The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

St Just Thursday Evening Reading Group 6th June 2019.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

The reading group was divided in its opinions about this book. Some readers couldn't get started, finding the style off-putting. Others, while agreeing that the style posed a slight obstacle, read it with pleasure and found it 'charming', 'a light easy read', also commenting that it was interesting historically, and that we hadn't realised how grim the Nazi occupation of Guernsey was. The plight of the German slave workers there, and the food shortages, were particularly poignant.

Criticisms were that the dating on the letters suggested impossibly rapid replies; and that the style of the letters from multiple writers was too unvaried – they should have been more individual. The epistolary style, as mentioned before, was difficult at first and we found ourselves hoping for a linear narrative, but on finishing the book and considering it as a whole, this way of writing seemed clever and unusual and told a more personal story than straight prose would have done. There was also some question about how well the romance fitted into the rest of the story, though in the end this also was acceptable, fitting in with the narrator's love for the island, and indicating her wish to leave behind the life she had led in post-war London. Several people commented that they had hoped for Elizabeth to come back to Guernsey, and were shocked, even though they half-expected it, by her sad death in Ravenbruck.

Not many people were able to attend the meeting to discuss this book, but many comments were received in writing, some from different parts of the UK. These contributed very valuably to the discussion, which ranged over 'remote reading' and book exchanges, and the passing on of books to other readers and travellers – the books themselves then becoming physical objects with a history of their own.

Very interesting - both the literary and the historical aspects. I just wish it was longer!

This book has to be the first one we've all been of one mind on, we all loved it! Most of the club were very apprehensive because they didn't think from the cover artwork and the title that this would be their type of book. However once the book was started everyone changed their mind about it and found themselves really enjoying it. One of our members loved it so much she started casting the roles if the book was a movie! This started the rest of us off as well.

Because the book is written in the form of letters there's not a lot of description of the characters in terms of looks etc. this made it a little tricky to identify them all as they popped in and out of the story. Even so Elizabeth made her presence felt through her strong personality without actually writing any of the letters. We found Dawsey to be a little confusing, was he an old or a young person?

The book gave us a lot of insight into the way people lived on Guernsey during the war without it being too much of a history book. There seemed to be the right amount of the horrors of war countered with the sweetness of the people and the love story running through the book.

We got into a bit of a discussion about whether we would be able to send our children away if we had been the islanders. I don't think there was a conclusion other than you don't know how you would react unless you're in the situation. We all thought it must have been a horrific thing to have to go through.

We also wondered whether the authors had any particular reason for choosing the books they did for the book club to be reading in the novel? We thought they were very odd choices, maybe because this was all that was left on the island? We weren't sure. Also, the names of the characters were very unusual, we wondered were they realistic or not.

We gave this book a 9 out of 10 overall with no-one marking it lower than a 7.

Fun and lively and much enjoyed by the whole group.

I absolutely LOVED this book, beautifully written. True treasure. My only regret is the next read will be so different from the first time.
Definitely have recommended to family and friends. Also, one of the very few books I have presented as a gift.

We read this book some time ago. The whole group enjoyed it. We knew little about life in the Channel Islands during the occupation before reading this book.

I enjoyed this unusual book very much. It takes the form of letters from a young female author to residents of Guernsey who formed a Literary Society during WW2 .It was fascinating to learn what the residents' life was like during the occupation and the parallel storyline was also entertaining. The characters were varied and well-drawn. It is a light read and I would definitely recommend this book.