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

I almost made the mistake of not reading this wonderful little book.  But glancing through it and reading some of the first chapter, it hooked me and I was compelled to finish it.     The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is the story of an English author named Juliet Ashton who survives World War II and finds herself assigned a writing project.  While working on the assignment and traveling about England, she receives a letter from a man living on the Isle of Guernsey in the English Channel who bought one of her old books at a second-hand shop.  She responds to Dawsey Adams’ letter and begins a series of letters that will change her life and impact the lives of the people living on Guernsey.  The inhabitants of Guernsey lived under Nazi occupation for years and as Juliet learns more about them she finds out about the experiences of these courageous men and women who formed the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society as a cover to protect themselves from the Germans.  As Juliet reads each successive letter, she becomes so intrigued with the stories of the people who survived she decides to move temporarily to the island.  Once there, she finds herself caught up in the lives and relationships of those remarkable people.     I found myself drawn into this island community.  The pages kept turning under my fingers and I found it hard to put it down until I knew the fate of the friends and family who were taken away by the Nazis and were still missing. By the end of the book I felt as though I had booked a flight to Guernsey and walked the shore of this community with Juliet and Dawsey.    I know the subject of World War 2 and its aftermath has been written about from every angle imaginable, but this book has found a heart-warming and refreshing way to address the subject one more time.  My advice is to take a few nights and sit in your favorite chair with a hot cup of tea and visit Guernsey through the eyes of these wonderful authors.   Stephen Cram