Book #54 Hosted by Indu
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, and of a society as extraordinary as its name. ~authors website
About the Authors
Annie Barrows is the author of the children’s series Ivy and Bean, as well as The Magic Half. She lives in northern California.
Her aunt, Mary Ann Shaffer, who passed away in February 2008, worked as an editor, librarian, and in bookshops. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was her first novel.
Send a Letter
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society has inspired many of you to go back to the old way of correspondence. Now you have the opportunity to send a letter to one of your friends with this electronic Guernsey stationery. -->
Annotated List of Important Books in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Jane Austen- Pride and Prejudice. Isola plans on speaking about it at a meeting but her goat eats her notes (p. 234).
Emily Bronte- Wuthering Heights.One of Isola’s favorite books. She talks about Anne and Charlotte Bronte as well but doesn’t mention specific titles (p. 53).
Thomas Carlyle- Past and Present. The first book that Will Thisbee enjoys helps him “get a grip on Faith.” (p. 101).
Geoffrey Chaucer- The Canterbury Tales. Sidney’s favorite favorite book; the topic of a Society meeting (p. 243).
Charles Dickens- The Pickwick Papers. Amelia’s favorite – it lifts her spirits during the Occupation (p. 50).
Charles Lamb- Selected Essays of Elia. Dawsey has Juliet’s old copy; reason for his first letter to her (p. 9).- More Essays of Elia and Selected Letters. Juliet sends to Dawsey (p. 11).
Wilfred Owen- The Collected Poems of Wilfred Owen. Owen’s poetry helps Clovis Fossey to describe his experiences in WWI (p. 72).
Rainer Maria Rilke- Collected poetry (exact title not specified). A gift from Christian to Elizabet6h, with the inscription, “For Elizabeth, who turns darkness into light.” (p. 259).
Seneca- Letters of Seneca. John Booker writes that Seneca and the Society keep him from being a drunk (p. 88).
William Shakespeare- Selections from Shakespeare. Eben Ramsey’s favorite book. He quotes Shakespeare when talking about the German troops landing on Guernsey (p. 63).
Oscar Wilde- An important author in the book—he writes a series of letters to Isola’s grandmother—but none of his works are specifically mentioned.
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Book #54 Hosted by Indu
Send a Letter
5 comments:
It was a quick read and I started out really enjoying the book but eventually tired of it. For one, there was no rise and fall in tempo. Everyone was equally nice, witty and cheerful. Maybe I am too cynical, but I don't believe in perfect humans. Yes, these people had gone through some terrible events and you could tell that from their stories, but it never came through otherwise. They were all perfect little people in a perfect little village. All letters read the same to me without showing much of the letter-writer's personality, and they didn't read like real letters anyway. I am not sure if you noticed the dates but those letters were going back and forth rather quickly. So the whole letter thing, seemed more and more fake and gimmicky as the book went on and I hated it more and more. It really seemed more like a romance novel than anything else.
Loved, loved loved this book! (Sorry Indu) Maybe I was just in the mood for a feel good book, but I want to move there! I picked it up and read it in one day, so it's a very easy read. I cared about the characters, could picture where they lived and loved the letters. I never knew about the Channel Islands during the war. My only criticism would be the quick one sentence letters and the timing of them. No way to believe they would communicate that quickly with each other. It was a bit much, but regardless I let that slide.
I really enjoyed the book - I was saddened to learn that the authoress died las year, as it would have been nice to have read a follow-up novel about some of these characters down the road. I would agree that the timing of the letters going back and forth wasn't realistic, but I still adored the book and the characters. To read of people reaching out to help survive an occupation by Nazis will always make me smile, but the sweetness of the characters was tempered by the tragedy that intersected their lives. I felt like I got to know them as I would beloved friends of one of my dear friends. I also love to read of places I have never travelled to, so when an author can paint a picture that transports me there and I can see and feel the place, all the better. Perhaps my fondness for the book was influenced by my love of letters - real, handwritten letters that one can open up and re-read, reliving a particular moment or period of time. This from someone who has saved every letter I've ever received.....
I would like to add a correction. too enjoyed reading about the place, and its history. The author did a good job of illustrating that and I now want to visit Guernsey. I started really enjoying the book and the characters but it lost me about half-way through. I think my problem is that if the writing is not believable, I have a very hard time enjoying the story itself. That happened with the book Grace as well in that the voice in that book did not match the old man who was supposedly telling the story. And to someone whose only means of communication with family and friends was hand-written letters (until I was 20 or so), the letters in the book seemed really fake, and then the peppiness of the characters and the inconsistencies started getting more and more annoying. It is a quick read, but it was a stretch for me to finish in the end.
Indu
Hi Ariane
Would you like to profile The Guernsey L&PPP Society on www.bookdrum.com, where you can add information, images, video, music and links to illustrate and explore the book?
Right now, we're running a $3,000 Tournament and we'll be offering contract work to the best entries.
Best wishes
Hector Macdonald
Editor, Book Drum
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