The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Dates Read: November 2011

This is another book (like Sarah's Key) that I borrowed from Elaine. The title sounded odd, but I trust her opinion so I decided to read it this week. Let me just tell you - it was wonderful!!!! It was witty and charming, it made me literally laugh out loud (seriously, while trying to secretly read on my lunch break, I laughed out loud - so much for being secretive), and it included some interesting historical information regarding the Channel Islands during WWII. The story is told from the perspective of a series of letters and I was nervous I wouldn't be able to keep up with the characters, but I quickly learned I had no trouble remember the people because they were all so wonderful and entertaining!! Seriously, go read this book!!

Summary: (from Amazon.com and nypl.org)
January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.

As London is emerging from the shadow of World War II, writer Juliet Ashton discovers her next subject in a book club on Guernsey--a club born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi after its members are discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island