The Hidden - Mary Chamberlain

Three seniors Dora, Joe and Geoffrey find their retirement shaken after the approach from a middle age German woman who is searching for answers about what happened on Jersey in the German Occupation.  Flicking between the present of 1985 and the war years, we learn how the three are connected, Dora a young midwife, Joe a Catholic priest and Geoffrey an island farmer.

An interesting fictional account of what happened on the island during the war, it was off to a bit of a slow start but half way through the characters became more fully formed and I could understand their story.   4/5

The Dressmaker of Dachau - Mary Chamberlain

Ada Vaughan is a young London girl with dreams of being a successful fashion designer.  Seduced by a charming Count, she finds herself in Belgium as the second world war breaks out.  I really liked the idea of this book, as them time period often is one of my favourites to read about.  I just got a little annoyed at Ada, who seemed a a little too naive and kept finding herself stuck in a pickle.  I just wanted her to be a little stronger and smarter. Some of the story seemed to jump about a bit much for me, one chapter she was in one place, and then all of a sudden she was onto the next part of her story, and it left me wondering a bit.  Still the ending did surprise me, I did not expect it to head in that direction.   3/5