The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 · rating details · 215,856 ratings · 29,821 reviews

January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.

Paperback, 290 pages

Published May 5th 2009 by Dial Press Trade Paperback (first published July 29th 2008)

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Apr 09, 2009 Megha rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Megha by: Wanda

Shelves: reviews, in-goodreaders-we-trust

Dear Mary Ann Shaffer,

I recently read your book 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society'. It brought a few questions to my mind.
Juliet writes in one of her letters:
"Dear Sidney,
What an inspired present you sent kit - red satin tap shoes covered with sequins"
Didn't Sidney know what present he had sent?
If you had to resort to sentences like these to speak what you wanted to, didn't you realize that the letter format and your writing didn't go well together?

Learning from your bad exam...more

168 likes · like · see review

Jul 29, 2008 Linda Sexauer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008

Several years ago, I worked at an art gallery here in Anchorage. Though I loved the art, I wasn’t much good at selling it. More often than not, I just chatted up the customers, who were from all over the world.

One night, four elderly people wandered in. They told me they were from a tiny island off the coast of southern England called “Guernsey”. I’d never heard of it, so they proudly explained it was the only part of British soil that had been occupied by the Nazis during World War II. The isla...more Several years ago, I worked at an art gallery here in Anchorage. Though I loved the art, I wasn’t much good at selling it. More often than not, I just chatted up the customers, who were from all over the world.

One night, four elderly people wandered in. They told me they were from a tiny island off the coast of southern England called “Guernsey”. I’d never heard of it, so they proudly explained it was the only part of British soil that had been occupied by the Nazis during World War II. The island was occupied for a long five years; an experience to which they had all been witnesses. At that moment, Guernsey was marked in my mind.

Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrow’s new book, “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” is an opportunity to travel back in time to 1946 Guernsey.

Beginning early 1946 in London, Juliet Ashton, a British writer, and former war journalist, is emerging from the ashes of the war to rebuild her life and her identity. She has lost her home and all her possessions, most regrettably her book collection. Out of the blue, she responds to correspondence started by a resident of Guernsey, who has managed to obtain a second-hand book once owned by Juliet, in which she had long ago written her name and address. Through this initial contact, Juliet meets an entire community, and the course of her life is redirected.

Easily reminiscent of Helene Hanff’s epistolary classic, “84 Charing Cross Road”, the novel is written in the epistolary style. Shaffer and Barrow skillfully use this medium to successfully establish their characters and a solid storyline.

Charming, funny, sweet, and thoughtful, “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” is a story that women might find more appealing than men. Yet, it is unflinching in its wartime recollections. The deprivations and devastation of the time are imaginatively and convincingly conveyed.

At its core, this is a book about the love of reading, and the magic of books.

I highly, highly recommend “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”.
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Sep 17, 2009 Shannon (Giraffe Days) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Shannon (Giraffe Days) by: lots of friends on GR

Shelves: 2009, favourite, historical-fiction

The Second World War has ended and people across the world are picking up the pieces. It's 1946, January, and Juliet Ashton is on a book tour around England for her recently published collection of humorous columns that had been so popular during the war, Izzy Bickerstaff Goes to War. She's not used to being a success and she does tend to throw things at people, but on the upside a very wealthy and attractive man keeps sending her flowers.

A surprise letter from a complete stranger from one of th...more The Second World War has ended and people across the world are picking up the pieces. It's 1946, January, and Juliet Ashton is on a book tour around England for her recently published collection of humorous columns that had been so popular during the war, Izzy Bickerstaff Goes to War. She's not used to being a success and she does tend to throw things at people, but on the upside a very wealthy and attractive man keeps sending her flowers.

A surprise letter from a complete stranger from one of the Channel Islands, Guernsey, provides a new friendship and the germ of an idea for a new book. He, Dawsey Adams, had one of her books (works by Charles Lamb), which had her address on the inside cover. Her old address, her beloved flat that was bombed. The letter reaches her, and so begins a new friendship not just with Dawsey, but the entire community of St Peter Port and the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Intrigued by this amazing name, the story of the literary society's origins are revealed and soon Juliet is caught up in their story, and that of the island which was under German Occupation during the war. Everyone has a story, and one woman in particular shines through all their tales: Elizabeth McKenna, a resourceful and quick-witted young woman whom Juliet feels an affinity to.

Told through letters between various characters but predominantly between Juliet and her publisher and best friend's brother, Sidney Stark, this poignant and bittersweet story is skilfully revealed and celebrated.

I'm not normally a fan of books told through letters, though it's an unfair assumption that they must always be boring. A truly skilled writer can reveal much through letters - and Mary Ann Shaffer, who died just before the book was published, and her niece Annie Barrows who finished the manuscript when her aunt fell ill, have completed a remarkable book that I cannot recommend highly enough.

