Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Shaffer & Annie Barrows

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
Release Date: June 2009
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
Pages: 280

My Rating: 

From Goodreads: "It's 1946, and as Juliet Ashton sits at her desk in her Chelsea flat, she is stumped. A writer of witty newspaper columns during the war, she can't think of what to write next. Out of the blue, she receives a letter from one Dawsey Adams of Guernsey - by chance he's acquired a book Juliet once owned - and, emboldened by their mutual love of books, they begin a correspondence.

Dawsey is a member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and it's not long before the rest of the members write to Juliet - including the gawky Isola, who makes home-made potions, Eben, the fisherman who loves Shakespeare, and Will Thisbee, rag-and-bone man and chef of the famous potato peel pie. As letters fly back and forth, Juliet comes to know the extraordinary personalities of the Society and their lives under the German occupation of the island. Entranced by their stories, Juliet decides to visit the island to meet them properly - and unwittingly turns her life upside down."

See below the bump for the review! :D




I really don't even know where to start with this one. I so much thank Life of Pi by Yann Martel for getting me onto books such as this. Life of Pi is the new Twilight for me, I know I know, there is that T word that gets fan girls going mental! But Twilight for me is what got me into Young Adult so it will always hold a special place in my heart. Now the same goes for Life of Pi, If it weren't for Life of Pi, I would never have thought to try GLAPPPS (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society with henceforth be known as GLAPPPS to save me getting RSI from typing it out so many times!!)

Now for a book with such a long winded title such as GLAPPPS (has, I really had no clue what to expect. I had read the back and thought 'it doesn't sound much like something I would like, but I will give it a go with my new found Life of Pi love.' So I had a gift card from Collins that I was wanting to spend (what a shame that is, huh? hehe) so I bought this and I am so very glad I did. I'm sorry that this isn't remotely Young Adult, but hey! I broadend my book horizons so maybe some of you want to too!

GLAPPPS is a series of letters 'Dear so and so, bla bla bla bla bla life and things and stuff bla bla, Yours Sincerely, me' You get me? I didn't realise this when I bought the book and my first thought when I realised was 'oh no this is going to be so hard to follow!' Well I was definitely mistaken. Each letter is clearly written, you know exactly who it's coming from and who it's going to. There was very little use of nicknames, or if there was everyone used the same one, so as not to confused the real name and the nickname as two different people (I hate when this happens!).

Set in 1946 GLAPPS follows the German occupation of Guernsey in in an attempt to occupy England during WWII. Now I will stop there because to be perfectly honest, I am positively shocking at history and dates and what happened when. So for all you history buffs you will know all about it and for those of you who don't, don't worry, you don't necessarily need to understand it all. You just need to know that it was a horrible time (obviously) and there is a lot of heartache that came out of all of it.

The main character, Juliet, is a writer who is in a serious writing slump and she is not sure how to go about getting out of it. By chance she receives a letter, from a lovely man, Dawsey, who comes across one of her books in Guernsey and writes a letter to her. They start up a unique companionship and send letters back and forth. As their relationship evolves Juliet realises there could be so much more for her in Guernsey than she ever thought possible. She comes in contact with many of Dawsey's friends and acquaintances and feels as though she becomes very good friends with them all. 

Juliet decides that her next piece of writing will be about Guernsey and the people of Guernsey and the Pie Society. So what does she do? Well of course she has to visit, off she goes to finally meet all of these people that she knows so well for the first time and finds herself loving it there.

I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed GLAPPPS and since then have been trying to venture even further out of my reading comfort zone! 

To end this review I leave you with this little quote that stuck with me:

"reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books" - page50

Have you read this? What are some other books you can suggest for me?

Want to see my review of Life of Pi?

Happy reading!