The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I usually read only at night, last thing before bed when it’s quiet and dark except of course for my reading lamp. I am easily distracted and whenever I see people reading in a noisy airport or crowded lunch room I always wonder how, and am admittedly a bit jealous that, they are able to concentrate on their book in such a place. Since I always have extra time to kill during my lunch breaks I thought I would try reading in my car this time. At first it was difficult but I soon got used to it and was able to become well enough engrossed into the story even in a busy parking lot. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was recommended to me by Luci. A strange name indeed (the book’s name not Luci’s) but you have to admit the title does stand out and grab your attention.

This is another book with written in an unconventional format. (Do you remember These Is My Words?) This time the whole book is a compilation of letters. They are nearly all written by or to a Miss Juliet Ashton and travel mostly between London and an island in the English Channel called Guernsey. WWII has just ended and this story begins and ends in 1946 and deals with the occupation of Guernsey by Z Germans during the war as well as Juliet’s search for material for her next book.

I’m sure it’s normally a fairly quick read but due to my experimental and relatively brief reading sessions during my lunch breaks in my Civic where I was constantly checking my watch to make sure I wasn’t late back to work etc. progress was, well, slow. In hind sight this was probably the worst book to try to read in twenty minute bursts particularly because of the letter format and the fact that I found it difficult to keep track of who was who for about the first half of the book. Oh yeah, the book is actually divided into two parts. The first part introduces all the characters and provides much of the background information but nothing much really happens in the present. Things begin to pay off in the second half and especially in the last third of the book.

I have come to understand that a romantic story written by a woman will always contain more than one possible candidate for groom at the inevitable engagement/wedding finale. Since this book contains multiple references to Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice in particular it was not surprising that characters named Markham and Dawsey soon appeared. (Markham/Wickham, Dawsey/Darcy) Coincidence? Yeah, okay sure. Anyway, that’s no big deal but I just wanted to let you know how clever I was to pick up on the similarity of the names, or not.

I saved the final 100 pages for a proper reading session without distraction or time restriction. As the second half was set on the island I decided to drive out to Waterton and park beside the lake to read the end of the story. The sounds of the little waves breaking on the shore along with the wind rushing through the trees made it easy to imagine I was on Guernsey myself. Well, kinda, not really but it was fun to pretend anyway.

(Yeah, so I'm there on the shore of Guernsey. As you can see it was a beautiful day. You can see St. Peter Port just over to the right there. Across the Channel to the left are the um Green Cliffs of Dover and that kind of pointy castle like shape way down there, I'm pretty sure that's Hogwarts. Yep, pretty sure.)

Overall I found the first half contained slightly more witty writing and the second half had the best of the story. The islander’s stories that Juliet collects for her book include recollections of terrible events that happened during the war and show how they were able to cope and endure all the hardships they faced. There are stories of great bravery and unexpected kindness found amongst all the evil as well. The ending is suddenly but not unexpectedly happy.

I think my favorite part was the letter Juliet wrote to Sophie on September 7, 1946.

Everyone has his/her dearest treasures. Sometimes they are kept in an old box tied up with string, sometimes they are hidden deep inside a heart. Those who are lucky enough to be shown the precious contents can know that they are loved.

Thanks Luci for the recommendation!