This is a book that made me laugh, made me cry, and sometimes made me want to laugh and cry at the same time. Yet it's not a morbid or sad book. Juliet is a delightfully funny woman whose teasing tone reminded me of one of my sisters; and the Islanders each have their own quirks and remind me of shows like Seachange and Hamish Macbeth - that small town, close-knit community feel. So much is cleverly revealed to us through their correspondence, things that the characters themselves, writing the letters, don't notice.

It's beautifully written, slightly tongue-in-cheek and with that real British sense of humour - which is wonderful considering the authors are American. They really captured that tone, of the period as well as the place. There's also a great deal of subtlety, and an undercurrent of excitement, that completely beguiles you.

There are stories within stories as the past and the present overlap, and the complex relationship between Islander and Occupier is gently explored, while the horrors of a concentration camp are lightly touched upon - the full import is there, but not thrust in your face. A light touch, this book proves, can be more powerful that a hard-hitting one.

I felt close to all the characters in this book, who came vividly to life through these letters and their personal stories and adventures. It also makes me want to visit Guernsey! It's a quick, light read that will have you fully engrossed within the first few pages. A new favourite.(less)

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Jul 27, 2011 Cayenne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was one of the lovliest books I have ever read. I have read many books and seen many movies about World War II, but this one was the best. It was so real. I felt like I knew the characters and I wanted to run over to Guernsey to meet them in person. The stories about their experiences were so touching, not just because they were hard, but because the people were so brave. Horrible things happened to them, but I didn't feel traumatized reading about them. I felt uplifted at their endurance a...more

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Jan 14, 2011 Tatiana rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

The words that immediately come to mind when I think of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society are nice, cute and, unfortunately, hokey(ish).

I certainly understand its popularity (#4 most popular book of 2007 on Goodreads!). There is a distinct air of wholesomeness, inoffensiveness about it, plus it is occasionally funny (in a cute, inoffensive way), with a bit of tragic war business thrown in.

But it got tiring for me very quickly. From the moment the main character, Juliet, a young...more

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Nov 26, 2008 Beth F. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: almost anyone - I covered the specifics in my review

Shelves: general-fiction, 2008, it-made-me-cry, recommended-for-women, i-reviewed-this-bad-boy

Gush, gush, gush, gush, gush, gush, gush!!! GUSH!!!!! So yes, clearly I loved this book.

I think the only person I wouldn’t recommend this book to is one of those people who only read meaty tomes that might give regular people a brain embolism while they’re trying to make sense of the 17 different layers of subconscious meaning. I’d also hesitate from recommending this book to most men. However, if you have the ability to find joy and delight in the simple pleasures of a feel-good book, you too m...more Gush, gush, gush, gush, gush, gush, gush!!! GUSH!!!!! So yes, clearly I loved this book.

I think the only person I wouldn’t recommend this book to is one of those people who only read meaty tomes that might give regular people a brain embolism while they’re trying to make sense of the 17 different layers of subconscious meaning. I’d also hesitate from recommending this book to most men. However, if you have the ability to find joy and delight in the simple pleasures of a feel-good book, you too might fall in love with this story.

The book is written entirely in an epistolary format, consisting of letters back and forth between Juliet Ashton, a young author in 1946 London and several of her contacts and friends. It is just after WWII and people are trying to reclaim their lives and figure out if and how to move on from the tragedy of the war.

Juliet receives an unsolicited letter from a man who lives on the island of Guernsey, one of the small islands situated in the English Channel between France and England (known for having loose regulations and financial secrecy in the modern world thereby making it attractive to fraudsters, money launderers and criminals, but that has nothing to do with this story and why it is enjoyable, I just couldn’t help myself from mentioning it). But anyway, Dawsey Adams of Guernsey acquires a used book that had originally been owned by Juliet. She had penned her name and address inside the cover and Dawsey decided to write her a letter to share how much he’d enjoyed her secondhand book and how reading books had helped several Guernsey residents cope during the time of the German Occupation of their island. Before long, Juliet is corresponding regularly with Mr. Adams and several other Guernsey residents, all who had been a part of the Literary Society. She learns that the Society was initially formed as a front to explain a broken curfew but eventually became a rewarding opportunity to meet with friends and discuss a love of books. Eventually, Juliet travels to Guernsey to meet her island pen friends and it was hard for me to put the book down and get any work done!

The letters back and forth between Juliet and her friends gave the book a personal touch and it felt like we were being given an inside look into these peoples’ lives. I subscribe to the belief that letter-writing is a lost art form and appreciate books that are heavy on the letters and found the format enjoyable and easy to approach. There is also a very sweet love story in between these pages that made me sigh with contentment when the book ended. It was a highly satisfying read and I think that most book lovers would also enjoy this story.

Even though most of us don’t write letters anymore, I think we will identify and be attracted to the notion of maintaining a long-distance correspondence with someone and developing a friendship with someone we’ve never even met (hello? Anybody chat/email with friendly strangers on the internet?) Juliet becomes quite close to her Guernsey friends and there was one passage in particular when she is finally embarking on her trip to meet her pen friends that rung true for me because it was eerily similar to the thoughts I’ve had on the occasion when I’ve met “net friends” who crossed that boundary to become “real life friends” and it’s that, “oh god, oh god, oh god, what if we don’t like each other? What if my words misled them? What if I’m not as interesting in person as they thought I was online?”

