The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.” Reviewed by Ann Tiffany.
“The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” is a lighthearted story about a serious subject.
It is Mary Ann Shaffer’s first and only completed and published adult book. Unfortunately she did not live to see it published, her niece, Annie Burrows completed the final draft.
The story is written in epistolary form and is about life on the German occupied Channel Islands during the Second World War. The year is 1946 and Juliet Ashton, living in London at the time, is looking to find new horizons for her writing talents. A letter arrives from Dawsey Adams who had lived in Guernsey during the German occupation. In the letter he mentions “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” sparking Juliet’s interest in the island and in the survival of the islanders during the occupation.
The literary society began as a ruse to fool a German patrol after some of the islanders were found breaking curfew. Unable to explain that the reason they were out so late was because they had been to an illegal pig roast, the quick thinking Elizabeth McKenna saved the bacon so to speak. With brilliant obfuscation she invented the literary society. She explained to the leader of German patrol that, so intense had been the discussion of "Elizabeth and her German Garden," that they had forgotten the time. Having created a literary group, and in order to keep up the charade, the islanders decide to meet twice a month to discuss books they have read.
One by one the literary society members write to Juliet and snippets of their lives under German rule come to light. They are an eclectic group, charmingly eccentric and warmly welcoming when Juliet decides to travel to Guernsey to meet them all. This visit by Juliet to the island changes the direction of her life.
This is a book about real people whose lives were overtaken by a war and occupation by German forces. Their letters are filled with humour, quiet courage and whimsy, and we learn of the trials they faced under the occupation. Yes, there really is a potato peel pie, the recipe is on page 51. Juliet settles on the island convinced that everything that has happened in her life before this time was merely the overture to the play.
Shaffer, Mary Ann., and Annie Burrows. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. New York:Random House, 2009.
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