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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie…
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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Random House Reader's Circle) (original 2008; edition 2009)

by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
19,3531246241 (4.16)1 / 1200
As London is emerging from the shadow of World War II, writer Juliet Ashton discovers her next subject in a book club on Guernsey--a club born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi after its members are discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island.
Member:lkerr
Title:The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Random House Reader's Circle)
Authors:Mary Ann Shaffer
Other authors:Annie Barrows
Info:Dial Press Trade Paperback (2009), Edition: 1st Thus., Paperback, 304 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:*****
Tags:England, channel islands, end of WWII, correspondence, love story

Work Information

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer (2008)

  1. 490
    84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (khuggard, DetailMuse, Cecilturtle, helgagrace, Sodapop, BasilBlue, kraaivrouw)
    khuggard: Another tale about book lovers who come together through letters, with the same post-war England setting.
    Sodapop: A Non-fiction story about book lovers told via their letters.
    BasilBlue: A book about books and booklovers for booklovers that incidentally has a real flavor of the late 40s and early 50s.
    kraaivrouw: Another book about people who connect via their love of books and reading.
  2. 361
    The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (writemeg)
    writemeg: Another deeply affecting, beautiful and heartbreaking story of books, love, small kindness and resilience during World War II.
  3. 150
    Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg (Caramellunacy)
    Caramellunacy: Both stories are bittersweet - tales of hardship, prejudice and hope although they are set in very different places and very different times. Fried Green Tomatoes jumps around but describes life, race relations and murder in a small Southern town during the Great Depression. Shaffer's novel deals with the occupation (and its aftermath) of the small Channel Island of Guernsey during WWII.… (more)
  4. 141
    The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (Anonymous user, mysterymax)
    Anonymous user: Both novels reflect on World War II from small, seaside towns, one an island in Europe, the other a small town in Cape Cod. The female leads are unique and interesting and are surrounded by great small town people.
  5. 164
    Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson (cransell)
  6. 112
    The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher (MyriadBooks)
  7. 90
    The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by G. B. Edwards (jill123, BasilBlue, nillacat)
    jill123: Though they are different in style and tone, both books are set in the Channel Islands during the Nazi Occupation. I enjoyed the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, but I found Ebenezer Le Page to be an absolutely wonderful book. More complex and interesting than the Potato Peel Society.… (more)
    BasilBlue: Although written in a more elegantly sparse style, this book covers much the same territory, geographically and emotionally.
    nillacat: A deeper, darker portrait of Guernsey through the fictional autobiography of a unique, difficult, yet attractive character from the end of the 19th century through the two world wars and into the 1960s.
  8. 123
    The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (Voracious_Reader)
    Voracious_Reader: The writing styles and the authors' love for the written word connect both period pieces in my mind even though their plots are extremely different.
  9. 91
    Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (vulgarboatman)
    vulgarboatman: Similar themes of a journalist discovering the layers of secrets around a mystery from WWII, along with an exploration of the effect of these events on the survivors, their families, and ultimately on the journalist herself.
  10. 80
    The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett (BookshelfMonstrosity)
    BookshelfMonstrosity: Going in to the bookmobile to apologize for the disturbance created by one of her corgis, Queen Elizabeth II feels it would only be polite to check out a book. When she returns it, she checks out another . . . and then another. One of her pages becomes her abettor in the matter of securing books and reading them. Thus begins an amusing but also thought-provoking saga of how reading can change a person's habits and even outlook.… (more)
  11. 60
    The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (bell7, BookshelfMonstrosity)
    bell7: Though one is set in contemporary times on a fictional island of the coast of Massachusetts and the other in post World War II England, both books show the importance of story and have an optimistic tone while dealing with some of life's challenges.
    BookshelfMonstrosity: A love of literature helps protagonists form unlikely but rewarding new relationships in these tender stories of personal redemption. The vibrant characterization, gently humorous tone, and whimsical, heartwarming narratives shine in compelling novels that illustrate the power of reading.… (more)
  12. 93
    The Color Purple by Alice Walker (Limelite)
    Limelite: Also an epistolary novel. Also about how community can triumph over debilitating circumstance.
  13. 40
    Excellent Women by Barbara Pym (nancyewhite)
  14. 40
    Miss Buncle by D. E. Stevenson (wandering_star)
  15. 40
    The Dig by John Preston (Eat_Read_Knit)
  16. 51
    Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole (rosylibrarian)
  17. 42
    A Place of Hiding by Elizabeth George (KayCliff)
    KayCliff: Both books deal with the occupation of Guernsey by the Nazis.
  18. 31
    A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper (betsytacy)
    betsytacy: This YA novel, set in 1936, features 16-year-old Sophie, a royal orphan growing up with her siblings and cousin in a shabby castle on island kingdom of Montmaray, somewhere off the coast of England. The island's strategic location draws the interest of the Nazis.… (more)
  19. 21
    The German Occupation of Jersey, 1940 - 1945 - Notes on the General Conditions. How the Population Fared by Ralph Mollet (KayCliff)
  20. 10
    Plenty by David Hare (kraaivrouw)
    kraaivrouw: Both capture the desperation of post-war England in their own unique ways.

