Review: Dancing with the Enemy

Title: Dancing with the Enemy

Author: Diane Armstrong

Publisher: 4th May 2022 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 496 pages

Genre: historical fiction, WWII

My Rating:  3.5 cups

Synopsis:

From the bestselling author of The Collaborator comes a compelling story of betrayal, collusion, revenge, and redemption set in German-occupied Jersey during World War II.

June 1940. `It was a perfect June evening that began with hope and ended in despair.' So begins the journal of Hugh Jackson, a Jersey doctor, whose idyllic world is shattered when Britain abandons the Channel Islands which are invaded by the Germans. Forced to choose between conflicting loyalties, he sends his pregnant wife to England, believing their separation will be brief. It's a fateful decision that will affect every aspect of his life.

May 1942. Young Tom Gaskell fumes whenever he sees the hated swastika flying from Fort Regent. Humiliated by Jersey's surrender and ashamed of his mother's fraternisation with the occupiers, Tom forms an audacious plan, not suspecting that it will result in guilt and tragedy.

April 2019. Sydney doctor Xanthe Maxwell, traumatised by the suicide of her colleague and burnt out by the relentless pressure of her hospital work, travels to St Helier so she can figure out what to do with her life. But when she finds Hugh Jackson's World War II journal, she is plunged into a violent world of oppression and collusion, but also of passion and resistance. As she reads, she is mystified by her growing sense of connection to the past. Her deepening relationship with academic Daniel Miller helps her understand Jersey's wartime past and determine her own future.

By the time this novel reaches its moving climax, the connection between Tom, Xanthe and Hugh Jackson has been revealed in a way none of them could possibly have imagined.

My Thoughts

‘Jersey must seem like an island paradise. Surely not even in his wildest dreams did old Hitler envisage such an accommodating government with such acquiescent residents. This really had to be a model occupation.’

Having read and loved Diane’s, The Collaborator, I was eager to read her latest WWII historical fiction offering. Dancing with the Enemy, is based in Jersey, Channel Islands whilst under German occupation in WWII and is the story told by two characters from 1940 to 1945 and one from the present day.

‘Xanthe wonders about the girls who danced with the enemy. Why did they fraternise with the occupiers? What did their families and friends think of their behaviour?’

Diane includes interesting storyline’s - both past and present - including personal and community experiences.  What I appreciated most about this story, however, was how Diane raised moral issues and what happens when people with differing values clash and the incredibly difficult and challenging outcomes. Through the lens of the various lead characters, readers are forced to consider how they would have faced the range of situations presented. There are many excellent reflective passages. 

‘One day you’ll come to a crossroad that will test your moral fortitude, and the path you take then will affect the rest of your life.’

This book tried to pack in a lot - too much in my opinion. Undoubtedly, lots of quality research and information, some conveyed rather unconvincingly through touristy visits. There were cliched characters and situations for convenience ie. modern timeline. There were some definite unanswered questions. In my humble opinion, too many topics were being pursued and I feel the story suffered for it. I could have done without Xanthe’s personal dilemma, or Aiofe’s revelations, even Tom’s experiences in Germany - they were all valid issues yet I feel did not belong in the essence of this wartime drama set on a tiny island.

‘I thought about the fine line between survival and collusion. I wonder what I would do in his place.’

There’s much WWII historical fiction out there and whilst I enjoyed and appreciated the research and range of stories, I just felt that Dancing with the Enemy lost its way in trying to tackle too many themes. Still, a solid and interesting WWII tale. 

‘It occurs to her that crises don’t create character; they reveal it … … hindsight is a great teacher. The trouble is, we have to live life forwards, and I don’t think we can ever know how we would behave in any situation until it arises.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.