Tragedy on Guernsey - the Island of Dreams.

A Red Cross message belonging to my late grandmother, similar to the one that was to bring the devastating news

One day in the summer of 1943, 42-year -old Edith Emily Brown (nee Ruaux) received a Red Cross message that would change her life forever. Her son had died of meningitis, a very long way from home. Edith and her husband, James, were trapped in the Channel Island of Guernsey, occupied by the Nazis who had  already stolen their freedom and requisitioned their home.

Three years earlier in June 1940 the couple, my late grandparents, had waved  goodbye to  David, aged ten,  and fourteen-year-old Harold as they took  the last boat to Britain, along with hundreds of other schoolchildren evacuated to Britain for their  own safety. 'Look after your little brother' were the last words  my granny uttered, too overcome to say anything else.

That fateful Red Cross message revealed  that  one of their children had died of meningitis, but tragically gave no name. Edith collapsed  in shock, but it was another six months before my grandparents knew that they had lost their younger son. My father, Harold, was billeted in Oldham with distant relatives,  unable to share the grief for his 13-year-old brother with his heartbroken mum and dad.

When Harold arrived back on the island he was  a grown man, an RAF navigator recently married to my mother, an  18-year-old Lancashire girl who worked in the wages department of a  local munitions factory. I was one of their three daughters born  over the next seven years.  My childhood was idyllic, which is why I call Guernsey my Island of Dreams, and I hope that the love given and received helped, in some small way, to ease the pain of the family's loss.

Sadly, my family were just some of many Guernsey residents who lost loved ones during the Second World War. More than thirty islander were killed outright when the Germans bombed the tomato lorries on the White Rock (the local name for the quayside) on June 28 1940. Other  extraordinarily brave dissenters died in German concentration camps  simply for breaking the Occupiers' rules. They, along with David,  will never be forgotten.

This week Guernsey celebrated the 73rd anniversary of the island's liberation on May 9 1945. The celebrations, as always, held a  note of defiance and tinge of sadness for  those who never returned.

NB  My second  novel, Occupying Love, is based on the memories of  Edith and James along with others those who lived through the Occupation of Guernsey. To find out more follow the link here

Who says we're angry? We ALL wanted to be extras!

Headline from the Mail on Sunday

A movie set in the  German Occupation of Guernsey is  coming to our screens in April, leaving many  islanders angry that it was  filmed in Devon, according to  some of this weekend's newspapers.

The film version of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows, an international best-selling book when published in 2008, has been long awaited by readers and residents, starring Downtown Abbey actress Lily James.

Hitler's Occupation of Saunton Sands  said the Mail on Sunday headline adding: Islanders' anger as Lily James wartime drama moves Guernsey to Devon.

A street in Bideford became a Nazi-occupied area and a sequence featuring an American Dakota on a beach was shot on nearby Saunton Sands, as well as other Devon locations such as Hartland Abbey.

So, are the islanders really angry? As a Guernsey-born author  now living in England, I decided to ask.

I think angry is probably not the right word,' one told me. Many people are disappointed that the film wasn't shot here as it would have been great publicity.'

And this same feeling was voiced by many others. 'We're glad that the Occupation is getting so much attention,' said another 'but it's a shame no-one will get to see what it's really like here.'


Here is a selection of the replies.

'Some disappointment as we all wanted to be extras!'

'Guernsey is unique.  'This really is a missed opportunity.'

'Film buffs will visit the locations where it was filmed rather than visit Guernsey.'

'They could at least have used old footage as well as modern footage at the end of the film. Maybe they will. Fingers crossed.'

From The Times Newspaper

Of more than 30 islanders who responded  some made negative comments such as 'Won't watch it now - would have done if it was filmed in Guernsey' and 'I think they have missed a golden opportunity. I'm sure it would have boosted the tourist industry which I believe is struggling at the moment.'

The official reason for not filming on the island is that too much has changed there since the Second World War.  But  help is at hand.

 I hear that Guernsey Tourist Board are staging a Movie Walk round the island between April 6 and April 20 showing the locations mentioned in the book.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Movie Walk

Guernsey Information Centre
6 Apr 2018 / 13 Apr 2018 / 20 Apr 2018 / 27 Apr 2018

Read the latest on this story here in the Guernsey Press

HAPPY EASTER - NEVER MIND THE SUN (IT EVEN RAINS IN VENICE)

If the sun doesn't shine on you this EASTER  weekend, or you can't get away, pour yourself a cup of tea or a glass of wine, and read a novel. Reading can take you anywhere you want to be, so settle down and enjoy the trip.

And remember -  it even rains in Venice!

Nice, France

Guernsey, Channel Islands

Lake Garda, Italy

Lake Garda, Italy

Venice in the rain

Red Arrows in the Guernsey sky

Have tea, will  travel

PAUL McGANN AND THE STORY THAT KEEPS COMING BACK

If you, like me, are a fan of  actor Paul McGann and you're interested in the Channel Islands, read on!

