As many of you may know, I am no longer a New Yorker, so please check out my new blog A Library of My Own. If you are just reading Life and Times, you are missing out. Thanks!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I had heard so many good things about Mary Ann Shaffer's book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society that when I saw it at the library, I just had to pick it up. Doesn't it have the LONGEST title ever? I'm a sucker for WWII novels so I thought I'd like it. And I LOVED it. It's going on my top ten favorites for this year. It's one of those books I'd go out and get my mom, grandma, and sister to read.

Here's the plot:

London, 1946 (post-WWII)
Juliet Ashton, a somewhat comedic writer for a newspaper is promoting her new book when she gets a letter from a person in Guernsey (an island in the English Channel). He has a book that once belonged to her and they both share a mutual affection for the writer, Charles Lamb. Through this correspondence and more, Juliet becomes aware of what happened to the people on Guernsey during WWII (the island was occupied by the Nazis) and how and why a few of these people developed the Literary Potato Peel Pie Society - which is an odd name for a book club. She decides that their story may make a great subject for a new book, so she goes to Guernsey to get to know these people.

The entire book is written as a collection of letters, sometimes written by Juliet, her publisher, her friend, and the people of Guernsey.

I loved the way this book was written. The letters made it all more personal and the story develops bit by bit because you are delved out the information along with the recipient of the letters. I also LOVED Juliet Ashton. She has such a fun wit and writing style. And the Guernsey people are just beautiful and loving. I could see how and why Juliet becomes entranced by their stories. I immediately Googled Guernsey to see photos of the beautiful island.

Of course, there is a love story which was so sweet (totally safe for moms and grandmas). I'm not telling you anything more though. You'll have to read it for yourself.

**I must be the LAST person to have read this because it's Also Reviewed By:

Shelf Love
Book Nut
Monniblog
She is Too Fond of Books
Tales of a Capricious Reader
Books on the Brain
Age 30+ A Lifetime of Books
Maw Books Blog
Becky's Book Reviews
Hist-Fic Chick
A Novel Menagerie
S. Krishna's Books
The Book Nest
Under the Dresser
Serendipity
The Tome Traveller's Weblog
It's all about me (time)
Book Chatter and other stuff...
Never Not Reading
Books, the Universe, and Everything
All About {n}
Planet Books
Ticket to Anywhere
Books I Done Read
Pop Culture Junkie
Booking Mama
Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?
At Home with Books
Obsessed with Books
Devourer of Books
Historical Tapestry - Kailana & Marg
Historical Tapestry - Ana T.
A Reader's Respite
Library Queue
Fizzy Thoughts
Bibliophile By the Sea
Maggie Reads
Medieval Bookworm
You're History!
Reading Adventures
A Garden Carried in the Pocket
Random Jottings of a Book and Opera Lover
HistoricalFiction.com
Caribou's Mom
A Girl Walks into a Bookstore
BookBath


15 comments:

  1. Whew - it must have taken you longer to link all the reviews, than to read the book!

    I agree - this is one of my all-time favorites! I really wanted to move to Guernsey after I was finished!

    Great review!

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  2. I LOVED this book - one of the best ones I read all year!!! Glad to hear that you loved it, too!!!

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  3. I'm so glad you loved this one - I did too! And I DID get my gram and my sister to read it. :)

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  4. See, now you can be added to the list...LOL

    I liked it a lot. Thanks for the link :)

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  5. Wow, that is a monster list of links! Thanks for including mine! :)

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  6. So glad you also loved this book! I just thought it was so wonderful. Thanks for the link love :)

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  7. This is on my Christmas wishlist! Hope someone gives me a copy soon. Haha.

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  8. Wow, look at all those reviews. I've also not read the book yet, but definitely want to.

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  9. I am glad to hear you loved it. Thanks for including me in the links. If you love this you might just like 84 Charing Cross Road and the her followup book both by Helen Hanff. I can't remember what the second one is called but you have to read them together.

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  10. That title is a mouthful that's for sure! I really do want to read this eventually so you're not the last one :)

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  11. Very cool blog! Rachel at Home Between the Pages recommended you, and I'm glad she did. Following you now and looking forward to what you have to say!

    Cheers,
    Greg
    http://thenewdorkreviewofbooks.blogspot.com

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  12. Nope, not last! it's still waiting in my TBR shelves.

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  13. My Mom has loaned this to me (so it is not in my tbr stacks :) ) and I really need to get to it.

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  14. I loved this book, too, and while the romance aspect seemed just a bit rushed, I thought it was sweet.

    I hope it's okay that I linked to your review on War Through the Generations.

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

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