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

3.5 Stars

I only purchased this book because of the title - it intrigued me - then shortly after purchasing I saw a trailer for the movie so figured I'd better move it up my "to be read" list.  I wasn't aware that this was an epistolary novel on purchasing and this did throw up a couple of issues for me - not the nature of the reading or the layout of the book, but rather the fact that the only distinct voice was that of Juliet.  The letters to her from all other sources do not have a sufficiently distinct "voice" to make the book really work; the one exception being Adelaide Addison and even then you can still feel the author(s) beneath the words.

What the format does do very well is give you a sense of time and place that the events are unfolding in.  It also allows multiple threads to unfold at the same time without ever really blurring them in to each other.  I did feel in places that 21st Century morality had been superimposed on to the year immediately post the second world war (this was particularly true in the case of how one character's homosexuality was dealt with).  On the whole the time period did feel generally realistic and Juliet Ashton makes for an exceptionally likeable protagonist.

What the authors have done well is to gently introduce us to themes and ideas without beating us over the head with them.  The overarching thread is one that deals with the German Occupation of Guernsey and the privations suffered by the Islanders at the time.  This gently unfolds in the form of letters to Juliet from first Dawsey Adams and then a complete avalanche from the other members of the Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society, each giving their experience of the Occupation and how the books they read helped them through and brought them together as a community.

It is a rich book that I enjoyed but somehow I felt a little let down by it all in the end.  I would recommend it to another reader but it doesn't make my re-read list.