite things about reading is being forced to see things through the eyes of someone else's experiences.  To me, The Soldier's Wife epitomizes this.  There are choices Vivienne makes during the book that many would consider wrong, myself included.  On paper, she has committed sins of the worst kind.  She is often selfish and cowardly and finds herself in bed with a man who is not only not her husband, but is not her countryman.  She puts herself, her daughters and her mother-in-law in danger with her actions, and I found myself often frustrated with her and scared for her.  I also found myself feeling compassion for her.  I am a person who believes that morality is black and white.  Right is right and wrong is wrong.  What reading allows me to do, however, is to realize that while morality is black and white, humanity isn't.  We are flawed creatures who are often put in no-win circumstances, and while wrong choices should never be endorsed, they can be understood.  Understanding then breeds compassion.  I like to think I wouldn't have made some of the decisions Vivienne made.  Yet again, I've never lived on an occupied island during a war without my husband.  So I can't really say.

There are some choices Vivienne makes that are nothing short of heroic.  I don't want to spoil this book for those of you who will go on to read it, but you will meet a man named Kirill.  His circumstances and the relationships we see him form will haunt you and change you.  He brings out the best in our protagonist and you will love her for it.

The Soldier's Wife is a tale of war, and the complexities it creates in our lives.  It is a history lesson, introducing you to the Channel Islands and their desperate attempts to keep hope alive when it appeared that England had forsaken them.  And it is a tale of love.  Love for country, love for family and love for your enemy.  Read it.

**On the recommendation of a friend, I am going to add a bit of a "rating system" to my book reviews.  I have many friends who love to read, but want to be aware before opening a book of any potential language, violence and sex.  Everyone's standards are different for what they want to read, so I will give these ratings with total neutrality.  They are simply for information's sake.**

I would rate this book a PG-13.  There is nothing salacious in this book, but there are some intimate scenes and the implication of many more.  The subject matter is sometimes controversial and sometimes difficult to swallow.