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Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽'s Reviews > The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by
by
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽'s review
bookshelves: favorites, wwii, historical-fiction
Aug 09, 2013
bookshelves: favorites, wwii, historical-fiction
Read 2 times. Last read March 19, 2018 to March 24, 2018.
I loved this book - it's on my favorites shelf. So obviously I recommend it!
In my March 2018 buddy read with Trish (which kind of disintegrated because she raced ahead and finished the whole book in like one day :p) I was impressed with how well the authors melded actual historical facts about the island of Guernsey during WWII, and people's wartime experiences, with the novel's storyline. I could see the seams a little - interesting true stories and anecdotes tend to show up in the book as random people's letters to the main character, Juliet - but I have to say overall I still enjoyed this book thoroughly. While it deals with some harrowing experiences, it does so with a fairly light hand, which some readers may roll their eyes at, but others will appreciate. It tends toward the "cozy" type of read, which isn't a bad thing in my book. There's a rich cast of characters, just a touch of romance, and some truly delightful humor. I'll definitely reread this a third time someday.
This historical fiction novel is set shortly after WWII, with frequent wartime stories being related in letters between the characters. Through these letters (this is an epistolary novel), we follow Juliet Ashton, a fairly successful author of a British humor column, who is searching for a new topic to write about, and trying to decide what to do with her life and her boyfriend. She gets a letter out of the blue from a man on Guernsey Island, Dawsey Adams, who saw her name in a book and asks her for the name of a London bookshop, and tells her a little about his local book group, the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
One letter leads to another, both from Dawsey and others on Guernsey, and gradually Juliet finds out more about her new friends on the island, what they experienced during the German WWII occupation of the island of Guernsey a few years before, and how their book club was formed and got its name. When she decides to go visit Guernsey and her pen pal friends there - upsetting her current boyfriend in the process - her life gradually becomes intertwined with theirs.
This book includes some fun and often quirky characters, quite a bit of interesting (and sometimes harrowing) WWII history, a love for literature, frequent humor, and just a little bit of romance.
In my March 2018 buddy read with Trish (which kind of disintegrated because she raced ahead and finished the whole book in like one day :p) I was impressed with how well the authors melded actual historical facts about the island of Guernsey during WWII, and people's wartime experiences, with the novel's storyline. I could see the seams a little - interesting true stories and anecdotes tend to show up in the book as random people's letters to the main character, Juliet - but I have to say overall I still enjoyed this book thoroughly. While it deals with some harrowing experiences, it does so with a fairly light hand, which some readers may roll their eyes at, but others will appreciate. It tends toward the "cozy" type of read, which isn't a bad thing in my book. There's a rich cast of characters, just a touch of romance, and some truly delightful humor. I'll definitely reread this a third time someday.
This historical fiction novel is set shortly after WWII, with frequent wartime stories being related in letters between the characters. Through these letters (this is an epistolary novel), we follow Juliet Ashton, a fairly successful author of a British humor column, who is searching for a new topic to write about, and trying to decide what to do with her life and her boyfriend. She gets a letter out of the blue from a man on Guernsey Island, Dawsey Adams, who saw her name in a book and asks her for the name of a London bookshop, and tells her a little about his local book group, the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
One letter leads to another, both from Dawsey and others on Guernsey, and gradually Juliet finds out more about her new friends on the island, what they experienced during the German WWII occupation of the island of Guernsey a few years before, and how their book club was formed and got its name. When she decides to go visit Guernsey and her pen pal friends there - upsetting her current boyfriend in the process - her life gradually becomes intertwined with theirs.
This book includes some fun and often quirky characters, quite a bit of interesting (and sometimes harrowing) WWII history, a love for literature, frequent humor, and just a little bit of romance.
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Reading Progress
2009
–
Started Reading
2009
–
Finished Reading
August 9, 2013
– Shelved
October 2, 2013
– Shelved as:
favorites
December 12, 2017
– Shelved as:
wwii
December 12, 2017
– Shelved as:
historical-fiction
March 19, 2018
–
Started Reading
March 19, 2018
–
4.12%
"That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive--all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment."
page
12
March 19, 2018
–
29.21%
"Now, about Markham V. Reynolds (Junior). Your questions regarding that gentleman are very delicate, very subtle, very much like being smacked in the head with a mallet. Am I in love with him? What kind of a question is that? It's a tuba among the flutes, and I expect better of you."
page
85
March 21, 2018
–
37.11%
"I remember lying in our hay-loft reading The Secret Garden with a cowbell beside me. I'd read for an hour and then ring the bell for a glass of lemonade to be brought to me. Mrs. Hutchins, the cook, finally grew weary of this arrangement and told my mother, and that was the end of my cowbell, but not my reading in the hay."
page
108
March 23, 2018
–
60.14%
"I am trying hard to remember my parents' ideas about child-raising, but, as the child raised, I'm scarcely a good judge. I know I got spanked for spitting my peas across the table at Mrs. Morris, but that's all I can recall. Perhaps she deserved it."
page
175
March 24, 2018
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 63 (63 new)
message 1:
by
Melissa
(new)
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rated it 5 stars
Dec 12, 2017 09:08AM
I still have not read this despite owning it in two formats and having it highly recommended by my daughter. My TBR pile is too big.
