The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society in Reading with Style

Mar 04, 2015 Shaina rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dewey-s, historical-fiction

Original review here: http://www.shainareads.com/2015/05/wh...

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society tells the story of journalist and author Juliet Ashton, who stumbles upon a literary society formed on the Bailwick of Guernsey in the thick of World War II. Hoping to write an article about their society, Juliet befriends the group through a series of letters and soon becomes enamored of them, sharing in their happiness and their heartache.

This was a really, sweet funny story. It gets ...more

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Jun 10, 2017 Stephanie rated it liked it · review of another edition

This was a cute historical novel set right after WWII has ended. It had a lot of positive things going, but really dragged for the last third of the book. I am not a fan of romance based plots.

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Oct 20, 2013 Thomas Acland rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, 2000-s, 21st-century, war, romance, set-in-the-uk, epistolary, wwii-fiction

I have to say that I really enjoyed reading this book. Read it last week on the tube travelling into London and was able to completely detach myself from the hustle and bustle of London's commute to the peace and tranquility of Guernsey. It's one of very few epistolary novels that I have read and one of even less that I have actually enjoyed. Often the problem with this type of novel is that it feels forced to try to get everything into the letters/diary in order to tell the story, but in this c ...more

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Dec 01, 2021 Madly Jane rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: characters-you-cannot-forget, favorite-beloved-books, historical-fiction-adult, heroine-is-great, 2021-read-and-reviewed, 2021-favorite-reads

This is such a beautiful epistolary novel. Yes, the entire book is a series of letters. I could not stop reading this book at all. I read it in two sittings. And It was written so well. There were moments of laughter and moments of great sadness reading it. It's one of those rare books that is just full of little details and those details, whether they are dialogue or in descriptive language, are all ESSENTIAL. Less is more, and this woman chose to tell a very big story about Guernsey during WWI This is such a beautiful epistolary novel. Yes, the entire book is a series of letters. I could not stop reading this book at all. I read it in two sittings. And It was written so well. There were moments of laughter and moments of great sadness reading it. It's one of those rare books that is just full of little details and those details, whether they are dialogue or in descriptive language, are all ESSENTIAL. Less is more, and this woman chose to tell a very big story about Guernsey during WWII in a very small way. It's only 274 pages, and yet, so much happens within those 274 pages. I have read popular books this year, where NOTHING happened in 400 pages and it was filled with gorgeous language and fantastical happenings.

This book meant something. Many do not.

And when you are reading it, you do not want it to end. Because you have stepped into this world, the town, the houses, the beaches. You know these people. And you realize war is complex and also horrible and there are people who are just broken by it. You also, as a reader, begin to see the power, YES THE POWER, of writing letters, of reading books, of telling stories, and how they connect people, and yes, even save people in so many ways. Because they do. And have.

And yes, some people fall in love over literature, and while this is fiction, this falling in love over literature has happened in real life. Letters, the books that people read, do tell readers many things about them. We had two heroines in this story, though many of the other characters are heroes of their own tales. Juliet and Elizabeth. Two orphans, really, both young girls and women with a wild streak of independence and an unbroken honesty about life. Not perfect people. But human beings with agency moving forward despite tragedies and losses, clinging to friendships that supported them, facing the challenges of love and the horrors of war without hardening. OMG. Some people on Twitter are hardened and cynical over much less.

I suppose this is a book, too, about a generation of people, collectively, who should be models for people facing challenges today. I hate to put that out there, but I thought of it constantly as I read. (!!!!!) This is my mother's own generation, my father's, (both long dead) and I was reminded of my parents many times as I read this story and thought about their stories. Not many of us reading this book know what it is like to face hunger, true starvation, war, brutality, fear, isolation, and loneliness, the cold even. Doing completely without. Does anybody remember Micah Daniels' letter about Churchhill sending food to Guernsey? Did you read the amounts? A regular tin of black pepper bought at a Walmart or Kroger is 4oz. The box contain 1 ounce of pepper and 1 ounce of salt. And I could not help but think of stories I had heard about living a year off a kind of homemade oatmeal and nothing more. I can't even wrap my mind around those Vega Boxes.

There were funny moments, too. Isola, laughing. What a character. I so enjoyed this book and I am curious to know more about Guernsey now. I don't think I will ever forget these characters and I folded down many pages that had wonderful ways the author showed characterization in a simple sentence. I am sure to read this book again and makes notes. It's not a hard read at all. And it looks more simple than it really is. I so enjoy getting letters myself. And yes, there is a big difference in real paper letters in the post and an email.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. ...more

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Apr 25, 2012 Taurean Watkins rated it really liked it

Shelves: out-of-comfort-zone

It was the epistolary format, a (Mostly) likable cast of literary solace seekers, and overall hopeful edge that made reading through the sad parts as non-traumatizing as possible, but still honest about the horrors of the this point and time.

As much as I recoil from books with any kind of war, or military bent, I was able to embrace this one, be prepared to cry and be mildly disturbed, but you will laugh too.

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