(see all 40 recommendations)

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» See also 1200 mentions

English (1,203)  French (17)  Spanish (9)  Catalan (5)  German (4)  Finnish (3)  Norwegian (2)  Dutch (2)  Italian (1)  Latvian (1)  Hungarian (1)  Danish (1)  Portuguese (Brazil) (1)  All languages (1,250)
Showing 1-5 of 1203 (next | show all)
An enjoyable read. ( )
  Chrissylou62 | Apr 11, 2024 |
This book was recommended to me more than once by a dear friend. As promised, I love everything about it, from the story of the authors themselves to the format (it’s told in letters) to the vibrant characters to the humor. It’s just fantastic and such a gift. Every bibliophile and every history buff should read this. ( )
  jnoshields | Apr 10, 2024 |
I am so sad now. I just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and I am crushed. Not because of the story or because of the ending. It is because all these wonderful people I have just met and fallen in love with are gone. How can they be gone? Friends don’t just go like that, they stay and visit with you. They listen to your stories like you have listened to theirs. If I start the book again right now will it they be back or will it just be a great story now?
I love how the whole book was told by someone reading their correspondence. The letters were wonderful, not short and terse like emails can so often be but beautiful letters or sometimes just notes. Now it would have all been done via a phone and would be lost forever. The beauty of the moment lost with a call waiting beep and the “can you hold on, I have another call”. This was the beautiful storytelling of a beautiful story. It captured a time and a place and the people so much I want to go there now and meet them and see where they live. I am sure Guernsey has change immeasurably since the time this story takes place and the people would have changed too. I still want to go and meet them. I want to talk to them and go to the literary society meeting if they would have me. I will miss them.
I guess you can tell if a book was excellent if you want to go back and not be in the “real” world. I will wait a bit, visit with some other literary friends and then go back and visit with them again. Even if it is only in a book.
( )
  JHolmes95003 | Apr 1, 2024 |
Buddy read with my gal pals Heather and Erin!

Wow, what a book! I have to admit that I did not expect this book to be this good. But, I just loved the humor mixed with the seriousness, not to mention the gutwrenching part towards the end when the truth about a certain character in the book was revealed. Also. I'm not a fan of books made up by just letter, but this book. Well, I loved reading all the letters and telegrams. ( )
  MaraBlaise | Apr 1, 2024 |
By turns comic, tragic and poignant with an endearing main character makes this book a great read. ( )
  charlie68 | Mar 16, 2024 |
Showing 1-5 of 1203 (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.
 
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society commemorates beautiful spirits who pass through our midst and hunker undercover through brutal times. Shaffer's Guernsey characters step from the past radiant with eccentricity and kindly humour, a comic version of the state of grace. They are innocents who have seen and suffered, without allowing evil to penetrate the rind of decency that guards their humanity.
 
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.
 

» Add other authors (18 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Shaffer, Mary Annprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Barrows, Anniemain authorall editionsconfirmed
Boehmer, PaulNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Duerden, SusanNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kapari-Jatta, JaanaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Landor, RosalynNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lee, JohnNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mills, JulietNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Norey, VirginiaBook Designsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Norfolk, CharlieNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Owynns, TaylorNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ridelberg, HelenaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ward, GeorgeMapsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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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
8th January, 1946

Mr. Sidney Stark, Publisher
Stephens & Stark Ltd.
21 St. James's Place
London S.W.1
England

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. Susan managed to procure ration coupons for icing sugar and real eggs for the meringue. If all her literary luncheons are going to achieve these heights, I won't mind touring about the country. Do you suppose that a lavish bonus could spur her on to butter? Let's try it—you may deduct the money from my royalties.
Quotations
Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books. - Isola Pribby
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
I think you learn more if you're laughing at the same time. - John Booker
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Wikipedia in English (2)

As London is emerging from the shadow of World War II, writer Juliet Ashton discovers her next subject in a book club on Guernsey--a club born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi after its members are discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Beginning at the end of WW2, this book is told through the form of letter between writer Juliet Ashton and her friends. Juliet initially receives a letter from a man on the island of Guernsey asking for more books. She becomes so in love with stories and descriptions of life in Guernsey that she decides to go herself. Through the letters she sends home and the letters from her new friends the stories of people's lives are revealed. This book points out that the lives of people were more important than the formality of the writing.
Haiku summary
In post-war Britain
friendships are forged through a shared
love of literature.
(passion4reading)

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