War on the Margins [Hardcover]

The occupation of the channel islands by the Germans during world war Two gives the best possible insight into what life in Britain would have been like had Hitler won.
The remarkable account of the occupation is a must-read for anyone who wishes to get a flavour of the nazi mind-set, and how it affected the lives, loves and behaviour of the islanders.
Perhaps the most frightening aspect of the occupation was just how gradually the Nazis tightened the noose around the island people. Impersonal, matter-of-fact bulletins from the German commander politely instructed Jews - anyone with slight Jewish antecedents - to report to the town hall to register their names. All quite innocent, and gradually the demands increase. Register any business interests, your nationality, wear identification, have a red mark on your file. It slowly builds up to the true horrors in store for those the Germans regarded as sub-human.

In the middle of this, how did the islands cope? How did life continue?

Libby Cone has produced a compelling account of just that. She takes you back to that dreadful time, when Hitler ruled Europe, and shows how ordinary people were caught up in the nazi horror. The gradual creeping of the restrictions on liberty have a resonance today.

Yet amid the harrow, there is love and humanity. To really understand how WW11 changed lives forever, read this book

I read this short novel/long novella at a single sitting. It concerns an intriguing corner of the Second World War that until recently was swept under the carpet of British history. I have an elderly friend who lived on Jersey at this time, and who will only say that it was too dreadful to describe.
This novel relies heavily on the author's research for her thesis, and the characters do develop as described by other reviewers, but I felt the empathy one could feel from a novelist's insight into the situation was over-shadowed by a desire to inform, hence the slabs of official documents reproduced. It was as if the author can't decide whether to write a history or fiction.
Overall I would recommend the book, but more as a description of the Nazi occupation of the Channel Isles than as a novel.

War on the Margins is a debut novel from Libby Cone set on the Channel Islands during World War II, with the main focus of the story centering on how the islanders endured the Nazi Occupation. Moreover it's a story about resistance, as a number of the islanders unify in an attempt to expel the Fascist menace; for some though it's also a story of endurance, as the hardships of imprisonment become a reality.

From the outset I've got to say that War on the Margins is a real eye-opener. I was fully aware of the fact that the Channel Islands were occupied during WW2 before reading this novel, but I had no idea to what extent the Islands and its residents suffered under Nazi control. This novel really does bring home just how widespread starvation and persecution were on the Channel Islands during the period, and it ain't pretty!

The novel follows a number of primary story threads, the main one being the Occupation experiences of the chief protagonist, Marlene Zimmer. Marlene works for the Aliens Office on Jersey, and after gaining an advance insight into the Occupation measures being implemented by the Germans, she discovers that her distant Jewish heritage is detrimental to her safety. So she quickly flees to begin a new life elsewhere on the island; a covert one that involves few pleasures and much indignation. I've got to say that I really like the author's treatment of this character. She evolves Marlene from being a woman largely devoid of ambition and unsure of her own identity, into one of the complete polar opposite. My only complaint is that the author didn't spend more time exploring Marlene's evolution (more on that later), but putting that aside, Marlene's story is a definite highlight of the novel.

Another primary focus of War on the Margins is on the French artists and lovers - Lucille and Suzanne, the `real life' island residents who inspired the novel in the first place. Their relationship brings another aspect to the `marginal' theme of the novel, and although no exploration of homosexual persecution is explored (presumably because it never emerged as an issue), the relationship between the lovers is, and what emerges as a consequence of Cone's excellent crafting of the story, is the depth of love and devotion that the two artists showed for one another; a depth that undoubtedly nurtured an inner strength in both women and kept them motivated during that great time of adversity. That adversity reaches its zenith when both women were arrested for suspected clandestine activity and jailed in the local prison. Here I feel the novel really reaches its zenith too, with the author making full use of the actual prison letters and poems of Lucille Schwob to enrich the story.

Aside from an additional couple of less significant story threads, War on the Margins also focuses on the plight of political prisoners shipped to Jersey en masse, to provide the workforce for building construction. The main `player' here is Peter, a Polish political prisoner, who eventually ties up with one of the other main characters of the novel. Again I liked the author's treatment of the character, at least in the initial stages of his introduction. Here in Peter the reader sees the stoic resoluteness of a prisoner wronged for his beliefs, surviving in an environment pretty much akin to Hell. It's powerful stuff from Cone and aside from the descriptions of punishments served out to deserting or non-compliant German soldiers, it's the portion of the novel that provides the most graphical impact.

As good as War on the Margins is though, it's not without a couple of minor niggles in my opinion. I've already mentioned that the novel follows a number of primary story threads, and while these are all tightly controlled and interwoven well into the narrative, the number of story threads included is perhaps a little too ambitious for a novel of this length. I feel there's not enough focus spent on a particular story thread at any one time to allow the reader to fully connect with a character, or to sympathise with the situations that they find themselves in. There are some dire situations created in this novel, mainly centering around characters `holing up' in squalid conditions such as cellars, prisons, transport ships etc., and while Cone paints the story of their plight superbly well to some extent, you never really get a total sense of sympathetic connection with them.

My other minor niggle with the novel is centered around the flow of the story. I'm delighted that the author has seen fit to include official documents and orders in this novel, both for historical reference and context-setting, but the documents are presented verbatim, with their expanse usually filling a number of pages. All good and well but this had the affect of interrupting the flow of the story for me, and I found I needed a paragraph or two afterward, just to get back into the story. I'm well aware of the importance of these documents to the novel but perhaps it would have been better only embedding extracts of these documents in the narrative flow, and linking these extracts to full reproductions in an appendix at the back of the book.

Overall though I wouldn't let any minor complaints that I have put you off reading War on the Margins for yourself. My annoyances may well be just idiosyncratic, and regardless, they do little to interfere with the `enjoyment' of this novel. This is truly an accomplished work by Libby Cone, not least for its historical value, and it is one that should be read by anyone who has the slightest interest in the Nazi Occupation of the Channel Islands. Cone should be celebrated for what she has achieved in War on the Margins, for aside from illustrating the suffering that the Channel Islanders endured, she's spotlighted the degree to which Nazi persecution of the Jews extended; a persecution in this case, that offers a chilling glimpse into the fate that would no doubt have awaited Jews in mainland Britain should the Nazis have succeeded with their belligerent expansion.

Libby Cone's biggest success in War on the Margins though is undoubtedly her ability to weave the real-life prison diaries and poems of Lucille Schwob into the novel (along with the other primary source documents to a lesser degree). Before reading War on the Margins I was aware that the author had included primary source material in the novel, so I was intrigued to see how successfully she would manage this. I'm happy to say, although I would have liked to have seen more, that she's achieved it admirably. This on its own makes War on the Margins a worthwhile read, and one I highly recommend. Just be aware that War on the Margins isn't a casual `pick up and put down' kind of novel though. It's one of these novels that requires a fairly high level of engagement and plenty of cogitation. Put the effort in though and I guarantee that you'll be richly rewarded.