The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

I have never read a novel with such a bizarre name. I was drawn to it partially due to the title, but also because of the format it takes, with the entire story being told through a large collection of letters addressed to and written by a set of extremely interesting characters. All this made up for the promise of a quirky novel which I simply couldn't resist.

 Juliet is a successful journalist, well known across London for her witty newspaper columns written during the dark days of the war. Now that the war is over and the world is trying to forget the previous years of hardship, Juliet is left with nothing to write. Hope is not lost when Juliet receives a letter from Dawsey, a man who found one of her books on the island of Guernsey. This sparks a unique correspondence between Juliet and various members of his literary society. Turning to them for her writing inspiration, Juliet finds herself with a fascinating story to tell.

This novel displays a concept which I have not read in a book before. It is the story of the author as she writes a book, when I usually only read the book itself. In this novel, I got both. Since the story was told in the form of letters, it meant that the story was not particularly action packed or exciting, moving at a steady pace but unfortunately, I felt like this meant that the reader missed out on some details of the story. Also, at times, the letters were unrealistically long and detailed, obviously for the purpose of explaining context to the reader. On the other hand, the letters were insightful on many levels, enabling the reader to gain a close connection to each individual character in their writing and see the clear development of the relationships between them. The creativity of the characters adds so much more to the novel, and I fell in love with the people living on Guernsey. I so wish that they were real! I learnt a lot while reading this novel, as Juliet finds out about life on Guernsey during the German occupation, as a result, the reader learns these things alongside her. This gave me an insight into what life was like during the war and the suffering which continued after the war was over. The stories of the war were sad and disturbing and the truth behind them was jarring but most of the novel focused on the happy times which were heartwarming to read. I had been expecting a soppy romance novel, but was met with the opposite. Juliet is at the age where she is looking for a husband, but she struggles to find the right man for her. Thankfully, there are no pathetic love letters for me to complain about! "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" had the happiest ending possible and although it was predictable, it was not out of place. I couldn't help but smile as I read the final page and now that I've finished it, I want to read it all over again.

Overall, "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" is a heartwarming novel with amazing characters and insight into the effects of war. Prepare yourself to be whisked away to a beautiful island and never wanting to come back with this novel.

~ Inkpot Blogger