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

by Mary Ann Shaffer

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations
4,077384565 (4.26)383

Member recommendations

  1. writemeg recommends The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, "Another deeply affecting, beautiful and heartbreaking story of books, love, small kindness and resilience during World War II."
  2. jhedlund recommends Dear Exile : The True Story of Two Friends Separated (for a Year) by an Ocean by Hilary Liftin, "Epistolary style, although a true story instead of a novel."
  3. Sodapop recommends 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, "A Non-fiction story about book lovers told via their letters."
  4. wandering_star recommends Miss Buncle: Containing Miss Buncle's book and Miss Buncle married by D. E. Stevenson
  5. CatyM recommends The Dig by John Preston
  6. caitykarczewski recommends The Color Purple by Alice Walker, "If you like books written in letters and diary entries!"
  7. withwill recommends At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays by Anne Fadiman
  8. DimitraDaisy recommends The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
  9. helgagrace recommends 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
  10. cransell recommends Secrets to Happiness: A Novel by Sarah Dunn

(see all 17 recommendations)

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English (378)  French (4)  Norwegian (1)  Afrikaans (1)  All languages (384)
Showing 1-5 of 378 (next | show all)
A wonderful book! Original, moving, informative. A deceptively light and easy read about the horrors of the German occupation in World War II, friendship and the transformative power of books. ( )
  Mindsetter | Nov 8, 2009 |
I loved this book. I wasn't sure I would enjoy a book that was all letters, but the author made it come alive. I have read the book twice and will probably read it again. I get something new every time. ( )
  lynneinfla | Nov 7, 2009 |
Un très joli livre qui donne à voir sur le mode épistolaire ce que put être la vie à Guernesey durant l'occupation allemande, au cours de la seconde guerre mondiale. Pour les britanniques, ce fut une expérience rare, car aucune autre parcelle du territoire national ne fut occupé. Les auteurs en tirent une jolie chronique pleine de personnages attachants. Ils réussissent à donner à chacun d'eux une voix qui lui est propre. Il se dégage de l'ensemble un charme qui a touché toutes les personnes à qui je l'ai fait lire. ( )
  erikvanlaere | Nov 6, 2009 |
This is a gentle funny and happy book. It also reveals some interesting facts about the Channel Islands during World War 2 . My only regret is that this author only wrote one book. ( )
  Bronwyn72 | Nov 3, 2009 |
Reading this stunning work of historical fiction, it's easy to feel the sun warming the beaches of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands between England and France -- but much harder to grab your heart back when you've finished spending time with your new friends Poignancy, Heartache, Gratitude and Stunning Prose. Basically, after you've finished reading Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows' The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

The novel opens in 1946, just a few short years since the end of World War II and the ravaging of Europe by Hitler's Third Reich. Much of London is still decimated -- dilapidated buildings still stand, but spill their contents onto the streets by the River Thames. Author Juliet Ashton survived the difficult time in England through her writing -- and helped others deal with the terror, confusion, pain and harshness of war through her columns in a London newspaper. Often humorous, Juliet's musings were so popular in England that, after the end of the war, they were published -- and sold quite well. Now riding high from the success of her book, Juliet is struggling to find a new subject on which to focus her literary pursuits . . . and is coming up empty.

Told entirely through a series of letters from a great variety of individuals, Guernseyis first and foremost Juliet's story -- but quickly shifts to encompass the lives of so many other exceptional people, too. As Juliet travels England on her book tour and laments her lack of inspiration, a letter from far away drops right into her lap. A man on the island of Guernsey has stumbled across a copy of book once having belonged to Juliet -- before the contents of her home were ripped apart in a bomb blast years before. Somehow the book made it to the Channel Islands, still with Juliet's inscription in the front -- and has become a staple at the meetings of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a slightly underground organization developed on the island during the five years in which German troops occupied Guernsey, making its inhabitants captives.

What always stuns me about fantastic historical fiction -- particularly those stories which bring life to the people affected and haunted by World War II, one of the greatest blights and tragedies in human history -- is its ability to completely transport me to another time, a distant place -- and display to me, in a very human way, the toll of war upon those who fight and those who stay. None of the characters in Guernseywere soldiers, but they all knew -- and loved -- soldiers. None had to pick up and bear arms, but they did bear the daily burdens of not knowing whether their loved ones were safe.

