The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Wow. Wow wow. I am completely thrilled with this book. Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows are awesome. This book was a gift given to me by a dear friend and I had been saving it for the right time. Stuck in a hotel and needing something fabulous to read was for sure the right time and I blew threw it, stopping only when necessary because I just was so interested. It is told in a series of letters between Juliet Ashton and a number of different people in her life.

It is January 1946 in England and Juliet is an author without a subject for a book. As she casts about for an idea, she receives a letter from a man named Dawsey Adams who lives in Guernsey, one of the British Channel islands that was occupied by the Germans during World War II. Adams has found a copy of a book by Charles Lamb and Juliet's name and address were on the front cover. He is interested in reading more by Lamb and, as there are no bookstores in Guernsey, he asks Juliet for help in finding another b.ook. She quickly replies and thus begins a correspondence with not only Dawsey, but many of his friends in Guernsey, many of whom will profoundly affect Juliet's life.

I thought Juliet was a great character. She was intelligent, witty, and determined but certainly flawed. She always tried to do the right thing and had a really good heart without being self-righteous. The letter format made things interesting - I have read actually quite a few books like this lately and like it. It is another book about World War II which brings a whole different aspect into the public eye - I knew nothing about the Channel Islands or their occupation. This book was a hit for me.