Hide this

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

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

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Random House…

by Mary Ann Shaffer

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations
4,574424466 (4.23)434
Info:

Dial Press Trade Paperback (2009), Paperback, 304 pages

Member:maxiepup
Collections:Your libraryRating:***
Tags:None
(34) 2008 (52) 2009 (108) book club (120) books (41) books about books (32) British (33) Channel Islands (129) England (185) epistolary (118) epistolary novel (34) fiction (652) friendship (48) German occupation (90) Guernsey (171) historical (52) historical fiction (249) history (42) letters (163) literature (39) love (31) novel (63) occupation (37) read (71) read in 2008 (47) read in 2009 (67) romance (62) TBR (40) war (43) WWII (539)

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)

Loading...
won't like will probably not like will probably like will like will love

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

English (415)  French (5)  Norwegian (1)  Afrikaans (1)  Dutch (1)  Catalan (1)  All languages (424)
Showing 1-5 of 415 (next | show all)
Title looks like Chit Lit but don't be fooled.This is a tremendously fascinating book written in epistolary style. Makes you feel like you're peeking into the individual lives of everyone, including the protagonist. Tells about the German occupation of a tiny island and how the residents dealt with it. Colorful characters only add to the mystique of this delicious book. There is so much more to it. ( )
  THEPRINCESS | Jan 3, 2010 |
I enjoyed this book. I always find that books in letter or diary format tend to go very quickly and this was no exception. It took a few pages to get acquainted with all the characters but after awhile the really come alive. I enjoyed seeing a World War II story that I was no as familiar with. Overall, a fun read to start 2010 with! ( )
  yankeesfan1 | Jan 3, 2010 |
This is one of my top 5 favorite books that I read in 2009 and it is, for me, pretty close to ideal fiction. The story is told well, you care about the characters, you learn about what happened on the island of Guernsey during WWII when it was occupied by the Germans, there is a possible love story, and a modern day writer puts together some mysteries of the island's recent past and figures out a better way for her to live today. ( )
  hangen | Jan 2, 2010 |
Set in the aftermath of World War II on the Guernsey, Channel Islands Juliet Ashton is a writer looking for her next story for a book. During the war she wrote a column for the Spectator a London newspaper under the name of Izzy Bickerstaff. A collection of those columns were published in a book with great success.
While trying to come up with next book she starts to correspond with a man named Dawsey Adams who lives on Guernsey. He begins to tell her about the occupation of their island by the Germans during the war. He happens to mention the Literary and Potato Pie Society in one of his letters which sparks Juliet’s interest. Juliet asks Mr. Adams to have other members of the society to write to her.
I really enjoyed this book. What drew me in was the title just as Juliet. Filled with humor, romance, sadness and history I couldn't put it down until I was finished. The author made the characters come to life. If you like historical fiction I think you will enjoy this book. ( )
  Fourborne | Jan 1, 2010 |
What a joy. ( )
  PauletteCH | Jan 1, 2010 |
Showing 1-5 of 415 (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.
 
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Series (with order)
Canonical Title
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
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

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

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)

(see all 2 descriptions)

The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details.

Quick Links

Ebooks Audio Swap
3 pay2 pay2/255+

Popular covers

LibraryThing Early Reviewers Alumn

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer was made available through LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Sign up to possibly get pre-publication copies of books.

 

Help/FAQs | About | Privacy/Terms | Blog | Contact | LibraryThing.com | APIs | WikiThing | Common Knowledge | 47,115,243 books!