I don't want to make Guernsey sound morose . . . because it's quite the opposite, really. It's a testament to the human spirit. Like other fiction and non-fiction books I've read from the time, including The Diary of Anne Frank, Elizabeth Berg's Dream When You're Feeling Blue, Markus Zusak's The Book Thief and The Diary of Dawid Sierakowiak, it's as much about the unexpected kindnesses as it is about the tragedies . . . it's about the resilience of the human spirit. It's about being alive.

I feel very fortunate to have read this novel -- and only kick myself for not getting around to it sooner! Lovers of historical fiction and those with an interest in England, war or just humanity will delight in this enchanting book -- and have a hard time forgetting it. And I'd put money on that!

(For an even shockingly longer review, visit me at write meg!) ( )
3 vote writemeg | Oct 30, 2009 |
Showing 1-5 of 378 (next | show all)
"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," written by the late Mary Ann Shaffer and her niece, children's author Annie Barrows, stays within modest bounds, but is successful in ways many novels are not. This book won't change your life, but it will probably enchant you. And sometimes that's precisely what makes fiction worthwhile.
 
You could be skeptical about the novel's improbabilities and its sanitized portrait of book clubs (doesn't anyone read trashy thrillers?), but you'd be missing the point. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a sweet, sentimental paean to books and those who love them.
 
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Series (with order)
Canonical Title
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Dedication
Lovingly dedicated to my mother, Edna Fiery Morgan, and to my dear friend Julia Poppy

—M.A.S.

And to my mother, Cynthia Fiery Barrows

—A.B.
First words
Dear Sidney,
Susan Scott is a wonder.  We sold over forty copies of the book, which was very pleasant, but much more thrilling from my standpoint was the food.
Quotations
Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books. -- Isola Pribby [53]
Men are more interesting in books than they are in real life. --Isola Pribby
Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers. How delightful if that were true. --Juliet
I can't think of anything lonelier than spending the rest of my life with someone I can't talk to, or worse, someone I can't be silent with. -- Juliet [8]
I think you learn more if you're laughing at the same time. -- John Booker [89]
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Canonical titleThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Original publication date2008-07-29
People/CharactersJuliet Ashton, Sidney Stark, Sophie Strachan, Dawsey Adams, Susan Scott, Elizabeth McKenna (show all 13)
Important placesGuernsey, Channel Islands, London, England, UK, Ravensbrueck Concentration Camp, Fuerstenberg/Havel, Germany
Important eventsWorld War II (German Occupation)
Awards and honorsNew York Times bestseller (Fiction, 2008), Time Magazine's Best Books of the Year (2008.24|Fiction (7), 2008), Reading List Award shortlist (2009)
DedicationLovingly dedicated to my mother, Edna Fiery Morgan, and to my dear friend Julia Poppy
—M.A.S.

And to my mother, Cynthia Fiery Barrows
—A.B.
First wordsDear Sidney, Susan Scott is a wonder.  We sold over forty copies of the book, which was very pleasant, but much more thrilling from my standpoint was the food.
QuotationsReading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books. -- Isola Pribby [53]
, Men are more interesting in books than they are in real life. --Isola Pribby, Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers. How delightful if that were true. --Juliet, I can't think of anything lonelier than spending the rest of my life with someone I can't talk to, or worse, someone I can't be silent with. -- Juliet [8], I think you learn more if you're laughing at the same time. -- John Booker [89], This obsession with dignity can ruin your life if you let it. -- Juliet
Last words(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
BlurbersGilbert, Elizabeth, Allen, Sarah Addison, Russell, Mary Doria
DescriptionFrom CD case: January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she'd n... (show all)
Book description
From CD case: January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she'd never met, a native of Guernsey, the British island once occupied by the Nazis. He'd come across her name on the flyleaf of a secondhand volume by Charles Lamb. Perhaps she could tell him where he might find more books by this author.

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, she is drawn into the world of this man and his friends, all members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a unique book club formed in a unique, spur-of-the-moment way; as an alibi to protect its members from arrest by the Germans.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the Society's charming, deeply human members, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all. Through their letters she learns about their island, their taste in books, and the powerful, transformative impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, Juliet sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds there will change her forever.

Told with warmth and humor as a series of letters, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a celebration of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0385340990, Hardcover)

“ I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.” January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:23 -0400)

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