About this title: London, 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of Guernsey during the German occupation, and about a society as extraordinary as its name.
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Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781408800485ISBN:1408800489
Description: Good. Our aim is to create value for our customers through the provision of low cost, affordable products and an overall satisfying buying experience. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780747590644ISBN:0747590648
Description: Fine. Minor rubbing to edges and extremities, otherwise unread. Next working day dispatch from the UK. Please contact us with any queries. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Date Published: 22/10/2008
ISBN-13:9781408800485ISBN:1408800489
Description: Used-Good. Book in good or better condition. Dispatched same day from warehouse. Please email with any questions for quick response. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Date Published: 22/10/2008
ISBN-13:9781408800485ISBN:1408800489
Description: Used-Good. Book in good or better condition. Dispatched same day from warehouse. Please email with any questions for quick response. read more
Description: New. 0385340990 SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! NEW Book! May have remainder mark. Most orders ship within 1 BUSINESS DAY with ORDER CONFIRMATION. Great Book at a Great Value! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: The Dial Press
Date Published: 2008-07-29
ISBN-13:9780385340991ISBN:0385340990
Description: New in Acceptable jacket. Bargain Book! New book with damaged dust jacket. Publisher's inventory dot on bottom edges. We ship 6 days a week, generally within 24 hours; single CDs and DVDs upgraded to 1st class! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Dial Press
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780385340991ISBN:0385340990
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 288 p. Audience: General/trade. Very Good Condition In a plastic cover read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780747590644ISBN:0747590648
Description: Fine. Minor bumping to edges and extremities, otherwise brand new & unread. Next working day dispatch from the UK. Please contact us with any queries. read more
"Interesting and fun to read. It's written in a letter format. This is a great way to learn history. It also makes me want to visit Guernsey Island and Jersey Island."
"The Second World War has ended and people across the world are picking up the pieces. It's 1946, January, and Juliet Ashton is on a book tour around England for her recently published collection of humorous columns that had been so popular during the war, Izzy Bickerstaff Goes to War. She's not used to being a success and she does tend to throw things at people, but on the upside a very wealthy and attractive man keeps sending her flowers.
A surprise letter from a complete stranger from one of the Channel Islands, Guernsey, provides a new friendship and the germ of an idea for a new book. He, Dawsey Adams, had one of her books (works by Charles Lamb), which had her address on the inside cover. Her old address, her beloved flat that was bombed. The letter reaches her, and so begins a new friendship not just with Dawsey, but the entire community of St Peter Port and the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
Intrigued by this amazing name, the story of the literary society's origins are revealed and soon Juliet is caught up in their story, and that of the island which was under German Occupation during the war. Everyone has a story, and one woman in particular shines through all their tales: Elizabeth McKenna, a resourceful and quick-witted young woman whom Juliet feels an affinity to.
Told through letters between various characters but predominantly between Juliet and her publisher and best friend's brother, Sidney Stark, this poignant and bittersweet story is skilfully revealed and celebrated.
I'm not normally a fan of books told through letters, though it's an unfair assumption that they must always be boring. A truly skilled writer can reveal much through letters - and Mary Ann Shaffer, who died just before the book was published, and her niece Annie Barrows who finished the manuscript when her aunt fell ill, have completed a remarkable book that I cannot recommend highly enough.
This is a book that made me laugh, made me cry, and sometimes made me want to laugh and cry at the same time. Yet it's not a morbid or sad book. Juliet is a delightfully funny woman whose teasing tone reminded me of one of my sisters; and the Islanders each have their own quirks and remind me of shows like Seachange and Hamish Macbeth - that small town, close-knit community feel. So much is cleverly revealed to us through their correspondence, things that the characters themselves, writing the letters, don't notice.
It's beautifully written, slightly tongue-in-cheek and with that real British sense of humour - which is wonderful considering the authors are American. They really captured that tone, of the period as well as the place. There's also a great deal of subtlety, and an undercurrent of excitement, that completely beguiles you.
There are stories within stories as the past and the present overlap, and the complex relationship between Islander and Occupier is gently explored, while the horrors of a concentration camp are lightly touched upon - the full import is there, but not thrust in your face. A light touch, this book proves, can be more powerful that a hard-hitting one.
I felt close to all the characters in this book, who came vividly to life through these letters and their personal stories and adventures. It also makes me want to visit Guernsey! It's a quick, light read that will have you fully engrossed within the first few pages. A new favourite."
I recently read your book 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society'. It raised a few questions in my mind. Juliet writes in one of her letters: "Dear Sidney, What an inspired present you sent kit - red satin tap shoes covered with sequins" Didn't Sidney know what present he had sent? If you had to resort to sentences like these to speak what you wanted to, didn't you realize that the letter format and your writing didn't go well together?
Learning from your bad example, I will quit trying to be fancy, stop this letter here and write a regular review.
Megha.
** Spoiler Alert **
Novel written in epistolary format. Set in post WWII England.1946. Juliet is a 30-something writer living in London. (She is like this perfect human being who is universally loved. The only people who dislike even the smallest thing about her are the evil people). One day she receives a letter from a man living on Guernsey islands who found her address on a second hand book he had. Soon Juliet is exchanging letters with the members of Guernsey literary society and people talk about what books they like and why. Then suddenly everyone forgets about the books and Guernsey people start sharing their most intimate experiences from the time during the world war with Juliet, who is only a stranger. A few weeks later Juliet goes to the Guernsey islands to meet and interview these people. Of course everyone there just loves her (except the evil woman). She stays there for a few months and decides to adopt a four year old orphan girl she met there. The girl of course loves Juliet more than the people who have raised her. And then Juliet marries a pig farmer and settles down on the Guernsey islands. So much for the ridiculous plot. (I should have just known better, just look at the cheesy title.)
It shouldn't be difficult for a decent writer to develop good characters when using a letter format, since each character gets his/her own voice. However, all the characters in this book seem to talk in exactly the same manner. Be it an accomplished writer from the city of London or farmers from a remote island, their letters sound just the same. Irrespective of whether the letters are being written to a close friend or to a complete stranger. Almost all of the characters have only a single trait. For some of the characters I can't recall even a single distinct characteristic.
Mary Ann tries to have everything in one book. She has grazed the surface of numerous topics like books, world war, art, nature love, bucolic life, friendship, love, homosexuality, religion and so on. None of these get more than a superficial treatment. Stories about Nazi occupation of Guernsey don't tell you anything real about the war. They just revolve around this saint of a woman who died during the war while trying to show-off her heroism. To add to this drama, halfway through the book Mary Ann shifted the focus to Juliet trying to decide between different love interests (too many people love her, you know). Why is this book being marketed a historical novel?
Another one of those recent successful books that everyone is raving about. I don't get it. The book has some moments of delight and sweetness, but I will find those more pleasing if they sounded somewhat real and were well written."
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