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

• Rated 5 stars

“What a sweetly written book about truly difficult subjects -- war, genocide, abuse, starvation and deprivation are balanced by hope, friendship, forgiveness and love. This is the sort of story that has enough "true-to-life" details that it feels plausible, almost real, and makes you want to visit the place and study the era. ”

• Rated 5 stars

“I really enjoyed this novel. It was set just after WWII. Since I like to read historical fiction, I decided to read it. I learned things I never knew about the German Occupation of the islands belonging to the Britsh. The entire book is written as a series of letters from the main character to others, and I initially thought that it might turn me off. However, it flowed so smoothly, and it never seemed that you were missing something of the telling of the story itself. The characters are quirky and unforgettable. I read it so fast I was sad when I finished.”

• Rated 4 stars

“ A great read and a warm and charming story. It is the one of the only epistolary novels I have ever read. The authors development of the characters and the story line through this cover-to-cover series of fuctional letters is superlative.
The quality of the correspondence together with the faithfulness and promptness of the the correspondents makes me yearn for the days when pen, paper, and post was the main means of communicating with friends near and far. I am impressed by the literacy displayed by all of the writers of the various letters--perhaps one of the books few shortcomings is that everyone (including the bone-and-rag man and swineherd) display such highly polished skill at writing and all possess wit and subtle (or not-so-subtle) humor in their letter writing. What little this similarity in writing style and writing level may detract from convincing me as a reader that these characters are 'real' people is compensated by my desire for there to be such a generous population of people who may boast of fine character, good humor, and great writing style at once.
Read this one--you won't regret it. ”

• Rated 4 stars

“Very sweet and charming read. Everyone likes a happy ending now and then :)”

• Rated 5 stars

“This was a wonderful book! I knew absolutely nothing about this island and how the war impacted it. Loved the letter format, and really cared about the characters.”

• Rated 4 stars

“ At first I was really put off by the title, but The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was not a dowdy book about Grandmothers recounting their times in the south over a pitcher of sweet tea. It was a great read with characters that I will continue to think about and adore. The letters were a personal and comfortable way to get to know the characters.

CAUTION! SPOILERS!:
I was devestated for Juliet when I found out that Sidney was gay. They would have been a perect couple! But their friendship was really great regardless. I went through odd periods of liking Sidney, then Dawsey, then Sidney, then Mark, then Dawsey, then Mark, then Sidney, then Mark, then Sidney. It was a rollercoaster of suitor preference.
Isola was by far my favourite character. She was rediculously eccentric and warm. My only complaints are with the slow progression of courting and the ending. It was too abrupt and the complete format change was just too weird and disjointed. My biggest problem was with Dawsey though, he was just too passive for the guy that gets the girl! I wanted love letters, emotion, or at least some incremental literary flirting. Still a great book though. (Except I was a ridiculously offended when Juliet even considered taking Kit away from Guernsey.)”

• Rated 5 stars

“This is one of those books that I didn't want to end. A wonderful story of friendship, hope and the human spirit, this book was also well researched. I knew little about the occupation of Guernsey Island and feel that I gained on two fronts reading it; not only did I really enjoy the story but learned a bit of history as well. ”

• Rated 3 stars

“I loved the writing, the format and the story, but became progressively less enchanted by the book as the most "endearing" characters also happened to be those that flaunted traditional morals, and of course the one "Christian" woman was--surprise!--the most horrid character and biggest hypocrite in the book. These types of characters are tiresome and painfully predictable; I rarely read current literary fiction with characters that deviate from the "those who are most untraditional and socially progressive are the wisest and best" model.”

• Rated 5 stars

“I wouldn't have believed there was a way to make a WWII story charming but this delightful books pulls it off. A true epistolary novel, Shaffer/Barrows do an exemplary job of fleshing out an entire ensemble of intriguing characters and their island home entirely through letters. Humorous and heartbreaking at turns, this book gives a haunting glimpse of post WWII England and the cost of war. But through the bittersweet we're also reminded how hope remains our guiding spirit and through each other, we can find salvation, even by just sharing simple words.”

• Rated 4 stars

“It was slow going at first but once I got the characters figured out the story really started to build. It was an overall good book.”