Customer Reviews: Read 88 more reviews...
 JUST DIDN'T WANT IT TO END November 28, 2008
I loved this book, I just wanted it to go on and on.
Having moved over to Guernsey 8 years ago, this also made it really interesting, it made me laugh and made me cry.
I do agree it took a bit of time getting to grips with all the different characters but was worth it I then couldn't put it down.
 Quite the charmer November 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a very charming, immensely likeable book. The way it's written (in letter form) almost put me off, but so many people were telling me that I must read it and I'm glad I did. You quickly get used to the letter format and it's definitely an effective (albeit highly artificial) technique to communicate multiple points of view. I started to feel like I really knew these characters and I cared about them - with the exception of Dawsey, who to me remained oblique. I really liked Juliet's sense of humour and like her, I fell quite in love with the absent Elizabeth and fretted about her wellbeing.
This is a book that celebrates the love of reading and the way that books can sustain you when life is less than wonderful. None of the Guernsey group are extensive readers, but when they do read it's Yeats or the Brontes or the Roman Philosopher Seneca. I loved the way that one gruff farmer (previously a non-reader), uses a quote from Antony and Cleopatra to describe the landing of the Germans in Guernsey: "the bright day is done and we are for the dark."
Besides reading, this is a novel about the history of Guernsey and life during the German Occupation. Other reviewers have commented on historical inaccuracies. I'm not in a position to know how accurate the book is or isn't, but I found the stories both fascinating and moving - especially the description of children being sent away to England for the duration of the war. "Families had one day to decide and five years to abide by it". (I did however question whether there would have been a French woman called Remy. That seems highly unlikely.)
The book almost loses it way towards the end. The author introduces a new and totally unnecessary sub-plot, which feels quite out of place. I would have preferred her to make more of the romantic triangle that is hinted at but never fully exploited. Nevertheless, it's a delightful book - don't let the letters put you off!
"Days gone by" November 27, 2008
I don't normally read books that are written like this - in the form of letters even though I am a keen letter writer myself. But the title (and this is tuly shallow - I know!) made me buy it. It is lightweight in many ways but a real winner in so many others. The characters are beautifully revealed to the reader and I truly appreciated the delightful eccentricities of them, having come from a small community myself. It is a trip into the post war years when although the memories of recent atrocities still invaded daily life, they were blissfully unaware of the damage that excess and overt materialism can do. It was a bit like a jolly Mitford novel - a glorious tale of 'days gone by' and I loved it; which just goes to show that choosing a book simply because you like what it's called is the perfect way to buy one!
 Quirky, warm and humorous - if lacking in depth November 21, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" is the first and final novel to be written by American writer Mary Ann Shaffer before her death in February 2008. Written in the form of a series of letters between the main characters, it is set in 1946 and concerns writer Juliet Ashton, searching both for love, and for a subject for her next book. When she receives a letter from a certain Dawsey Adams from the island of Guernsey, she quickly develops an interest in his story of life under German occupation during the war, and in the secret Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society formed by the islanders.
When the market abounds with long works comprising hundreds of pages, it is refreshing to read a novel so compact and able to be taken in small chunks. In fact for much of the novel the epistolary format works well; only near the end, as events gather pace, does it begin to feel slightly contrived. Surprisingly given this format, the reader becomes quickly drawn in to the story within the first few pages, and the pace (at least for the first half of the book) is extremely well-handled.
Unfortunately in the second half of the book, when Juliet herself travels to Guernsey, the pace does begin to slow. It is easy to be confused by the multiplying number of characters - especially as their writing voices are often difficult to distinguish from one another. In particular it is hard to visualise Dawsey Adams or understand his character, which is unfortunate given that his role in the book is fairly central.
Where the book really struggles, however, is in conveying the experience of those living in a country under occupation. Too much attention is devoted to the members of the Society in 1946, their everyday lives and their love of books - a love which Juliet shares. By contrast, too little is said about the past, and about the effect of the occupation upon the residents of Guernsey. Although their optimism and resilience under such circumstances is highlighted, it is rarely tempered by any reflection on the hardships and tragedies which they must have suffered. It is sometimes difficult to feel that the characters have indeed experienced such dark times, and so recently in their past. To be sure, the novel does contain some enlightening facts about the occupation - demonstrating the author's research - but sadly these are too few. As a result the book's tone remains a little too saccharine.
Nevertheless, "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" is a quirky, warm and humorous book with a great deal to recommend it. Indeed as a story of humanity, friendship and compassion it works very well. But for readers looking for insight into life under Nazi occupation, it remains slightly lacking.
Fascinating insight into WW2 Guernsey November 20, 2008
An enthralling and fun epistolary book - after perhaps a slow start, it was gripping and fascinating - kept the pages turning but maintained a real sense of charm. Historical novels as they should be.
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