War on the Margins: A Novel [Paperback]

Libby Cone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2008

At the beginning of the Second World War, after the fall of France, Churchill decides to demilitarize the islands in the English Channel, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark, and allow their occupation by the Nazis because of their proximity to the Occupied French coast. We see the effects of this upon clerk Marlene Zimmer, the child of a deceased Jewish father and Gentile mother. She abruptly leaves her home to avoid registering as a Jew, meets the Surrealist artists and longtime lovers Claude Cahun (Lucille Schwob) and Marcel Moore (Suzanne Malherbe) and becomes active in their Resistance work. After Cahun and Moore are captured by the secret police, she flees and meets Peter, an escaped Polish slave worker. We follow Suzanne and Lucille as they suffer in German military prison, and revisit Marlene as she slowly realizes that the decisions she has made resulted in the imprisonment of one woman and the saving of the life of another.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"War on the Margins is based on Cone's master's thesis in Jewish Studies, and includes abundant quotes from source materials, including communications describing the restrictions placed against Jewish residents of the Channel Islands. What begins as the requirement to register quickly snowballs into restrictions on business, finance, communication, and even the ability to leave their homes. The fortitude and strength of those who rebelled against the Nazi policies is inspiring, as are the acts of heroism committed by ordinary people who are willing to fight for freedom and equality for all.

This novel was a quick read, but it was substantive, and the research that went into its creation was significant, illuminating the history of a lesser-known home front during World War II. Recommended." -- Nanette Donohue--Historical Novels Review Online

The story is gripping from the beginning. You see how different people react to various levels of danger. The effect becomes more intense when you realize that these events really did take place. Libby Cone gives you the story with clever use of actual correspondence and public notices from the time. She weaves her characters around those building each scene on the facts. The evil that was the Nazis is carefully but clearly developed in the story. People lived in fear not only of the Germans, but of each other too. The book does an excellent job of draping the whole in a cloak of doubt and suspicion. This is one good read. -- Nothing Binding

This is an unforgettable read about the effects that WW11 had on the lives of the people of Jersey. To read it is to weep at the atrocities and unfairness, to rage at how this was allowed to happen, but ultimately to rejoice in the determined survival spirit that shone through. The fact that these events really took place and that they are not the invention of the author makes it all the more heart wrenching to read. Libby Cone has written her book in a sensitive manner and even allowed moments of humour to creep in. The author also used actual radio broadcasts of the time and several of the book's characters were real people, not inventions from Cone's mind, which makes the book all the more poignant. -- BCF Book Reviews - Posted by kehs on August 27, 2008

Review

This is an unforgettable read about the effects that WW11 had on the lives of the people of Jersey. To read it is to weep at the atrocities and unfairness, to rage at how this was allowed to happen, but ultimately to rejoice in the determined survival spirit that shone through. The fact that these events really took place and that they are not the invention of the author makes it all the more heart wrenching to read. Libby Cone has written her book in a sensitive manner and even allowed moments of humour to creep in. The author also used actual radio broadcasts of the time and several of the book's characters were real people, not inventions from Cone's mind, which makes the book all the more poignant.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 338 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (April 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419689959
• ISBN-13: 978-1419689956
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,279,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Libby Cone is a practicing radiologist who needed more work to do, so she earned an MA in Jewish Studies. "War on the Margins" is based on her thesis about the German occupation of the Channel Islands during WWII.

A chance mention on the Web of a utopian settlement in Colonial Delaware gave Libby the idea for her next book, "Flesh and Grass." It is loosely based on the ill-fated Plockhoy settlement in what is now Lewes, Delaware, and is narrated by the blind son of the founder.

Libby lives in Philadelphia with her husband and many pets.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive Work that Brings it all Home, May 7, 2008

By 

Edward C. Patterson (Allentown, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: War on the Margins: A Novel (Paperback)

Libby Cone's War on the Margins is quite an eye-opener for anyone who has adopted their view of World War II solely from the History Channel. In her own words: "War is not neat and tidy." This view of the Nazi occupation of the Channel Islands and the struggles of the natives and immigrants, is thorough and brings home the isolation and trevail of war, and this particular war with its anti-semetic acts.

Blending memoranda, epistolary and journal-style narrative, Libby Cone shows us how the sensitivities of people trying to cope with their outer and the inner world, either rise to the occassion or fight their personal arcs. From wrestling and slaughtering a pig in a bathtub to having to visit foreign code on your former neighbors, we see a different aspect of this terrible conflict in human terms. This isn't your newsreel. This is watching people who live in History's margin - marginalized people, if you will, struggling to stay true and loyal to their ideals, or at least minimizing the compromise. When I first picked up this book I thought I would be reading about some footnote in history, but as it turns out, Libby Cone has introduced me to the headlines of real people who lived through the confict. Impressive.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Life on the Island, May 26, 2008

By 

B. Saffron (Princeton, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: War on the Margins: A Novel (Paperback)

Although it is impossible to put yourself in the place of the characters of this novel, there are parts of the book which let you come close. Particularly haunting is the way the Nazi machine "benignly" registers Jersey citizens, and then quickly moves on to more and more malignant methods of alienation of its Jewish citizenry. War on the Margins, although not a great read for a weekend on the beach, was quite fitting for Memorial Day. Sprinkled in through out the text are beautiful metaphors which further provide a sense of place and feeling. Highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What if the Nazis had won?, July 17, 2008

By 

Barry Tighe "Barry Tighe - Author The Spawate... (Spawater, Britanicca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: War on the Margins: A Novel (Paperback)

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 flavor of the nazi mind-set, and how it affected the lives, loves and behavior 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