Love and war in letters
September 26th, 2008 Molly - Central
No need to apply the 50-page rule here! The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows had me laughing and crying in the first 50 pages and thanking my lucky stars I started reading it on a Sunday, so I could settle in and keep reading all day.
This enchanting epistolary novel is set post WWII in London and on the English Channel Island of Guernsey. A Guernsey farmer named Dawsey Adams obtains a used copy of Londoner Juliet Ashton’s Selected Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb and they begin corresponding after he finds her name and address written inside the cover. Soon, Dawsey’s friends and neighbors are writing to Juliet as well. Juliet’s weekly newspaper column about the war has recently been compiled into the book Izzy Bickerstaff Goes to War and the islanders are thrilled to make the acquaintance of a famous authoress. Juliet starts answering the many questions the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society have concerning the war; the Channel Islands were completely cut-off from the rest of the world during the German occupation.
In the course of their correspondence, Juliet poses three questions to the society members as well: Why did a roast pig dinner have to be kept a secret? How could a pig cause the islanders to begin a literary society? What is potato peel pie and why is it included in the society’s name?
All of these questions and more are answered in this book that is sure to become a classic in the way of 84, Charing Cross Road. One cannot help but fall in love with each and every bright, quirky, endearingly flawed, open-hearted character. Without a doubt, this is my favorite book of the year and one of my new all-time favorites. This is how much I love it: I checked it out from the library and read it, then I went to the bookstore and bought it, and now I am waiting for the audiobook so I can listen to it. And then I may read it again.
Entry Filed under: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Romance
2 Comments Add your own
1. Mary | October 9th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I listened to the audio version recently, and I was a bit confused at the beginning, in fact I started it over after the first part. But then I loved it, I did not realize that this was a book made up totally of letters and the readers just start right out with them. There are mulitple readers, and they all do a great job of portraying the characters. Now I want to read the book, I think it will be equally enjoyable.
2. Molly | October 11th, 2008 at 7:54 am
I finally got the audiobook from the library and look forward to listening, too. That is very cool that there are multiple readers - I listen to audiobooks quite a bit and that is very unusual.
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