CBR Book 14: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a reasonably touching historical fiction about the German Occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II, disguised as a charming little story about quirky people who like to read and write letters. Juliet Ashton is a young authoress in London immediately following the events of the war. She's just come off a book tour for a series of vignettes regarding the war, and is burned out by it all when she receives a letter from a man who has somehow come across a book that once belonged to her. Soon she is corresponding with various members, and is drawn into the world of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and is fascinated by their stories of the occupation. Eventually, she reaches the determination to write about the experiences of the people of Guernsey, and goes there to do further research. What she finds is much more than anticipated: friends, family, and love.

What can I say? I love epistolary novels. I'm not sure why ... it might be because I find characters and character development to be the most important aspects of a novel, and when the story is told through the eyes of the characters themselves, you get so much of them along with the story. This novel is no exception. The characters are nothing particularly exciting, but they're warm and somehow familiar. The stories, though, are fascinating. I thought I was reading something light and fun, but the stories about the Germans, some good and some bad, are touching and poignant. The overall tenor of the novel is one of weariness and cautious emergence. People are almost afraid to hope again, to laugh and to love. In that sense, it seems as if there's almost an excuse for the characters to be slightly less than dynamic. They've shut their true selves away in order to survive the war, and they're just now starting to open up again.

All in all, a fun and thoughtful little read that will take you an afternoon. Charming and not without a couple of twists and turns to keep you guessing, at least a little bit.