The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (edit title)

Kristina F edited the quotations of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society 2 days ago.

• Added a quotation: “Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books.”Isola

Marsherlin edited the language of an edition of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society 2 weeks ago.

Marsherlin edited the language of an edition of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society 2 weeks ago.

Marsherlin edited the language of an edition of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society 2 weeks ago.

Marsherlin edited the language of an edition of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society 2 weeks ago.

Timothy Gray approved Marsherlin’s request to combine 29 books, including The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, 3 weeks ago.

Marsherlin submitted a request to combine 29 books, including The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, 3 weeks ago.

Shelfari edited the summary of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Sunday, November 29 2009.

• Guernsey is one of the Channel Islands, nominally part of Great Britain but located in the English Channel, close enough to see mainland Europe with the naked eye. And, as the residents of Guernsey discover during World War II, close enough for the Germans to occupy. What started out as a layover during an intended full-out invasion of the British Isles resulted in a five-year occupation that changed the lives of these quiet, simple people forever.

  In the novel, the title literary club is formed, literally, in self-defense. Caught heading home late after curfew (following a highly illegal dinner of roast pork from a pig missed by the Germans' inventory), an eclectic group of villagers makes up an excuse on the spot --- they were so engrossed by their literary discussion, they improvise, that they completely lost track of time. Of course, in order to validate their cover story, the "members""members" have to stage actual subsequent meetings, sometimes featuring creative desserts such as Potato Peel Pie (about the only dessert they could make with the limited supplies available to the near-starving islanders). To their surprise, especially since several of the group's members had never read a book before, the club soon sparks a genuine love of reading, as well as some intense literary debates.

  Shortly after the war's end, one of the society's members, a pig farmer named Dawsey Adams, grows intrigued by the writings of 18th-century essayist Charles Lamb and, on a whim, decides to write to the former owner of his used volume, Juliet Ashton, to see if she can help him find more works by Lamb. Juliet, who had become a bestselling columnist and author during and after the war, soon begins corresponding with Dawsey and the other Society members. Friendship, compassion and a sense of discovering new stories about the war draws Juliet and the Guernsey islanders together. Juliet hopes to include their stories in a new series of newspaper columns, or maybe as part of a new book --- but even this astute cultural critic and social commentator does not anticipate the role these humble people will play in her own personal story.

  Source: Book Reporter

Dee-Dee Anne edited the quotations of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Friday, November 13 2009.

• Added a quotation: “I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers. How delightful if that were true.”Juliet to Dawsey
• Added a quotation: “Men are more interesting in books than they are in real life.”Isola Pribby to Juliet
• Added a quotation: “What a blight that woman is. Do you happen to know why? I lean toward a malignant fairy at her christening.”Juliet to Dawsey, about Adelaide Addison

Dee-Dee Anne edited the glossary of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Friday, November 13 2009.

• Added the definition of Todt workers: Germany’s slave workers in camps on the continent