”As the mail boat lurched into the harbor, I saw St. Peter Port rising up from the sea on terraces, with a church on the top like a cake decoration, and I realized that my heart was galloping. As much as I tried to persuade myself it was the thrill of the scenery, I knew better. All those people I’ve come to know and even love a little, waiting to see—me. And I, without any paper to hide behind…in these past two or three years, I have become better at writing than living…On the page, I’m perfectly charming, but that’s just a trick I learned. It has nothing to do with me. T least, that’s what I was thinking as the mail boat came toward the pier. I had a cowardly impulse to throw my red cape overboard and pretend I was someone else.”

As if I hadn’t already fallen in love with Juliet and her friends by this point, reading that passage actually brought tears to my eyes (not even kidding) because I knew exactly what she was feeling at that precise moment because I’ve been there before. So yes, I loved this book. It was beautiful and charming and a sheer delight to read.

However, I think potato peel pie sounds disgusting and I wouldn’t want to eat it. (less)

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Nov 17, 2008 Ruth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I won an ARC of this book either from the NYer or from the publisher. I forget which, as it's been sitting around for a while.

This epistolary novel is something I should have loved. I generally like novels in letters, it’s almost like peering into lighted windows at night as you pass, sewing the bits of life seen there into a coherent whole.

It’s fun, this book, in its witty comments, sort of the way I wish I could talk all the time. Yet, about halfway through it began to pale. Everybody in the b...more

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Sep 08, 2008 Emma Kaufmann rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Once again I find myself reading ten pages of a book which is meant to be 'great' and wondering why it is just rubbish. I was meant to read this for a book club but it was about as palatable as a potato peel pie so I spat it out uneaten.

Now, I'm sure there are American authors who can write in an authentic British voice (no one springs to mind, and Elizabeth George is terrible at it but at least her plot is not clunky) but Mary Ann Shaffer isn't one of them.

This book has an epistolary plot that...more

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Dec 24, 2008 Kelly rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book garners a 1.5 from me. What a painful read.

I won't dwell too long on what makes this book so wrong, but let's start with the problem of how difficult it is for a GOOD writer to develop character via the epistolary form. Now for two mediocre writers, it's even worse. I distinguish no voices among the twelve million uninteresting characters. Second, how about the "plot?" There isn't one, and what is moderately plot-like is so loosely strung that it's impossible and laughable. The woman's...more

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Sep 25, 2008 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Laura by: Jeslyn Rumbold

Shelves: best-seller, light-and-fun, war

A friend gave this to me with the recommendation, “You’ll LOVE this – it sounds like you!” I assume she meant because the main character is a witty book lover, not because she’s a critical spinster. I don’t dare ask.

At any rate, this is easily one of the most charming books I’ve read in a while. Our heroine, Juliet, spent the war writing light pieces for a women’s magazine, and now she yearns for more substantial material. When she receives a letter from a Guernsey man who has in his possession...more A friend gave this to me with the recommendation, “You’ll LOVE this – it sounds like you!” I assume she meant because the main character is a witty book lover, not because she’s a critical spinster. I don’t dare ask.

At any rate, this is easily one of the most charming books I’ve read in a while. Our heroine, Juliet, spent the war writing light pieces for a women’s magazine, and now she yearns for more substantial material. When she receives a letter from a Guernsey man who has in his possession a book she used to own, and finds out that during the war he belonged to a “Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,” she’s intrigued. She writes him back. It turns out that at the beginning of the occupation (Germany occupied the Channel Islands from 1939-1945), a group of friends had gathered for a covert pork supper, only to have to make up some excuse for breaking curfew when a Nazi officer discovered them walking home late at night. The Literary Society was the result.

Juliet begins corresponding with the various members of the society, but eventually decides she wants to go to Guernsey to meet them in person — as will you!! What a delightful assortment of characters — most of their letters made me laugh out loud, and several made me cry. Juliet’s letters are an absolute scream. Plus, as a bonus, you get an intriguing glimpse into what life was like for those trapped on an occupied island for the duration of the war. The hardships, friendships, and everyday heroism of the characters actually warmed my heart!

