The story and the characters in The
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society are every bit as intriguing
as the book's unusual and quirky-sounding title.
Told entirely in the form of letters
to and from its characters, the story begins in 1946, shortly after the end of
World War II as Europe is slowly emerging from the horrors of that war. In London, writer Juliet Ashton is trying to
come up with a subject for her next book when she receives a letter
complimenting her on her writing from a stranger, Dawsey Adams. Dawsey is a native of the Island of Guernsey,
one of the English Channel Islands near the French coastline. Guernsey was under Nazis occupation.
Dawsey's letter sets off an exchange
of letters between the two. Eventually
other residents of the small island join the exchange, describing the effects
of the occupation on their lives. Through the residents' letters Julia is
introduced to the Guernsey Potato Peel Pie and Literary Society which was
initially created as an alibi when the Nazis caught the islanders breaking
curfew. The Society
quickly becomes real,
banding them together and making them friends as well as survivors.
Some of the residents were not
readers, but they came together for companionship and entertain each other with
discussions about books. And they share
their letters from Julia, who soon becomes so intrigued with her new friends
that she takes up temporary residence on Guernsey so that she can meet them
face to face and write a book about their experiences.
Julia learns their very real and
painful stories about the effect the Nazi occupation has had on their home and
their lives. Their letters to her are
colorful, sad and very descriptive. We also get to know the
Islanders as individuals—courageous, frightened, sometimes funny but always
determined to survive. Julia's letters to them are thoughtful and wonderfully
funny.
In the years the Nazis occupied Guernsey, they tightly controlled every aspect of islanders' lives. They were cruel
conquers, rationing their food and the fuel they needed for heat and cooking,
robbing their vegetable gardens and forcing the islanders to live in constant fear.
Islanders shared rations and helped
each other in every possible way with medical aid and whatever else they
needed to survive—including their sense of humor. Together they
lived through the ever-present cold, dampness,
relentless hunger and very real fear of the Nazis. And a gentle love story quietly develops.
With little notice, Guernsey's children were
rounded up and shipped to England.
Having their children sent to another country, frightened and alone, to
unknown caregivers and for an indefinite length of time was a terrible
heartbreak for the Islander, who could only hope that at least their children
would be safer.
The book gives us an all too
realistic picture of the Nazi occupation of Guernsey. But we learn even more about courage, strong
friendships and the importance of both.
And the story is told with warmth and humor. The letter-writing format is a clever, surprisingly
effective and believable way to get to know the courageous, creative,
sometimes quirky residents of Guernsey and to see how they struggled to survive
and were effected by the Nazi occupation of their island. —Gail Stilwill
NOTE: The original author, Mary Ann Shaffer,
died before she was able to complete the book, after spending years
researching material.
Her niece, Annie Barrows,
was able to pick up where Shaffer left off and compete the book. It was well
worth the efforts of both
writers.
