Tomorrow night is book club and I am hosting it at my home. We are discussing Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrow's book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I had been wanting to read this book for some time, but my "want to read" stack has been kind of tall lately. However, I am so glad I finally read Guernsey; to sum it up in one word: Excellent! (No wonder it was a NY Times Bestseller for so long.)
The book takes place in Britain in the post WWII era. (From the back of the book:) 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.
In fact, nearly the whole book is a series of letters between Juliet Ashton, members of the society, her publisher, and others. I was particularly interested in how well the authors were able to develop characters strictly through these letters. Even more, one of the main characters never even writes one of the letters, yet through the eyes of others she is so well described.
Has anyone out there read this yet? What did you think? What should I bring up in book club tomorrow night?
Scripture of the Day: Alma 37:37
I really loved this book, too! When we read it for book club, I found some links about the German occupation of the British isles, study group questions, and epistolary novels. Here is the link to all those links
ReplyDeleteThanks Charlotte, this will come in handy!
ReplyDeleteMy book club read this a few months back. I liked it, because it was not what I would normally read. The history was interesting.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed that a lot of people are reading this book lately, I'll have to find myself a copy. And I've been thinking of starting a book club (I don't think there is one in my ward/neighborhood) maybe this would be a good book to start with. Thanks for the tip!
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