My only complaint is that it wasn’t until page 61 that the author managed to write in a different voice. In other words, most of the characters sound exactly alike, as though the same person is corresponding with herself. Creating distinct voices is a trick for any author, but good ones do it far more successfully. And there’s one woman, a non-member of the Literary Society, who’s so absurdly interfering that she makes Mrs. Kravitz of “Bewitched” look like an Arthur Miller creation. But the rest of the book (ridiculous sitcom character aside) is delightful enough to make up for the contrived and often predictable aspects. A quick read that will leave you smiling...and wanting to go to Guernsey!
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Dec 09, 2008 La Petite Américaine rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Bored Housewives

Shelves: sucked, rants

This book is boring, predictable, and pointless. Maybe the kind of thing that charms the sentimental. It's a series of letters in post WWII England between an author facing writers block and an island community who formed a book club during the German occupation. Eventually we meet the characters (who, oddly, have the same voice as the author in their letters) who come to describe one saintly, cliche, full of b.s. woman who held them all together during the occupation, while she manages to slap...more

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Dec 27, 2011 TD rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, reading-group

Did Fielding not put the epistolary novel to the sword in the first half of the eighteenth century? OK, it's probably unfair to blame Shaffer's chosen form - writers like Byatt have made great use of it. The truth is that "The Guernsey blah blah blah" simply isn't a book for a reader like me. Sicklier than molasses, more hackneyed than Hugh Grant/Julia Roberts feel-gooders, plotted with all the finesse of a six year old with aspirations to architecture and a pack of crayons to hand, perhaps this...more

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May 11, 2012 Kim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: buddy-reads-with-jemidar, kindle

Until I read this novel, my knowledge of the Channel Islands was limited to the breeds of dairy cattle which take their name from the Bailiwicks of Jersey and of Guernsey, the fact that the Islands are a tax haven and have a flower growing industry and my memories of the 1980s television series Bergerac. Thanks to the book, I now know more. In particular, I know that the Channel Islands were occupied by Germany during World War II. Given the geographical location of the Channel Islands, this doe...more
Until I read this novel, my knowledge of the Channel Islands was limited to the breeds of dairy cattle which take their name from the Bailiwicks of Jersey and of Guernsey, the fact that the Islands are a tax haven and have a flower growing industry and my memories of the 1980s television series Bergerac. Thanks to the book, I now know more. In particular, I know that the Channel Islands were occupied by Germany during World War II. Given the geographical location of the Channel Islands, this doesn’t come as a surprise, but it’s something I hadn’t thought about before. *

Set in 1946, the novel is in epistolary form and tells the story of an English writer who enters into correspondence with residents of Guernsey who make up the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. This is an organisation which came about because some quick thinking was required to protect its members during the German occupation. The letters tell the story of the horrific impact of the occupation on Guernsey residents and the struggle to return to normal life after the end of the war.

This is a book with plenty of quirkiness and charm. Indeed, it’s a bit like a literary equivalent of Doc Martin: plenty of warm-hearted, kooky characters living their lives in a seriously picturesque setting. Not that there’s anything wronge with that. I love charm and quirkiness. In addition, the account of life under German occupation is extremely moving and the tale of loyalty, courage and resilience in the worst possible situations is inspirational. Mary Ann Shaffer (who sadly died before the novel was published) was clearly a wonderful storyteller.

However, as much as I was captivated by the charm of the narrative, this is not a perfect novel. The epistolary form is not easy to carry off and I felt that the voices of the different characters were not sufficiently distinct from each other. In addition, the voices of the characters at times did not appear to belong to 1946. Another problem for me was that the novel is a bit too easy and light to carry the weight of the very serious sub-plots: in particular (view spoiler). The author’s note written by Shaffer’s niece Annie Barrows (who wrote sections of the novel when Shaffer became too ill to continue with the writing) indicates that some substantial re-writing was required. I wonder whether this re-writing might have included the insertion of a romance, which felt a bit … I don’t know, rushed, maybe. In addition, the use of a character who is a labour camp survivor as a device to progress the romance sub-plot struck me as unnecessary.

There were also smaller issues with the novel which took me out of the narrative. For example, there is reference to a plan adopt an orphaned child. It was suggested that approval for adoption or guardianship of the child would be a decision for a local lawyer to make. This struck me as implausible. A quick Internet search revealed that prior to 1960, children in Guernsey could be fostered or cared for but not formally adopted. As I write this I know how pedantic I sound, but I feel it is something I would not even have noticed if I had not felt myself to be less than 100% engaged with the narrative.

My overall response is positive. In spite of the novel's flaws, the story is interesting, the characters are full of charm and the themes are uplifting. Plus, the novel has made me want to visit the Channel Islands, which is no bad thing. Indeed, I’m sure that this novel has been excellent for Guernsey tourism. In terms of a rating, this teeters between 3 and 4 stars. As always, I enjoyed sharing the reading experienced with my friend Jemidar.

*Since finishing the novel, I’ve also learned from my well-informed friend Jemidar, that the British monarch bears the title of Duke of Normandy because the Bailiwick of Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey are British Crown Dependencies. I’ve also been reminded that Gerald Durrell’s zoo is in Jersey. There is clearly plenty to know about the Channel Islands.
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Kim Jane wrote: "I even remember that there were still bomb sites when I was a little kid - in the 60s, 20 years after the war ended, which means the econ...more
May 11, 2012 01:41pm

Gary McTiernan Hi Kim,

I also responded to the charm of the characters. I'm reading a new book by John Irving who also has a gift for creating memorable and unusual c...more
May 13, 2012 12:17pm

May 12, 2012 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Becky by: Felina

Shelves: historical-fiction, ww2, 2012, holocaust-and-atrocities, nook, reviewed, romance, tear-jerkers, challenge-1010

When I started this book, honestly, I had no idea what to expect. I know that lots of people have loved Guernsey, and a friend of mine raved about it, but I was dubious. I mean... the title just seemed silly to me. But now having read the book, the title makes perfect sense. Not only what it means, but also everything that it represents, and I can't really imagine the book having a different title now.

