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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society | 
 enlarge | Authors: Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £7.59
You Save: £0.40 (5%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  95 reviews
Sales Rank: 218691
Media: Paperback
ISBN: 0747596689
EAN: 9780747596684
ASIN: 0747596689
Publication Date: June 1, 2009 (In 145 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Not yet published
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| Customer Reviews: Read 90 more reviews...
 Great title, however a rather dull read.. December 18, 2008
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was captivated by the title, and so with excitement ordered my copy.
I was even more excited when I read reviews comparing it to Charing Cross Road.
However the reality was a million miles from the review and the title.
It was a slow paced and dull, and I have to say I gave up after a few hours of battle.
So all in all, while I don't want to disrespect this as a work, it was most certainly not for me, and so I cannot in any way recommend it.
 Nothing Special December 5, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The story is set in Guernsey, just after the second world war and for the most part is written by an author called Juliet in a series of letters to her friends back in England; their replies constituent a fair part of the book. Basically the book does not have chapters but is just a series of letters and their replies, apart from a last section which is written by one of the other characters who lives in Guernsey which is in a note form. This latter part I enjoyed the most in the whole book.
The lives of the Guernsey folk are explored and the impact of the German occupation. Juliet is there to seek inspiration for her next book and learns about a Guernsey woman, called Elizabeth, and her impact on her fellow islanders, her story has such an effect on Juliet that she decides to base her next book on her. The story illustrates what Juliet finds out and also how Juliet develops as a person and finds love.
Now I have had this book since I think May/June time, I set off reading it quite well but then had a break for my holidays and just couldn't get back into it and as a result have struggled to finish it till now. The problem with the book is it isn't one of those books you just don't want to put down because really it is just everyday tales of folk which for the most part are not really that rivoting.
The story is well written and it clearly conveys a picture in your head of what is happening but I didn't like it being structured into letters instead of chapters.
So I can just say it was an okay story but cannot recommend it.
 JUST DIDN'T WANT IT TO END November 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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
2 out of 2 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!
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