Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Author: Annie Barrows, Mary Ann Shaffer
Published: June 29, 2008
Genre(s): Historical Fiction
Page Count: 277
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:It's 1946 and author Juliet Ashton can't think what to write next. Out of the blue, she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams of Guernsey - by chance, he's acquired a book that once belonged to her - and, spurred on by their mutual love of reading, they begin a correspondence. When Dawsey reveals that he is a member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, her curiosity is piqued and it's not long before she begins to hear from other members. As letters fly back and forth with stories of life in Guernsey under the German Occupation, Juliet soon realizes that the society is every bit as extraordinary as its name.
Epistolary fiction is a tricky writing style. I’m not personally averse to it, but neither is it exactly my favorite sort of book to read. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, being a book whose content is comprised entirely of letters, telegrams, and the odd journal or two, was a book I went into with uncertain expectations—though I was generally hopeful because it came so highly recommended.
The authors’ protagonist is one Juliet Ashton, a writer living in London immediately after World War II. She received an unexpected letter from Dawsey Adams, a carpenter/farmer on the island of Guernsey, who bought a book with her name on the inside cover. The two strike up a correspondence, and Juliet learns about how the isolated people of Guernsey got through the war by starting what was essentially a book club, and then before long she’s being inundated with letters from stranger in Guernsey, until these strangers become her dearest friends.
I think it’s easy to lose sight of plot in a novel that consists entirely of letters, and I would be lying if I said The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society didn’t bore me at times, or that there weren’t moments when I felt the story had lost its way. But by and large, there is conflict and action in Juliet’s discovery and friendship with the people of the Society, especially in the latter portion of the book, when she goes to visit the island.
I also thought that, limiting as the epistolary format is, the authors were able to get the characters’ personalities across to the reader quite well. I don’t feel like I know Juliet and the others quite as much as I’d have wished, but considering the constraints of the writing style, I’d say they did an excellent job. At the same time, I do wish I’d have gotten to meet some of these people (particularly Dawsey) face-to-face, rather than always hearing about him second-hand through Juliet or through the medium of his letters. A book that had mixed traditional narration with epistolary style might have served the story better in some ways.
What I like about this book is that, though it deals with WWII, it does it in a very human way. This isn’t an overbearingly dreary read—it’s actually quite funny a lot of the time. The authors managed to bring a story that felt authentic and simple to light, one that wasn’t lacking in heart or drama, a story that was honest. The story of the islanders and their inventive ways to keep themselves fed, their camaraderie, and their surprising friendship with their German occupiers was wonderful, even if told through flashbacks. And the story of Juliet and how she fell in love with the island and its inhabitants itself was a story just as strongly-presented and engaging. Storytelling and atmosphere, honestly, were where this book succeeded best, though neither would I say that it failed outright in any particular category.
I didn’t outright love this novel. The story, in my opinion, could have been told much better in a more traditional format with some samplings of letters mixed in. Even so, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was a solid historical read, with a unique angle and a wonderful story to tell.