In addition to being dubious about the title, I've also been really impatient with books latel...more When I started this book, honestly, I had no idea what to expect. I know that lots of people have loved Guernsey, and a friend of mine raved about it, but I was dubious. I mean... the title just seemed silly to me. But now having read the book, the title makes perfect sense. Not only what it means, but also everything that it represents, and I can't really imagine the book having a different title now.

In addition to being dubious about the title, I've also been really impatient with books lately. They have to get to the good stuff quickly, or I find something shinier. Guernsey took a bit of getting used to - the format, being epistolary didn't help that much. The first letter, from someone named Juliet to someone named Sidney about someone named Susan Scott and something called English Foibles and the 'Society to Protest Against the Glorification of the English Bunny'.

Right then. I read a couple more letters, and thought, "Maybe later," and tried a couple other books. (Nook ownership encourages book polygamy, I swear it.) But I kept thinking about the letters, and who the people writing them were, and so I came back, and as soon as Dawsey wrote his first letter, I was hooked. I still think that the beginning is a little slow, but it did the job.

Overall, I thought that the epistolary style was great. It allows the characters to be themselves, for the reader to get to know them through their own thoughts, rather than an intermediary (a narrator) telling us about them. At times I thought that things were a little one sided, the letters providing responses to things that the reader wasn't privy to, so the reader would need to fill in the blanks, but I didn't mind this so much overall. It's better to pick a style and commit to it, in my opinion, than to try to be all things to all readers.

Another benefit of this style is that it's far more personal - written by a real person to be read by another real person. They aren't literature, they are bits of someone's life and thoughts and experiences. And that's exactly what they felt like.

I loved how they kind of skittered around the Occupation, while still showing exactly what it had been like. These people weren't whiners. They took the Occupation as another bump in the road and lived their lives around it. Their letters are full of the ways that their lives changed with the coming of the Nazis to Guernsey, but they were just telling someone who hadn't been there what it was like, not fishing for sympathy. That's a fine line, but I think this book walked it, and did it beautifully.

All that being said, I can't give this book 5 stars, although I wish I could. I didn't feel that the book was finished when it ended, and I feel a little bad for saying this, but that the book lost a bit of focus toward the end. Granted, the reader can fill in the blanks, but I was truly hoping for a more decisive non-romantic resolution. It's all well and good for the romance to have been wrapped up - but for me that was a side detail. That's not why I felt that we were in Guernsey. I wanted to see publication of the work-in-progress. I wanted to see the GL&PPPS read it, and commiserate over it, and begin to heal the griefs of their losses through it. Especially this last for Kit.

As it was, it was a beautiful book. Very quotable and moving and definitely worth reading. But I feel like the end could have come full circle and been much stronger. (less)

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Jan 28, 2011 Barbara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Maria

Recommended to Barbara by: Elizabeth, Susan & Rose

Shelves: holocaust-ww-2

Initially I hesitated whether to read this book. Everyone knows that you should not judge a book by its cover, but that warning should also include "or its title". As I started this work, I viewed the format, correspondence, with suspicion. It did not take much time for me to become spellbound by the unwinding story contained in these wonderful letters!

Rather than dwell on recounting this story, it would be important to state that the authors have adeptly and lovingly developed their characters....more

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Mar 15, 2012 Prashant rated it 5 of 5 stars

ABOUT ME AND THE BOOK

I started this book about 3 months back and just couldn’t feel the compulsion to read it since. It remained in my to-read shelf for too long and I started it again just to clear it from my shelf.

So, how can I eventually love a book so much to give a 5-star rating which I very brutally abandoned after reading the first 30 or so pages.

Well, for starters let me confess that the name of the book is very confusing and it doesn’t give anything away about the story or even the gen...more

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Jan 19, 2012 Jess Michaelangelo rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Book-lovers; esp. those who like books about books

Shelves: favorites, fiction, historical-fiction, own, re-read

I devoured this book! After hearing only good things about this book, I was still a little hesitant because I didn't know whether I would like the letter format of the post-WWII setting. Nevertheless, once I started it, I could not put it down! The letter format really added to the story--it allowed the reader to get to know each of the characters. By the end, I considered the characters dear to me as my own friends. My favorite character, by far, was Juliet. She was quirky and witty, and her hu...more

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Oct 07, 2008 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Laura by: Chicks on Lit group read

Shelves: owned, favorites

I just can't say enough about this book. I don't usually like WWII fiction, but this book is making me re-think that. A book for book-lovers, a book for someone who has always wanted to write a book, a book for lovers, for friends, for the historical fiction lover, a book of connection, a book of everything. Just everything. Read this book. You won't be sorry.

