The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society in Arrangement and Description: Archivists At Large

Aug 26, 2011 Barbara rated it really liked it

Shelves: home-library

Sometimes it's nice to read a book, a relatively short and quick read, where you can predict the ending from the description on the flap. Not all the time of course; life would be far too boring if that were true. But every once in a while, I need a story that doesn't require my head to work too hard, and everything works out the way it should at the end. This is exactly one of those books.

(Again, GoodReads, give me a half-star option--this is a solid 3.5 review, but I decided to round up. Stop Sometimes it's nice to read a book, a relatively short and quick read, where you can predict the ending from the description on the flap. Not all the time of course; life would be far too boring if that were true. But every once in a while, I need a story that doesn't require my head to work too hard, and everything works out the way it should at the end. This is exactly one of those books.

(Again, GoodReads, give me a half-star option--this is a solid 3.5 review, but I decided to round up. Stop making me decide!)

Written as a series of letters, "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" tells the story of Juliet Ashton and her becoming acquainted with the island of Guernsey and its Nazi occupation during WWII. I was as fascinated as she was; for all my obsession with all things British, I was never aware of this part of history, so that aspect surprised me, and certainly has me wanting to do more research to find out even more about the Todt workers and the Germans and the islanders who did their best to survive when conditions were at their absolute worst. To understand that this really was reality for people--it almost boggles the mind.

As to the fiction in this novel--others have noted that Juliet is way too nice and beloved and in all ways perfect. Sure she is--and Dawsey is too nice and kind of a man, and Kit is too delightful and well-behaved and clever for a 4-year-old, Isola too quirky, Eben too grandfatherly, Amelia too motherly, Sidney too brotherly, Mark too much playboy millionaire who always gets what he wants--everyone is just too. A problem? Depends on your expectations. For someone who enjoys way too many super cheesy romantic comedies (such as yours truly), it's not all that vexing. Everyone was boxed in their appropriate labels, and wore them proudly. If it wasn't for the stories of the war--stories that most people outside the Channel were likely never aware of--and the general charm of Guernsey (it speaks to my lifelong desire to live on British soil in a small cottage overlooking the sea), this could be a standard chick-lit novel. But it's that added history and charm that make this a lovely read.

Not without its issues, however:

• Very rarely are character voices in the letters distinct; always read the "From ... to ...." at the beginning of each one, to keep from being confused. You get used to it, I swear.

• The author was very fond of alliterative names--and names that begin with "S". Gilly Gilbert, Billee Bee Jones, and Adelaide Addison were easy enough to distinguish, but it took several pages for me to keep Sidney Stark, Susan Scott, and Sophie Strachan (née Stark--oh, it's too much...) sorted in my head. Was there a reason all three of Juliet's favorite correspondents in mainland Britain were alliterative S's? Gosh, I hope so. Otherwise, that's just--well, lazy and lackluster. (Ooh, see what I did there?)

• (*Nitpick alert*) Remy is a traditional French boy's name. Nowadays people are getting creative and androgynous in their naming of children (see any celebrity child for the more horrifying examples), but my guess is, in the 1920s when the character was born, Remy was still a boy's name.

Besides these things, I was still perfectly happy to spend a couple afternoons on Guernsey Island, learning about its inhabitants and their survivals. I sniffled a time or two (the horrors of concentration camps tend to affect me, as they well should), and found Juliet to have such delightful phrasing, I definitely giggled more than once: "Will Thisbee gave me The Beginner's Cook-Book for Girl Guides. It was just the thing; the writer assumes you know nothing about cookery and writes useful hints - 'When adding eggs, break the shells first.'"

This is not a hard read--some of the war stories may surprise, but that's just for our lack of knowledge, not for the author's attempts at plot twists and turns. As I've said, the ending is basically a forgone conclusion from the beginning, but really, when has that stopped you before? If it has, then perhaps you are not the audience the author intended. If it hasn't--enjoy it, especially on a rainy day with a cup of tea and fuzzy blanket (sleeping cat curled on feet optional). ...more

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Sep 10, 2008 Jaci rated it it was amazing

Wonderful story and extremely well-written, with humor (The Ten Commandments...Word of God or crowd control?). The epistolary style is not distracting.
p.104 "When my son, Ian, died at El Alamein--side by side with Eli's father, John--visitors offering their condolences, thinking to comfort me, said 'Life goes on.' What nonsense, I thought, of course it doesn't. It's death that goes on; Ian is dead now and will be dead tomrrow and next year and forever. There's no end to that. But perhaps there w ...more

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