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| The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society | 
 enlarge | Authors: Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
Publisher: The Dial Press
Category: Book
List Price: $22.00
Buy New: $12.52
You Save: $9.48 (43%)
New (46) Used (14) Collectible (3) from $12.52
Avg. Customer Rating:  373 reviews
Sales Rank: 32
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.8 x 1
ISBN: 0385340990
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780385340991
ASIN: 0385340990
Publication Date: July 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new Book, ALL days Low Price !
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| Customer Reviews:
 Unrealistic fluff (sorry) January 2, 2009
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Bibliophiles and anglophiles will enjoy this book for its embracement of a literary society, references to classic British authors' lives and its epistolary style. Its description of life in the Channel Island of Guernsey during and soon after World War II will raise readers' interest.
However, some of the characters seem to be caricatures: few people in Britain have names like "Darsey" except in Bronte-sister books.
More research would have made this book more believable and interesting. For example, No-one in 1946 would have taken a sudden trip to Australia and the mail boat to the island took six hours and would not have been an evening sail. The Channel Islands' inhabitants have many traditions that are distinct from those in Britain: many inhabitants have French surnames. A farmer there was unlikely to own one cow. These characteristics did not come out in the book.
The facts about wartime life in the island are though, based on true historical events. Although many seem to be included in the book in a very disjointed manner and with not-so-believable effect.
Being as I seem to be in the minority in not recommending this book, if after reading this book your interest in wartime life in the Channel Islands is sufficiently raised, may I suggest the true story "Prison without Bars" by Frank Keiller.
 Fascinating, gentle and pure enjoyment January 1, 2009
I absolutely loved this book and finished it in record time -- much sooner than I wanted this lovely book to end. The war story of the natives on the Isle of Guernsey is little known and a glimpse at a piece of history that is often passed over for the more common stories of London bombings. While those on Guernsey endured terrible hardship they also forged deep and caring relationships with each other and with some of their occupying enemies. The reader quickly comes to love the characters and all that happens in their lives through their letters. I highly recommend this book but be warned it will be over before you want it to be.
BRAVO January 1, 2009
I just finished reading this book and found it to be the most enjoyable I have encountered in a long time. The epistolary style is original and very effective. The authors have mastered the daunting task of combining humor, pathos and grim historic detail into fast moving plot and sharply defined character development. Full of surprises, this book is a treasure.
Just Desserts December 31, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" is a truly delightful book. It is a work of fiction that incorporates very real events - the occupation of Guernsey and the other Channel islands during WWII. An epistolary novel, the action unfolds through a series of letters between the main characters, and some minor characters who come to play an important role in the life of the main narrator, Juliet Ashton.
Juliet Ashton, a single 30-something newspaper columnist, had made a name for herself during the war for her witting columns written under a pseudonym. But now that the war is done, she wants to write a novel about the war, one that will perhaps not be too heartbreaking or grim. Seemingly by chance, she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams, a man who lives on Guernsey, asking where he can get more books about Charles Lamb. Somehow Dawsey had come to possess a copy of Lamb's work with Juliet's name on the inside. Juliet begins a correspondence with Dawsey, and soon discovers that a story for her novel might exist on Guernsey. Leaving her London life behind, Juliet sets out on the trip of a lifetime. While searching for material for her novel, and quickly being welcomed as a member of the island community, she finds herself and her future.
Shaffer and Barrows have done a remarkable job at creating a fast-paced novel that incorporates some truly horrific and real events. The title is also the name of a society formed on the island of Guernsey by its whimsical inhabitants during the long nights of curfew and deprivation during the occupation. The authors are able to bring a wide cast of characters to life in letter form and make would could be a predictable ending truly enjoyable. "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" is easily one of my favorite books of the year and one I will recommend to everyone for a long time.
 Fabulous! December 31, 2008
Just finished the book and all I have to say is... READ IT!!! I liked the format of letters between friends and it flowed so smoothly. It is a great story of friendship, chalked full of imformation about WWII.
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