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Feb 22, 2013 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, bookclub-reads, epistolary

This was a really clever gradual unfolding of friendship and the suffering undergone by the captive population of Guernsey during the occupation of the Third Reich during the early 1940's. Its all recounted by letters and as a result of this I have seen it compared favourably and unfavourably to ' 84 Charing Cross Road ' and its letter technique but this is surely an unfair comparison as the latter is not a novel recounting an imagined story and imagined love and friendship which can always have...more This was a really clever gradual unfolding of friendship and the suffering undergone by the captive population of Guernsey during the occupation of the Third Reich during the early 1940's. Its all recounted by letters and as a result of this I have seen it compared favourably and unfavourably to ' 84 Charing Cross Road ' and its letter technique but this is surely an unfair comparison as the latter is not a novel recounting an imagined story and imagined love and friendship which can always have twists and turns to tweak the heart strings but rather a true account through the letters of a man and women coming to sympathy and friendship through the books they hunt and find.

This novel, for such it is, is a quite different creation. A writer is contacted by a man from the island who has come into possession of one of her books and, using the address in the flyleaf( see mum there is some point to doing that even if in pencil ), he writes to her and thus begins the narrative as through his and her letters and those of the other members of the eponymous society this incredible recounting of german occupation and cruelty, german courage and generosity, islander decency, courage and love, islander snobbery, blind stupidity and predjudice opens out.

The thing I found impressive is the letters did resonate with different voices which was wonderful this being a hazard sometimes not overcome in books where a number of narrators contribute.

The one caveat in my song of praise, well two actually, firstly i did wonder whether there were slightly too many letter writers and that subtracted from the overall affect but that would be a very minor criticism the larger would be concerning the character of the island bitch who wrote a number of ridiculously stupid letters dipped in bigotry and predjudice; i don't think I am particularly innocent or naive and know, sadly, that i am not unusually pleasant but I always find this type of blind bigotry and rudeness unbelievable. Don't get me wrong, I realize there are horrible people around but in novels of this type the petty viciousness and cruelty seems to be there more often to move plot along or to creat a hiss boo pantomime villain then to fill a genuine
aspect of human reality.

Having said that, this was a book I really loved. It was astoundingly moving and heartbreaking in parts, the journey of the main characters to ' fulfillment' was emminently satisfying and believable and the humour expressed in the letters was sometimes laugh out loud funny. I think it is so worth reading if you want the opportunity to smile, laugh, sharply intake breath, whimper, sob out loud and then smile some more...not necessarily in that order but you get my drift. I promise you, you will be smiling at the end.(less)

16 likes · like · see review

Dec 30, 2009 Heidi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone!

Shelves: audio, historical, fiction, humor, i-highly-recommend, to-reread, i-own, favorites, character

I have been wanting to read this for a year. As I will be leading the Book Chat discussion on it in a couple of months, I finally got around to it.

The book was charming and delightful! Absolutely wonderful and one I would like to own a copy of to re-read my favorite parts over and over. Simple yet still quite deep. Full of so many characters and wonderful personalities--I fell in love with so many of them! I could completely relate to Juliet longing to visit Guernsey, and never wanting to leave...more I have been wanting to read this for a year. As I will be leading the Book Chat discussion on it in a couple of months, I finally got around to it.

The book was charming and delightful! Absolutely wonderful and one I would like to own a copy of to re-read my favorite parts over and over. Simple yet still quite deep. Full of so many characters and wonderful personalities--I fell in love with so many of them! I could completely relate to Juliet longing to visit Guernsey, and never wanting to leave it. There was plenty else that I connected with her on. As well as with other characters.

Very, very well-written. A wonderful must-read for everyone--but especially for anyone who loves reading and knows the power of it. The audio version increased the overall experience to making it superb. Well done and thoroughly entertaining. It had me feeling giddy, anxious, heartbroken, excited, well-versed, sympathetic, in shock. I laughed. I sat in wonder. I felt surprise. I received knowledge and understanding.

Another thing I loved was the historical aspect of the novel, and how it brought together into a seamless whole many different and separate pieces of ideas and thoughts that I've always had about WWII.

Though much of the book was predictable, it still came out in such an amazing way. It compelled you to read on to see how things would turn out. I could not "put it down" (since it was audio). Seriously, the CDs were being taken to the car, the desk computer, the home laptop. And the only reason I didn't finish it sooner was because I was listening to another much-anticipated audiobook.

The only real disappointment (aside from the teeniest sprinkling of language) was that the book ended. I wanted to be a part of these people's lives forever. And I thought it ended too suddenly--not giving me a chance to say good-bye. Yet it did give leave for my imagination to go where it will with how the story was left.

Exceptionally wonderful.

12/29/09 Merry Christmas, me. I now own my own print copy!

