The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: A Book Review

“That’s what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It’s geometrically progressive—all with no end in sight, and for no other reason that sheer enjoyment.”-Juliet Ashton

This small book of letters tells the historical fictional story of a group of British citizens who were occupied by the Germans in 1940-1945. Guernsey Island was a real island and this group of people came together by extreme circumstances. But with extreme circumstances formed a bond of love, camaraderie and a strength of hope. 

This story written by the late Mary Ann Shaffer and her niece Annie Barrows begins with Juliet Ashton an author writing to her publisher and friend Sidney Stark. As Juliet embarks on her book tour of Izzy goes to War, she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams who lives on Guernsey Island. Dawsey writes to her to inquire about any Charles Lamb books as he found her address in an old Lamb book she used to own. 

Juliet and Dawsey corresponded and began to develop a friendship with a love for books. It is here during these letters that Juliet learns of Dawsey’s role in the book society. One night after eating a roast pig late at night, Dawsey and his friends were discovered by the Nazis being out after curfew. Elizabeth McKenna saves the group by stating they are a book club. When asked the name, they replied the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. They had a potato peel pie with them and it served as an extra inspiration. To smooth things over and elevate the Nazis’ ego, they stated that it was best to be more cultured since the Germans value this greatly. They had no choice but to register their society or face consequences. 

Thus their group was formed and they had to become a real society. It is here that the group began their love for books, speaking about what they read and how it relates to their time. As Dawsey and Juliet communicate more, she realizes that she needs to meet them and write about their society. Juliet also receives mysterious flowers from Markham Reynolds and their relationship is something of a toss and turn. Markham is more of a no holds bar type of man, who gets what he wants and loves the lavish lifestyle. Meanwhile Juliet is more of the shy, yet intriguing type. However, her love for books persuades her more to find about the Island than Markham. 

The inhabitants of Guernsey Island also begin to correspond with Juliet and the book delves deeper into the lives of the writers as they tell her of their life before, during and after the occupation. However, every letter, somehow always refers back to Elizabeth McKenna. There is a mystery about her and one that Juliet wants to solve. The islanders begin to bond and trust Juliet with telling their life story for the Times Magazine . Many of them share their love of books and how the written word affected them most profoundly. 

Without getting ahead of myself any further, you should read this book. It took me a few days to read this; I simply couldn’t put it down. Considering this is a historical fiction, the authors did present a lot of thought into the actual history of Guernsey Island. This island and four others were the only British soil that was occupied by the Germans for five years. The amount of cooperation between the Islanders and the Nazis were hand in hand. They had to rely on each other when food became scarce and to get along in the best way possible. 

If you want to read more about the history of Guernsey Island, you should read my other blog post about the film companion to this book. Netflix released the film starring Lily James, Michiel Huisman, Matthew Goode and Glen Powell in 2018. I saw the film many times before and only literally last week read this book. I was able to hear the actors’ voices in my head as I read page after page. This book is a page turner and makes you appreciate what life was like during an occupation in WWII. However, it also gave me more perspective on how people were isolated and it felt like the pandemic where we as a global community were in lockdown. People read more, made connections online and discovered more outside of their house when they took nature walks, all the while distancing themselves from one another. 

If books lead you to another world and can have an effect on you, I suggest reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. You can purchase this book from Bookshop.org today and dive into a world of books, dramatic discussions and love.

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