The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

It is 1946. Lon­don writer and war-time colum­nist, Juliet Ash­ton is search­ing in vain for her next project when per chance she receives a let­ter from Dawsey Adams of Guernsey.

In the let­ter, he tells her he has a copy of a book she once owned by Charles Lamb and wishes to know how he can acquire more titles by the author. He is one of the found­ing mem­bers of The Guernsey Lit­er­ary and Potato Peel Pie Soci­ety and Juliet is imme­di­ately intrigued. She begins cor­re­spond­ing with soci­ety mem­bers and so, through a series of let­ters, unfolds the story.

One of the many touch­ing aspects of the book is that it was writ­ten by a 70-year-old first time author and for­mer librar­ian, Mary Ann Shaffer.

Not long after the sale of the man­u­script, her health failed and her writer niece, Annie Bur­rows took over edit­ing. The author died before her book was in print, but what a legacy she left behind.

Rem­i­nis­cent of Helene Hanff’s 84 Char­ing Cross Road, the story is told purely through the words of the var­i­ous char­ac­ters by means of let­ters to Juliet, and her return correspondence.

Over time, Juliet comes to paint a pic­ture of what it was like to live on the island while under Ger­man occu­pa­tion and the seeds for a book are sown.

The quaint, poignant and humor­ous let­ters reveal the quirky char­ac­ters of the mem­bers and Juliet finds her life tak­ing a dif­fer­ent course, so drawn is she to these delight­ful peo­ple, each with a cap­ti­vat­ing story to tell.

She finally vis­its the island and falls in love with its rugged beauty and its wel­com­ing, eccen­tric characters—an unex­pected touch of romance and heart-warming bond with a young girl brings this book to a charm­ing end.

I would agree with the blurb—‘when was the last time you read a book that made you feel really good?’

This one cer­tainly does.

The Guernsey Lit­er­ary and Potato Peel Pie Society

By Mary Ann Shaf­fer and Annie Burrows

Pub­lished by Allen and Unwin