Written by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie BarrowsPublished by The Dial Press, 2008, 274 pages
This review refers to an uncorrected advance proof of the novel
When I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program, I had a few misgivings about starting it. For one thing, it has such a cutesy title. And it's an epistolary novel which made me dubious right away. Novels written in the form of letters are some of the hardest to pull off successfully – I know because I've tried it myself, with absolutely ghastly results.
But I needn't have worried. This is a wonderful little book. Some other reviewers have called it "perfect." I'm not sure I'd go that far – but if it's not perfect, it's a very near miss.
With just a few exceptions, the letters that tell the story are written by or to Miss Juliet Ashton, a young writer living in London, right after World War II. It's 1946 and England is struggling with the dreadful aftermath of the war – rationing is still in effect and the horror of the war is still fresh in everyone's memories.
Juliet is floundering a bit, looking for a subject for her next book and not having much luck. And then one day she receives a letter from one Dawsey Adams, a farmer living on the Channel Island of Guernsey. He has acquired a book that once belonged to Juliet – her name and address were written inside the front cover. The book is the Selected Essays of Elia, by Charles Lamb, and Mr. Adams has fallen in love with the book and its author. He asks Juliet if she could send him the name and address of a bookstore in London where he can order more of Lamb's books by mail. He also makes brief mention of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which he says came into being because of a roast pig the Islanders were trying to keep secret from the German soldiers who occupied the island during the war.
Her curiosity piqued, Juliet writes back to Dawsey Adams and their correspondence begins. Gradually, other members of the Island literary group join in and Juliet gets to know them all through their tales of the books and authors they've discovered. She learns about their daily lives in Guernsey, and also hears about the hardships and trauma they experienced during the war which brought the German army to their island. Juliet and the Islanders become more and more caught up in each other's lives, until they eventually invite her to visit them, and she quickly accepts the invitation. And her visit has a powerful, life-changing effect on both Juliet and her new friends.
This is one of those rare books that will have you laughing and crying at the same time. It's witty and warm and moving, with a few surprise twists thrown in along the way – a love story, and a celebration of literature and books and the people who read and write them. And it even has a description of the Potato Peel Pie of the title!
Oh, and Oscar Wilde makes an appearance, as well.
I read an uncorrected proof of the book. The regular edition is due to go on sale July 29, and this is definitely one I'll be buying.
I didn't even try to get that book through the ER program because of the title. Someone else reviewed this book and really loved it, too. Sometimes a novel written in the form of letters or uses a lot of letters can really suffer. I'll be interested to see how this one plays out for myself. I'll have to add that to my TBR list at some point.
ReplyDeleteLike Literatehouswife, I didn't ask for it because of the title... I'm glad to see it was better than I expected!
ReplyDeleteliteratehousewife and kathleen--
ReplyDeleteYeah, I waited until the last minute to decide to request it myself. So I was really pleasantly surprised. Guess this should teach me not to judge a book by its title. Thanks for stopping by and reading my review.
This sounds like something I would like -- once I get over "The Spiderwick Chronicles". It comes out about the same time "The Lace Reader" does so I am putting it on my list as well. Both of them sound like lovely autumn reads -- my favorite time read.
ReplyDeleteI almost didn't pick it up when the ARC arrived in our store, precisely because the title makes it sound really light and fluffy, but I ended up loving it (my review is in Readerville )and am so glad you did too.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your review. I was over the moon when I got it in the Early Reviewer program at LT. I loved it, probably my age and having English relatives who talked about the war when I was a child. I reviewed it too:
ReplyDeletehttp://freshinkbooks.blogspot.com/2008/08/guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie.html
The 'Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society' is a fine book, in epistolary form. Without detracting from its merits, the difference in quality was so pronounced that it led me to speculate about the authorship. My own review, which might interest you, is noted below.
ReplyDeletehttp://grealistink.typepad.com/wordplay_language_politic/2009/01/the-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society-a-book-review.html
Thanks for posting a review of this! I've been wondering what it's about and what people thought of it. I actually think the title is what caught my attention at first. Your review definitely gave me the info I was looking for.
ReplyDeleteAlayne
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