Gentle Reads Annotation: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Authors: Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shafer

Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Genre: Historical Fiction, Gentle Reads

Publication Year: 2008

Number of Pages: 274

Geographical Setting: England, Guernsey (Channel Islands)

Time Period: Post World War II (1945-46)

Series: N/A

Plot Summary

Following World War II, British writer Juliet Ashton finds inspiration from a random correspondence about literature with Dawsey Adams, a man from recently liberated Guernsey, an island in the English Channel that had been occupied by Nazis during the war. As she learns more about the experiences of the people of Guernsey under Nazi occupation, and their impromptu, unconventional Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Juliet finds herself pulled to the island, called to tell their story.

Subject Headings: Guernsey (Channel Islands), Interpersonal relations, World War II, Book Clubs, Personal letters

Appeal:

Characterization: One appealing factor of the novel is its likable, varied, and compelling characters. Through Juliette’s descriptions of those she writes with and about, and their own opinions of her, readers are shown a tight-knit, unique community that is healing from the traumas and losses of war.

Writing Style/Form: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is an epistolary, meaning that it is written as a series of letters and telegrams between the characters. This choice offers readers limited insight into some events of the novel, through reactionary letters or messages between characters that push readers to infer or theorize what exactly occurred. This writing style also allows readers to tap into the unique perspectives of different characters through their letters, with some writing about the same events with contrasting views of what occurred and why.

Storyline: While the story is linear in the sense that the letters and messages sent between characters are chronological, it mixes tales of the present (post-war) and accounts from during the war as Juliette seeks to learn more about Guernsey, life during the Nazi occupation, and the members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The novel reads as a conversation, inviting readers to learn more about its characters as they grow closer and unveil their stories to one another.

3 terms that best describe this book: touching, charming, bittersweet

Relevant Fiction

  

Love & Saffron by Kim Fay is another gentle read and historical fiction novel, this time set in 1960’s America. Readers who enjoyed the relational aspects and epistolary style of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society will find similar elements in this novel.

Alexander McCall Smith’s novel La's Orchestra Saves the World also tells of the importance of friendship amidst the terror and threat of World War II.

The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, by Guernsey-born G.B. Edwards, is another historical fiction, telling of life in the Channel Island Guernsey through both World Wars. Readers looking for a more detailed, harrowing but enlightening approach to the history of Guernsey may want to start here.

Relevant Nonfiction

    

Life in Occupied Guernsey: The Diaries of Ruth Ozanne 1940-1945 offers a true eyewitness account of life in Guernsey during the Nazi Occupation of the island.

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff may appeal to readers who enjoyed the love of books and reading that was exemplified in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, qualities expressed through Hanff’s own experiences and letters sent over several decades between herself and Frank Doel, bookseller.

How We Lived Then by Norman Longmate offers a thoroughly detailed look into everyday life in London during World War II.