Guernsey and Jersey have hit the news again this week as the Occupation of the Channel Islands is recreated in two separate productions for stage and screen.
Gabriel, a play by Moira Buffini set in Guernsey during World War Two, is currently touring Britain starring Paul McCann and Belinda Lang.
The play, described by the New York Times as 'a tense tale of wartime intrigue and romance,' describes what happens when a mystery man is washed up on the shore, and reflects the continuing fascination with this unique part of our history.

Another Mother's Son, starring Jenny Seagrove and Ronan Keating, set in Nazi-occupied Jersey, is based on the true story of Louisa Gould who hid a Prisoner-of-War in her home.
Interestingly, the screenplay is written by Jenny Lecoat, Gould's great niece.

Meanwhile my own novel  about One Woman, Two men and the Impossible choice between love and duty -  shows just how much the islanders were prepared to sacrifice for their freedom.

Occupying Love by Marilyn Chapman

The Snowdrop

HELLO FEBRUARY!  My second daughter was born in February around the time the snowdrops, heads bowed against the cold, appeared through a layer of fluffy white snow. Gathering some from her own garden, my neighbour brought the snowdrops to my door just hours after we brought the new baby home. I put the tiny white flowers in an miniature glass jug that once belonged to my grandmother, creating  a memory that has always stayed with me.

For the next few months I will be spending less time here on my blog to concentrate on my writing. Since 2010 I have blogged almost every week, made many friends and had almost 60,000  page views from all over the world. I've published two novels, am working on the third, and now want to break into short story writing - something I have always wanted to do.

You never know - my first published story might just be called The Snowdrop.

AND NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS.....

Politicians are always told to 'leak' stories they'd rather hide on a major news day. So as an ex-working journalist I'm smiling ruefully at the news that the Brexit Campaign has won. Not that I wanted them to lose (or win) you understand  - I don't talk politics here.  It's just that

my new novel is out today.

So, instead of a leak I thought I would try a flood.

OCCUPYING LOVE IS RELEASED TODAY

OCCUPYING LOVE IS RELEASED TODAY

OCCUPYING LOVE IS RELEASED TODAY.

You can buy Occupying Love here.

Or here

Or you can spend the day reading the latest news on Europe

AT LEAST I TRIED
:)

If I had a trumpet I'd blow it....

I never was very good at taking photographs (see below) - or at saying thank you.  But today I'm doing both at the news that my new historical  novel Occupying Love, released for pre-order yesterday, is  steadily climbing  the Amazon rankings.

Set in  Guernsey in World War Two, Occupying Love is the story of Lydia le Page, a feisty student who returns to her Guernsey home in 1940 on the day the harbour is bombed by the Nazis. Within hours she is trapped on the island as the five-year Occupation begins. Two men enter Lydia’s life: Martin Martell, the handsome but mysterious rector and Major Otto Kruger, the ruthless German Kommandant who falls under her spell. When Martin disappears Lydia discovers a secret from her past that changes everything and leaves her with  an impossible choice.  Should she choose  the man she loves or try to save the island?

I was born in Guernsey and spent many hours listening to my grandparents' stories of  life under German rule and the bravery of those whose passive resistance lifted the morale of the islanders.  What stayed in my mind was the  underground news agency which distributed news of Allies successes all over Guernsey and, more than 70 years later, has still not been fully recognised.

Though the book is a work of fiction, it's  a tribute to all the brave people who lost their lives on Guernsey whilst trying to bring hope to others.

Occupying Love is dedicated to David Richard Brown, the uncle I never met, who died at the age of 13 in 1940. David was one of many evacuees from the Channel Islands who moved with their schools, and without their parents, to Britain in 1940.  David's story was told to me by my grandparents who lived through the  five-year-long Occupation that changed so many lives.

Occupying Love is available to download from June 24, 2016 and to pre order at:

Amazon.co.uk here
Amazon.com here

Fuzzy but it's true

Occupying Love

Stop Press!  I've just finished the final draft of my new book 'Occupying Love' and I've dedicated it to my favourite Guernseyman - Harry Brown.  Read on to find out what it's all about...

When Lydia Le Page is trapped in the Channel Islands  at the start of the German Occupation, she transforms from a feisty young student with a promising career ahead of her, to an enemy collaborator burdened with a terrible secret.

It is Guernsey in 1940 and the island people have been robbed of their children and hounded out of their own homes.

Crushed by the death of her father after an argument with a German officer, Lydia vows to seek her revenge.  She discovers an ally in Martin Martell,  the enigmatic  rector of Torteval Church, who persuades her to join the Resistance. Inexplicably drawn to each other, though loathe to admit it, neither is aware of the other’s past.

Does he know she’ll be asked to seduce the Kommandant? And will they be able to put their feelings aside, or will he put a stop to it before it’s too late? As Martin is arrested, a terrifying secret  has yet to be revealed, one that could threaten the lives of  these two extraordinary people torn between desire and duty.