My Review of "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"

Happy Sunday everyone! I actually finished this book a while ago, but haven't had time to gather my thoughts about the book into a cohesive, coherent review. :-) However, after a relaxing weekend, I am ready to finally describe my thoughts and feelings about this novel.

First and foremost, the title is not only a mouthful, but unappealing. I admit I probably never would have picked up this book if it had not been suggested by the members of my book club. All this aside, I LOVED the book. From the moment you read the first letters (yes, the novel is written in letters to each character) you fall in love with the main character and her witty banter. The characters' personalities each have their own identity that you can somehow relate to.

The novel is about Guernsey Island and its inhabitants post World War II. However, through the main character, Juliet, you learn about the German occupation of the island during the war. Taking "The Great War" and "World War II" in college as upper-level history classes helped me through some of the war jargon and major occurrences throughout the novel. (You need no previous knowledge of the war to read this book though!)

Here are my favorite things about the novel:

-Written in letters, a very different perspective is given. I enjoyed this colorful, unconventional literary technique.
-The book was well researched and used language from the 1940's.
-Interesting characters that make you feel part of their small community.
-Shaffer's dialect and vivid storytelling transports you to Guernsey and eventually makes you want to visit/live on Guernsey Island.
-This novel is a book lover's book. The people on Guernsey Island used the book club as a way to (sanely) make it through the occupation. Any book lover can relate to this common tie of sometimes just getting away from life by reading.
-You find out more of the characters' personalities by what books they read.
-The novel tells two stories: Juliet's (love) life and the island's occupation.


Ok, so I didn't give much information about the novel itself, because I want you to read it for yourself! This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I hope you enjoy it too!!