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There are currently 20 member reviews
for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
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Linda (Houston TX)
I want to join this club.
This book is a true delight - an innovative way to present a story without dialogue. I absolutely loved it and loved the people. Although I pretty much knew where the book was going to go, it was a wonderful ride getting there, with joyous stops along the way - and a few twists and turns. I would join the society in a heartbeat, and this is one of the books I would recommend to the rest of the members. You will love this book, and the characters will be your best friends. You will miss them when you come to the end.
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Melissa (Maryville TN)
Humor & Heartache on Guernsey
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the correspondence letters in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Filled with humor, heartache, and mystery, each letter gives a glimpse into the lives of inhabitants on the island of Guernsey as well as the life of our main character, Juliet. While learning about each of the inhabitants of Guernsey, we are introduced to several works of literature by authors we may have heard of before but have shown little interest in until now. I inherited several volumes by Charles Lamb from my grandmother, and I have to say that I became so intrigued by him just through the correspondence of Dawsey and Juliet, that I will be setting out to read Lamb this summer. I did have some difficulty, however, believing that correspondence in 1946 could be delivered, read, and replied to within a three-day time span. With that said, I still give it a 5 and highly recommend it.
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Cheryl (Angola NY)
Sign Me Up.
I would love to be a member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. This is a delightful book! The authors are able to develop wonderful characters, convey little known WWII history and demonstrate a love of books and reading through a series of letters and telegrams. There's even a romance. I would recommend this book to everyone.
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Maxine (Effingham IL)
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society
This little book is a gem! The authors take readers through the gamut of emotions from laugh-out-loud to lump-in-the-throat; you care about the finely drawn characters because they are so real. Book clubs should have wonderful discussions about this story.
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Helen (Sun City AZ)
Saving Power of the Literary Society
After I read the series of letters exchanged by Juliet Ashton (a London author), her publisher, her friends, and the members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, I wanted to know each person better. I particularly liked the way the authors of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society succeeded in giving each correspondent a distinct and identifiable voice. Through their letters, I saw their kind, caring natures (as well as their foibles and eccentricities). The Guernsey Islanders exhibited grace, strength, and courageous ingenuity as they struggled to survive the years of German occupation during World War II.
I highly recommend this book as a good read. The power of a reading group to expand the lives of its members shines through their letters.
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Betsey (Austin TX)
Gets better and better
Initially I had difficulty engaging in this, an epistolary novel that takes place in the years following WW II. I had difficulty giving it a context. It begins at a place that feels like the middle of things (as if I missed something), but then eventually gathers the far-flung bits of fabric that make up a life and the texture of many lives.
The story is like a tapestry; it starts wit a solitary bit of material and then stitches an epic microcosm of life on the Channel Island of Geurnsey during the second World War. As the tale unfolded, I fell in love with the eccentric, rowdy, and often ribald cast of characters and my heart bled and broke more than a few times, also, over the beautiful comedy that emerged from the tragedy of war.
As I kept reading, the story strengthened and became deeper and enfolded me completely in its tale of hope in a hopeless situation and endurance in an almost unendurable time of German occupation and starvation, a story of courage, dignity and integrity in a time of moral ambiguity..
These rural characters are unsung heroes. I feel like I met each and every one of them personally and that they touched me in all the vital places where love resides. Additionally, it is a history lesson of a place that time will now not forget.
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Judith (Costa Mesa CA)
WWII for non-history majors
Page 11: "...one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive---all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment." I can't say it better than that. This book was sheer enjoyment. People writing letters to people (before email which I admit is useful but not nearly so long-lasting.) Those who lived on Guernsey during the war telling their stories and the 'writer's' observations to her publisher. All this entwined with the daily lives of a variety of characters. I couldn't put it down....and I'm NOT a history buff. This isn't school history. This is personal and enchanting if such can be said about anyone in time of war.
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