The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

A lot of my reviews revolve around YA and speculative fiction. So to show that I read other books I am going to review THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. When I first heard the title of this book I chuckled. I never thought I would actually be drawn into this world. The first thing to note about this story is that it is written in epistolary format. It took me a little while to get into it but once I did I couldn't stop.

THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY is about Juliet Ashton, a popular author, during 1946 shortly after WWII. She received a letter from a fellow named Dawsey who lives on the island of Guernsey. During WWII the island, located in the English Channel, was a jumping point for Germany. They were occupied by Germany for many years. During this time the people of the village would get together in the evenings. One time they broke curfew and one of the soldiers asked them what they were doing and the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was created. Juliet exchanges letters with all of them and learns about what happened on the island.

All of the stories are touching and they really pulled at my emotions, more so than usual. I really cared about the characters and was invested in what happened to them. I related to Juliet as a person. I mean she breaks off her engagement because her fiancé moves her books so he can put up his own stuff. That is my kind of lady. Granted there was a lot more behind the broken engagement than just the books, but that was the last straw.