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This darling book has long been one of my favorite reads💗 love your review!
Not my favorite, but I loved the final chapter. It was hilarious!
This has always been one of those books teetering on the edge of being placed on my "to-read" shelf. I think I just got a bit closer to adding it, thanks for the great review ;-)
Dave wrote: "This has always been one of those books teetering on the edge of being placed on my "to-read" shelf. I think I just got a bit closer to adding it, thanks for the great review ;-)"Thanks for commenting, Dave! I hope I've given you a recommend that you'll enjoy. :)
I'd be up for a buddy-read!
Trish wrote: "I'd be up for a buddy-read!"
Sweet! Let's do it! When do you want to aim for?
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "Trish wrote: "I'd be up for a buddy-read!"
Sweet! Let's do it! When do you want to aim for?"
Let me check my little black book (yes, I love notebooks and have one with scheduled reads for every month because I would totally forget otherwise) ... how does February sound? You say when exactly and I'll be good to go.
How about mid-month, say Feb. 16? My birthday is the 15th so we can start right after that. :)
Um ... waving hand timidly over here with an embarrassing question ... what exactly is a buddy read?
It's when a number of people (at least two) read the same book at the same time and (ideally) comment on each others status updates, discussion the book while reading it as if you were in a real-life book club.
Trish wrote: "It's when a number of people (at least two) read the same book at the same time and (ideally) comment on each others status updates, discussion the book while reading it as if you were in a real-li..."Sweet! Thanks for the info ... what's that adage about learning something new each day? ;-)
A buddy read is when two or more people read a book at the same time and discuss it during and after the read. For buddy reads we usually just comment in each other's review threads for the book, or pick one person's review thread and we all discuss it there.It's sort of the mini version of a "group read," which are usually sponsored by a particular Goodreads group. In that case the discussion threads for the group read are within the group's discussion boards. I've had buddy reads that grew large enough that we created a new Goodreads group just so we'd have a place to set up the book discussion threads. :)
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "A buddy read is when two or more people read a book at the same time and discuss it during and after the read. For buddy reads we usually just comment in each other's review threads for the book, o..."That sounds really cool, thanks for the detailed info! I will definitely need to keep my eyes peeled and jump into one of these in the not-too-distant future :-)
I like the sound of this. I've picked it up and put it down a few times in the shop but having read your review I definitely need to read it now.
Teresa wrote: "I like the sound of this. I've picked it up and put it down a few times in the shop but having read your review I definitely need to read it now."Grab it and join Trish and me in the February buddy read. :D
I've read a bit less than the first third of the novel and know why you're so enchanted. :D There are a couple of aspects about the protagonist that I didn't like at first (she's a bit too girlish - read: squeamish - for my taste for example), but the setting as well as the other characters and the form in which this is written are fantastic.
Do glad you loved this too ! I can’t wait for the movie.
Now that I have read more than half of the book and re-watched the movie's trailer, I'm dismayed to see what they've changed.
Trish wrote: "Now that I have read more than half of the book and re-watched the movie's trailer, I'm dismayed to see what they've changed."That's too bad, although ... typical of filming books. Some things I get that they have to change, but sometimes I'm all, why the crap was this changed? Who thought this was a good idea??
I will start the book tonight - I'm still working for a few more hours. Mostly working. :D (I promise I don't bill my clients for the time I spend on GR)
Yeah, and the changes I can see in the trailer are completely unnecessary ones. *grumbles*
Oh, also, I PM'd Teresa (who commented upthread that she was interested in joining the BR) and she's going to read it with us as well, though she warned me that life is busy and she probably will be a little slower getting through the book. I suggested we mostly use this thread for our discussions, since you've already started us off. :)
*lol* Cool. I'm ... well ... I'm 72% in and just. can't. stop!
Trish wrote: "*lol* Cool. I'm ... well ... I'm 72% in and just. can't. stop!"Wow, Trish! I'm impressed. :)
Gosh guys from the comments here I'm really looking forward to it.
