⋙ Read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society By Mary Ann Shaffer Annie Barrows Author 9780747589198 Books

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society By Mary Ann Shaffer Annie Barrows Author 9780747589198 Books

Download As PDF : The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society By Mary Ann Shaffer Annie Barrows Author 9780747589198 Books

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society By Mary Ann Shaffer Annie Barrows Author 9780747589198 Books

I forgot how much fun it is to read good, old-fashioned correspondence. These letters, especially the ones written by the central character, are jaunty, naughty, full of personality and spunk. Her response to a dinner invitation, for example, is “Yes, dinner with pleasure. I’ll wear my new dress and eat like a pig.”

Pigs end up playing a major role in this wonderful little book when the author connects with some villagers on Guernsey Island, who have recently emerged from German occupation during World War II. She learns how they outsmarted the Germans, who were fussy over farm animals, according to one explanation of how The Guernsey Literary Society came about in the first place. Spoiler alert: it was because of pigs.

Their mischievous pig roast compelled them to keep up appearances as the literary society they indeed were not. Yet, as one of the inciters of the pig roast writes, “Once two members read the same book, they could argue, which was our great delight.” Their original naughtiness eventually morphed into a sweet band of friends who “read books, talked books, argued over books, and became dearer and dearer to one another.”

The characters are vivid and easy to love, like the characters in Foyle’s War and 84 Charring Cross Road, carrying on despite the undertow of war rumbling beneath them. The writing delighted me, because so much of it made the familiar, ordinary things of life fresh and beautiful and fun (like when the author confesses really like to leave London to live on Guernsey instead). She writes, “The only thing I’d truly miss about London are Sidney and Susan, the nearness to Scotland, new plays, and Harrods Food Hall.” Refreshing: a little bit naughty, a little bit spice. My favorite line in the whole book is her contention that, “Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books.”

I consider it a compliment to say that this was such a good book, it may have ruined me for whatever one’s next!


Tags : The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society By Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows [-Author-] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation,-Author-,The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society By Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows,Hardcover,0747589194

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society By Mary Ann Shaffer Annie Barrows Author 9780747589198 Books Reviews

This is a different sort of WWII novel in that it takes place post-war but relates events from the war. It is an epistolary novel and one has to get used to the various letter-writers. The chapter headings indicate a change in narrator but the voice is not always that different and so the events within in the narrative have to remind the reader of who is talking. Eventually that is not much of an issue as the narrators become fewer. The story is original and at times amusing and/or poignant. The literary references are fun...the more one has read, the more one has insights into the ironies or asides. I recommend it highly as an original, interesting, historically unique perspective on WWII.
At the risk of sounding like everyone else, I so badly want to go to Guernsey!! I should actually say that I want to go BACK to Guernsey because I feel like I've just returned home after a long visit there with all of my dear friends. And, in a strange way, I feel a little shell-shocked inside because of all that occurred while I "was there".

"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" is a book that took me by surprise. Being an epistolary novel, I wasn't expecting an abundance of detail or character development. I suppose I was expecting a chatty and carefree book that just skimmed over the tops of things. It was chatty and it was carefree in parts, but oh, it was so much more.

The characters didn't just write letters that barely touched on their experiences during the German Occupation (in Guernsey), what had happened during the war in London or with what was going on in their current lives. They delved right in and gave a tremendous amount of details. Some stories made you laugh out loud, some made you furious or shocked and some even brought you to tears. I think what touched me the most is that these types of stories really DID occur during WW2. They aren't far-fetched situations that would never have happened - they DID happen. THAT'S what brought me to tears on more than one occasion.

There is just so much that I could say about this book. Lol I don't even know how to express properly how awesome I truly thought it was. It is a multi-faceted gem that I am thrilled that I FINALLY discovered.
I really wanted to love this book, but it was just "ok" for me. I did not enjoy the format of it, although many would not really care about that aspect. It is written as correspondence between many characters. I did really enjoy the characters, though, and did not have any difficulty following the story. However, I really wish there was a bit more discussion of Juliet and Dawsey's relationship. It just seemed to come out of the blue, with no real excitement leading up to it. I didn't get much satisfaction out of it, for that reason. It was a very cute book, though, and I love a book about books and reading. Very well-written. I will definitely watch the Netflix adaptation - I have a feeling this is going to be one of those instances where I like the movie better than the book, and those times are rare.
Heaps of reviews so not much I can add here...but....

Lucky me, I got to read it while visiting Guernsey!

Was this book worth the Price? $8.63 USD. Yup, absolutely!

Is it a page turner? Yes.

Did I want to be reading this book when I wasn't reading this book? Yes.

Did I learn anything from this book?
Yes, loved all the information so subtly provided about the German occupation. It's like a history book without the boring bits.

Did I think about this book after I was finished reading.
Yes, it has stayed with me. It's been a month since I put it down but I still do think of it. Luckily, I was able to get a fridge magnet of the book cover while in Guernsey.

My only negative comment - now this may sound petty as I really did enjoy all the books and all the characters! But I did notice they all have the same voice. We don't all write letters in the same style and this was not reflected in the book. All the letters were written in the same particular witty style. Made for good fun reading but I did find that a bit strange as like I said, we do all write differently!
I forgot how much fun it is to read good, old-fashioned correspondence. These letters, especially the ones written by the central character, are jaunty, naughty, full of personality and spunk. Her response to a dinner invitation, for example, is “Yes, dinner with pleasure. I’ll wear my new dress and eat like a pig.”

Pigs end up playing a major role in this wonderful little book when the author connects with some villagers on Guernsey Island, who have recently emerged from German occupation during World War II. She learns how they outsmarted the Germans, who were fussy over farm animals, according to one explanation of how The Guernsey Literary Society came about in the first place. Spoiler alert it was because of pigs.

Their mischievous pig roast compelled them to keep up appearances as the literary society they indeed were not. Yet, as one of the inciters of the pig roast writes, “Once two members read the same book, they could argue, which was our great delight.” Their original naughtiness eventually morphed into a sweet band of friends who “read books, talked books, argued over books, and became dearer and dearer to one another.”

The characters are vivid and easy to love, like the characters in Foyle’s War and 84 Charring Cross Road, carrying on despite the undertow of war rumbling beneath them. The writing delighted me, because so much of it made the familiar, ordinary things of life fresh and beautiful and fun (like when the author confesses really like to leave London to live on Guernsey instead). She writes, “The only thing I’d truly miss about London are Sidney and Susan, the nearness to Scotland, new plays, and Harrods Food Hall.” Refreshing a little bit naughty, a little bit spice. My favorite line in the whole book is her contention that, “Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books.”

I consider it a compliment to say that this was such a good book, it may have ruined me for whatever one’s next!