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Dec 27, 2008 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't do this often, but I am commanding my fellow Good Read Sisters to stop what they are doing, order a pizza for the family and hide yourselves away with this book! You all deserve a treat and if I could I would come run your homes while you read - this book is that good. It's unique - all letters - but please don't be put off by that. On the contrary, Shaffer is able to add an edge of humor with this device...and is she also paying homage to Anne Bronte and the Tenant...? [if you read it y...more

28 likes · like · see review

Jan 31, 2011 e.c.h.a rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to e.c.h.a by: Mia Queen

Shelves: fiksi, dunia-digenggaman-ku, koleksi-teman, persahabatan, romansa, buku-dan-buku

Books. Foods. Love. Friendship.

Surat dari echa untuk teman-teman goodreads

Jakarta, 1 Februari 2011

Dear temans,

Awalnya nih lihat buku ini gara-gara ada notif di email soal rekomendasi dari Ratu Mia. Kaget juga sih tiba-tiba Mia rekomen buku ini, ceritanya tentang apa ya?.

Eh..pas kapan klub buku tahun lalu *bulannya lupa* hahaha Mamih Uci tiba-tiba kasih buku ini. Yang oon-nya diriku tanpa tanya ini buku dari siapa? Ternyata ini punya Mia hahahahaha Maafkan ya Mia, kau sih tak sms dulu :p

Sejak ter...more

5 likes · like · see review

Feb 13, 2010 Morgan F rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nfa-library, historical-fiction, 2000s, ww2-holocaust, multiple, read-2010, medium-sized

I've been wanting to get my hands on this book for ages. It was receiving good reviews and was promoted everywhere I looked.

This book, written in epistolary format (points for using a new word!), follows Juliet, an author living in London just after WW2, who receives a letter from a man living on Guernsey who happens to notice her address in a second-hand book he has. They begin a delightful correspodance and Juliet gets sucked into the story of Guernsey's occupation and of the Guernsey Literar...more

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Sep 25, 2009 Rose added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Oh, I feel like a bitch, but this book was just...too heartwarming, if there is such a thing. Despite the Nazi horrors, everyone is transformed by the redemptive power of reading, and there is a happy ending for everyone who isn't dead. The nasty rich old boyfriend gets the push (yay!), Juliet moves to the infinitely better Guernsey (yay!), marries the silent-but-apparently-irresistible islander (yay!), and adopts a cute little kid orphaned by the Nazis (more yay!).

Naturally, none of this is at...more Oh, I feel like a bitch, but this book was just...too heartwarming, if there is such a thing. Despite the Nazi horrors, everyone is transformed by the redemptive power of reading, and there is a happy ending for everyone who isn't dead. The nasty rich old boyfriend gets the push (yay!), Juliet moves to the infinitely better Guernsey (yay!), marries the silent-but-apparently-irresistible islander (yay!), and adopts a cute little kid orphaned by the Nazis (more yay!).

Naturally, none of this is at all predictable. Well, the only bit that isn't predictable is that she marries a guy who seems to be utterly unattractive. He's a stolic, withdrawn, silent lover of Charles Lamb. Juliet only fell for him after he pulled the old trick of acting like he fancied some other girl and ignoring her. But don't worry! Juliet hems and haws over her romantic choices at great length with her homegirl, so there are no surprises coming.

The book's fine. It's just not really my type. It's too...literary chick-lit for me; it makes me feel manipulated, in some way I have no hope of analysing. Turn Left at the Daffodils was a similar experience. The story was interesting, but I felt like my reactions to the characters and plot was too engineered - like someone was holding up a sign saying "Be sad here" or "Woo, here's a happy bit, celebrate!".

I guess most fiction is intended to create particular emotions and reactions as the book is read, so what's the difference? I think it's a bit like when someone makes a nice comment about you - you always stop and ask yourself if it was flattery or genuine. You would be embarrassed with yourself if you let yourself believe a comment was truly meant when you suspected it was just flattery. Make any sense? Probably not.

John's review of You Shall Know Our Velocity! explores rather more eloquently what I was trying to say above:

I'm a little torn here, because I feel like I was supposed to like this book, so part of me wants to pretend that I didn't like it. It's like a movie where you know they are trying to make you cry, and you do cry, and then feel bad about it because you know that they played you like a fiddle.

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Oct 28, 2008 Kathryn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Kathryn by: read an article about it in the Mill Valley Times

A sweet, charming and beautiful story about friendship, humanity, heart-full-ness and courage. And I have such a special place in my heart for letters-between-friends; and have made some good friends through letter-writing, so the premise of the story is just too-too perfect! The historical aspect was also very interesting; the island of Guernsey was the only place on British soil occupied by the Germans during WWII. Mercifully (to me, anyway) only a few of the letters dealt with some of the mor...more

14 likes · like · see review

Feb 17, 2009 Alisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

I'm in favor of:

-pig farmers as romantic leads
-parrots named Zenobia who eat cuckoo clocks
-women who do the asking

I'm not in favor of:

-strong silent types as romantic leads
-adorable children
-parrots getting more page time than goats

69 likes · like · see review

Sep 28, 2012 Chrissie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: great-britain, hf, kirkus, text-checked, islands, history, favorites, guernsey

Wonderful book! Both light and amusing and serious, gripping and informative. This is a must-read for everyone; one of those books that is just so much fun to read.

