The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society New York: The Dial Press, 2008. 278pgs.
Summary: Celebrating literature, love, and the power of the human spirit, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is the story of an English author living in the shadow of World War II. Unfolding in a series of letters, this enchanting novel introduces readers to the indomitable Juliet Ashton. Through Juliet’s correspondence with her publisher, best friend, and an absorbing cast of characters, readers discover that despite the personal losses she suffered in the Blitz, and author tours sometimes marked by mishaps, nothing can quell her enthusiasm for the written word even while searching for her next subject.
One day, she begins a different sort of correspondence, responding to a man who found her name on the flyleaf of a cherished secondhand book. He tells her that his name is Dawsey Adams, a native resident of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands recently liberated from Nazi occupation. Soon Juliet is drawn into Dawsey’s remarkable circle of friends, courageous men and women who formed the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society as a cover to protect them from the Germans. With their appetite for good books, and their determination to honor the island’s haunting recent history, this is a community that opens Juliet’s heart and mind in ways she could never have imagined.
Comments: When Tiny T handed me this book, I just looked at her a little weird. I didn’t even understand what the title could possibly be talking about. She just looked back and said, read it, trust me. I do, and especially about books - she and I have very similar tastes in literature.
This book captivated me from page one. I was drawn in and read it in only a few sittings. I find it rare when I enjoy an epistolary novel, much less have it completely seize my attention. I loved the pace at which we came to know each of the major characters in the novel and I loved the characterization that shone through the letters back and forth. And I adored the story that unfolded.
I also really enjoyed the time period. I haven’t read that much about post-WWII Europe - it’s a bit more contemporary of a setting than I usually pick for myself, but I found this story to be moving and thought provoking. And I’m quite sure that I may have to travel to Guernsey if I’m ever in the region. The book has charmingly captured my imagination.
I only had one complaint and it was that toward the end there was an entry that was not written in letter form and I don’t understand why there was the change? The contents could easily have been conveyed in another letter and I found the break in format that late in the book to be jarring.
That small blip aside, I recommend this book to all of you! I hesitate to comment more because I’ll give away some of the story and having it revealed slowly was half the fun!
Notes: borrowed, hardcover
Subject: Literature, English history, post-WWII Europe, women
Rating: 8.5/10 - A delightful surprise!
Summary: Celebrating literature, love, and the power of the human spirit, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is the story of an English author living in the shadow of World War II. Unfolding in a series of letters, this enchanting novel introduces readers to the indomitable Juliet Ashton. Through Juliet’s correspondence with her publisher, best friend, and an absorbing cast of characters, readers discover that despite the personal losses she suffered in the Blitz, and author tours sometimes marked by mishaps, nothing can quell her enthusiasm for the written word even while searching for her next subject.
One day, she begins a different sort of correspondence, responding to a man who found her name on the flyleaf of a cherished secondhand book. He tells her that his name is Dawsey Adams, a native resident of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands recently liberated from Nazi occupation. Soon Juliet is drawn into Dawsey’s remarkable circle of friends, courageous men and women who formed the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society as a cover to protect them from the Germans. With their appetite for good books, and their determination to honor the island’s haunting recent history, this is a community that opens Juliet’s heart and mind in ways she could never have imagined.
Comments: When Tiny T handed me this book, I just looked at her a little weird. I didn’t even understand what the title could possibly be talking about. She just looked back and said, read it, trust me. I do, and especially about books - she and I have very similar tastes in literature.
This book captivated me from page one. I was drawn in and read it in only a few sittings. I find it rare when I enjoy an epistolary novel, much less have it completely seize my attention. I loved the pace at which we came to know each of the major characters in the novel and I loved the characterization that shone through the letters back and forth. And I adored the story that unfolded.
I also really enjoyed the time period. I haven’t read that much about post-WWII Europe - it’s a bit more contemporary of a setting than I usually pick for myself, but I found this story to be moving and thought provoking. And I’m quite sure that I may have to travel to Guernsey if I’m ever in the region. The book has charmingly captured my imagination.
I only had one complaint and it was that toward the end there was an entry that was not written in letter form and I don’t understand why there was the change? The contents could easily have been conveyed in another letter and I found the break in format that late in the book to be jarring.
That small blip aside, I recommend this book to all of you! I hesitate to comment more because I’ll give away some of the story and having it revealed slowly was half the fun!
Notes: borrowed, hardcover
Subject: Literature, English history, post-WWII Europe, women
Rating: 8.5/10 - A delightful surprise!