The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Shaffer and Barrows

The Guernsey Literary and Potato peel Pie Society

Mary Ann Shaffer / Annie Barrows

Published 2008

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THE PLOT

After the end of WWII, Juliet, an aspiring British writer in a slump, was struggling to find new inspiration. Then a man named Dawsey contacted her for a book recommendation. He had read a book by Charles Lamb, and her name was on the inside cover.

They began to correspond, and Juliet learned that Dawsey was part of an intimate literary society that organized during the German Occupation of Guernsey, the mainland of the Channel Islands. The Society still met together to discuss books. Dawsey encouraged its current members to write to Juliet and talk about themselves, what they read, and what life was like during the Occupation.

Juliet

At the same time, Juliet was being pursued by a wealthy American journalist -- a relationship that developed very quickly. However, Juliet's interests were aching to know and understand more about the people of the Guernsey Lit Society, and she decided to spend some time in Guernsey and interview the members in person.

Because this novel is epistolary, Juliet kept in touch with her publisher, her publisher's sister, and a few others, and readers were able to continue to learn about the developments between Juliet and the literary members. For example, the founder of the Society, Elizabeth, had been missing since the Occupation. She had developed an intimate relationship with a kind German soldier and they had a child together. The little girl's name was Kit, and the members of the Society took turns caring for her since Elizabeth had been arrested and taken away. No one at the time knew Elizabeth's fate, and they hoped she would return home since the War had ended. 

Obviously, the relationship between Juliet and Dawsey was warming up, while Juliet's other love interest, the rich American, had shown himself to be controlling and suffocating; he surprised Juliet and Dawsey by arriving on Guernsey, and that was the end of that relationship. Juliet told him it was over, but not before it was apparent to Dawsey that Juliet had someone else in her life. So now he backed off.

Then one miscommunication led to another, and Juliet grew to believe that Dawsey had affections for a woman named Remy who had contacted Dawsey with news about Elizabeth. Because of Remy, the Society members now learned the sad truth about their dear friend Elizabeth. And now began the perplexing question of what to do about Kit.

The interesting character of Juliet, the kind of person she was, and how she cared about others mirrored the missing character, Elizabeth. Furthermore, Juliet's publisher suggested that instead of writing broadly about the Society and the history of the Occupation, Juliet should focus on Elizabeth and write the story through the narration of her life. Soon the history became a biography. Or was it really an autobiography?

THE THEME

One of the main themes of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is that you may never really know someone as well as you think you do. People will surprise you. There are always exceptions, and this seems to be a big message.

The Guernsey Literary Society

THE OPINION

My only complaint about this story is that the ending was too abrupt and I wanted to know more about the biography of Elizabeth. Gosh, I wanted to READ an actual biography about the fictional character! I wonder if it seemed abrupt because Mary Ann Shaffer started the story and her niece Annie Barrows finished it for her while Shaffer battled with illness. I did not look into it. 

But the good news is: everyone I talked to about this book told me it was her "favorite." Some had read it over and over again. Seems like everyone who read it wanted to rave about it. It definitely appealed to me in many ways. While it was heart breaking at times, it remained historically enlightening, entertaining, sweet, and engaging. Overall, it was a great idea for a story. Very agreeable.