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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
4,197395527 (4.25)394

Member recommendations

  1. infiniteletters recommends A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure by Marlena De Blasi
  2. 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."
  3. 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."
  4. Sodapop recommends 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, "A Non-fiction story about book lovers told via their letters."
  5. wandering_star recommends Miss Buncle: Containing Miss Buncle's book and Miss Buncle married by D. E. Stevenson
  6. CatyM recommends The Dig by John Preston
  7. caitykarczewski recommends The Color Purple by Alice Walker, "If you like books written in letters and diary entries!"
  8. withwill recommends At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays by Anne Fadiman
  9. DimitraDaisy recommends The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
  10. helgagrace recommends 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

(see all 18 recommendations)

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English (388)  French (4)  Norwegian (1)  Afrikaans (1)  Catalan (1)  All languages (395)
Showing 1-5 of 388 (next | show all)
This epistolary novel provided me with much entertainment on the day after my eye surgery. The story tells, after the fact, of the occupation by German troops of The Channel Islands, especially Guernsey and we do get a lot of insight into the difficulties they faced and of some of the atrocities that happened there and also in France and Germany. There are tears in this story along with the joy. But the story mainly concerns the time directly after the war learning about life on the island and how they are coping with rebuilding their lives as well as the damaged property. The characters are delightful (except the undelightful ones!) and there is also a love story. I got the feeling that there had been quite a bit of research which made the tale more compelling than it would have been without those darker elements, but I would still classify it as entertainment. However I do highly recommend it! We all need some fun in our reading and this one has elements that makes if a cut above “fluff.” ( )
  MusicMom41 | Nov 13, 2009 |
I was told by someone whose opinion I normally trust that this was a piece of fluff, and so I was a little reluctant to waste my time reading it; however it is a book club selection for next week, so I started it this morning and finished it this evening. Yes, it’s a little fluffy (or I wouldn’t have been able to read it so quickly), but it’s also a very good story. It’s set in England and on the Channel Island of Guernsey immediately after World War II. It tells the story through letters, and some telegrams and diary entries. In the beginning, the primary letter writer is Juliet, who is a writer searching for a story. She begins a correspondence with someone in Guernsey about a book he found with her name and address in the flyleaf.

The stories of the islanders’ struggles and heroism during the Nazi occupation of Guernsey are heartbreaking. I love historical fiction where I learn something new, and this had a lot of facts I hadn’t known before. Interspersed throughout the book are the character’s reactions to works they’ve read in the course of their membership in the Literary Society of the title. Juliet eventually travels to Guernsey and falls in love with it and the people. In spite of the essential sadness of the story, some judicial use of humor by the author lightens the tone.

Normally, I’m not a fan of epistolary novels, since I usually think an author chooses this style to opt out of good plot and character development. In this case, though, the book ends up being a real page-turner (which for me means the plot is good), and I fell in love with many of the characters, especially Elizabeth, whom we only see through others’ eyes.

The book was well written for a first (and, unfortunately, only novel). I did have the conclusion figured out well before the end, but it’s such a quick read, I didn’t have time to get annoyed with the author for building in artificial suspense. Although it isn’t as great a novel, it reminded me a little of [The Book Thief] by [[Markus Zusak]].

All in all, a nice day spent reading an enjoyable book. I’m giving it 3½ stars. ( )
2 vote janoorani24 | Nov 13, 2009 |
I loved this book. Very few books have made me laugh aloud on one page and then sob reading the next episode; this one did. Shaffer's writing can be simultaneously hilarious and heartbreakingly sad. Although this is not a great book, one that will become a classic, it is a very, very good book. Not only was I caught up in the plot, the characters, and the islands themselves but I also learned a great deal about WW II. Generally I do not like letter writing as a genre, but this book soon made me forget I was reading letters. As the book progressed, the stories seemed to be told by a shifting omniscient author, someone the reader knew could be trusted to distinguish truth from falsehood, courage from cowardice, honor from shame, true character from superficial appearances. The main character, Juliet, and her literary twin, Elisabeth, have always followed an unerring inner moral compass. Each of them possesses extraordinary courage and the energy, knowledge, and strength to change their world. What is almost as tragic to the reader as the story itself is the knowledge that this is Shaffer's first and last novel. She has left us a truly wonderful gift. Our book club is going to mimic the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by annually having a "choose your own book and share it with the rest of us" meeting. ( )
2 vote dsbjohn | Nov 12, 2009 |
J'ai adoré Le cercle littéraire des amateurs d'épluchures de patates de Mary Ann Shaffer : Guernsey pendant et après la guerre, ça parle d'amitié, de solidarité, d'amour aussi, sur un mode épistolaire.

Quel plaisir de trouver un espace de fraîcheur ! Un bouquin spécial et unique. ( )
  domguyane | Nov 10, 2009 |
Showing 1-5 of 388 (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
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References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

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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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