Hey Tadiana - your review makes this sound very good - I thought I already DNF'd it, but now I realize that I never tried and for some reason have been confusing it with that hedgehog book every one raved about but I couldn't get into. So on to my "Want to Read" list it goes!
Ange H wrote: "Hey Tadiana - your review makes this sound very good - I thought I already DNF'd it, but now I realize that I never tried and for some reason have been confusing it with that hedgehog book every on..."That's great! I also read the hedgehog one a few years ago because a friend swore it was SO WONDERFUL, lol. I made it to the end, but I thought it was pretty forgettable.
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "Trish wrote: "*lol* Cool. I'm ... well ... I'm 72% in and just. can't. stop!"Wow, Trish! I'm impressed. :)"
I had to finish it. Stayed up way past my bedtime. Just posted my review. So sorry, I'm the worst buddy-reader! I just had to know!!!
I loved this too. It was just the right level of whimsy set against the grim reality of WWII.
I'm not surprised you raced through it, Trish. I think I did the same the first time I read it. I'm on p. 47 now ("You can purchase my silence with torrid details, you know.") I had forgotten how delightful the humor is!Valerie, I'm really enjoying my reread!
P. 52: "Men are more interesting in books than they are in real life." *snickers*
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "P. 52: "Men are more interesting in books than they are in real life." *snickers*"I actually highlighted that one. *lol* The humour really is just the right shade (not too silly, but there to lighten the mood).
Ah, great review, adding to my tbr now!
❇Critterbee wrote: "Ah, great review, adding to my tbr now!"Thanks! I'd be surprised if you don't really enjoy it. :)
This book is clean, right?
To Catch A Falling Star wrote: "This book is clean, right?"Yes, although it deals with some of the terrible things that people experienced in WWII, so it's not all unicorns and rainbows. But no F-bombs or explicit sex.
I have found that many readers consider 'clean' to mean No Sex and No Foul Language, Violence being addressed separately, but considered 'clean.' Sometimes I see 'trigger warnings' for violence, but not for sex or language. More and more frequently, I am seeing people ask reviewers if the book is clean. Do you generally include that information in your reviews?
I do typically include a content note or advisory at the end of my reviews when I'm reading something that I think is in R-rated territory (if it were a movie). I have a lot of GR friends who are "clean reads only" readers, and so I try give a heads up in my review if I'm reviewing something that isn't, as a courtesy to them. And yes, I agree it's a weird quirk in our society that explicit violence is considered less disturbing (in books at least) than explicit sex or foul language.
I only got to start this morning. I'm 29% in on my kindle and I'm totally hooked. I can't believe I've passed over this book for so long.
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "To Catch A Falling Star wrote: "This book is clean, right?"Yes, although it deals with some of the terrible things that people experienced in WWII, so it's not all unicorns and rainbows. But no F..."
Thanks!
I was able to see the author speak! I have his next book on my shelf to read!
Teresa wrote: "I only got to start this morning. I'm 29% in on my kindle and I'm totally hooked. I can't believe I've passed over this book for so long."Yay! I'm sure you'll love it! Please keep us posted here!
Susan wrote: "I was able to see the author speak! I have his next book on my shelf to read!"
Do you mean Annie Barrows? The original author, Mary Ann Shaffer, died right around the time the book was published. I read another book by Barrows a couple of years ago, a historical fiction set in Depression-era Virginia, IIRC, and really enjoyed it. The Truth According to Us
Great review Tadiana! I picked this up last year. I’ll have to try and get it in.
I have to say this book was a huge surprise to me. Someone gave it to me years ago and it sat on my shelf, for years. I had no desire to read it. One day, I picked it up and found I couldn't put it down. I haven't thought of it in years then I spotted your review and it instantly made me smile as I fondly recalled the book. Funny how years later you can still remember how a book made you feel!
(Bern) Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas wrote: "I have to say this book was a huge surprise to me. Someone gave it to me years ago and it sat on my shelf, for years. I had no desire to read it. One day, I picked it up and found I couldn't put it..."Me too! I had forgotten a lot of the details of the story since I read it about 8 years ago, but I still remember the feelings!
I love Isola. She has some outlandish ideas. Looking forward to her going to the island to meet them all. If she has any sense she'll get rid of Mark. Sounds like a right pratt to me.
Well I still don't really know how a buddy read goes as I'm the only one left still reading it!!
Teresa wrote: "Well I still don't really know how a buddy read goes as I'm the only one left still reading it!!"Sorry, we were all bad, bad buddy readers for this one!