18 likes · like · see review

Jun 12, 2011 Crystal Starr Light rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club, historical, so-boring-it-s-boring, hello-my-name-is-mary-sue

Just Like My Mommma's Pie

Overall, I like my mother's cooking. She's gotten more creative over the years, and eating what she's prepared gives me a nice, homey feeling. However, I've always been a bit hesitant about my mother's desserts, particularly her pies. They always come out far too sweet for my taste, because she adds lots of sugar to berries that are already naturally sweet.

This book is a lot like my mother's pie. It looks pretty, the crust is warm and flaky, but one bite and the filling...more

5 likes · like · see review

May 17, 2011 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: lit-american, historical-fiction-ww-ii

I liked the first half of this book much better than the second half of the book. The first half is great; the second half almost feels like a Masterpiece Theatre cliche.

Still, I'm glad I read this book. At times, it is a very lovely book.

The first half focuses on the developing relationship between the Guernsey Islanders and Juliet who gets to know them via letters. It's true that some of the letters sound too much alike even though they are written by different people. The one wholly distint v...more

5 likes · like · see review

May 12, 2011 Monique rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Monique by: Tintin

Shelves: bestsellers, drama, historical-fiction, romance, 2011

Last night, I finally closed my copy of this book with a satisfied smile. There were a lot of things to like about it, and they lingered in my mind as I closed my eyes to sleep.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is, principally, a romance novel. Set sometime in the mid-1940's, after the liberation of Europe from the Nazi occupation, in the little island called Guernsey, which formed part of the Channel Islands in the English Channel nestled between England and France, this book t...more Last night, I finally closed my copy of this book with a satisfied smile. There were a lot of things to like about it, and they lingered in my mind as I closed my eyes to sleep.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is, principally, a romance novel. Set sometime in the mid-1940's, after the liberation of Europe from the Nazi occupation, in the little island called Guernsey, which formed part of the Channel Islands in the English Channel nestled between England and France, this book tells the story of writer/authoress Juliet Ashton, who develops friendships with a group of Guernsey Islanders who call themselves members of the “Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” through a series of missives exchanged between and among them. As Juliet, a single woman who lives in London, was then in search of a proper topic for her next book, she senses the makings of a novel among the letters sent to her by the Islanders. Initially, the stories were about how their Literary Society was founded, its members and their subsequent meetings; later on, however, the Islanders spoke of their experiences during the Nazi Occupation of their island. Packing her bags and spurning a lover's perfectly reasonable marriage proposal, Juliet boards the boat that would take her to Guernsey, and there discovers more than she bargained for.

The book was very easy to read. Instead of a winding narrative, the authors weaved and created the story in the form of letters and telegrams – letters to and from Juliet, her publisher Sidney, Sidney's sister and Juliet's close friend, Sophie, and the Guernsey people: Dawsey, Amelia, Eben, and the funny and slightly cuckoo Isola Pribby, my favorite character. I appreciated this style used by the authors because then, the points of view shifted from character to character, depending on who was writing the letter, so the reader, instead of seeing the story unfold from a limited viewpoint, was allowed unlimited vantage point and access to all of the characters' innermost thoughts.

Apart from the writing style, what I appreciated most about the book was its historical value. Having been set after the second world war, the stories that the characters imparted – some of whom were depicted as survivors of the war – actually had some basis in history: the German soldiers who wreaked havoc and terror during the Occupation, the horrors of being detained in the German concentration camps, specifically Belsen, Ravensbruck and Neuengamme, the deplorable and heartbreaking condition of the Todt slaves, the SS and its leader, Heinrich Himmler, etc etc. I know only bits and pieces of that part of world history, so whenever I chance upon historical facts like these from fiction books, I soak it up and research on them, given the opportunity.

Reading this book made me imagine how simple, easy, and uncomplicated island-living could be. The authors painted such an idyllic picture of Guernsey, making it so natural for the heroine, Juliet, to fall in love with the place. Of course, the romance angle was sort of automatic for me, as I already had an inkling, in the first pages, how everything would turn out in the end (which it did). That aside, however, the beautiful relationships that were forged in the novel was something that the reader will wish he/she himself has.

I am happy I read this book slowly, as it made for appreciating it all the better. :)

Thank you, TINTIN, for my copy! :)s (less)

6 likes · like · see review

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About Mary Ann Shaffer

Mary Ann Shaffer worked as an editor, a librarian, and in bookshops. Her life-long dream was to someday write her own book and publish it. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was her first novel. Unfortunately, she became very ill with cancer and so she asked her niece, Annie Barrows, the author of the children’s series Ivy and Bean, as well as The Magic Half, to help her finish the...more

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“I don't want to be married just to be married. I can't think of anything lonelier than spending the rest of my life with someone I can't talk to, or worse, someone I can't be silent with.” — 938 people liked it

“That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you to another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive - all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment.” — 696 people liked it

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