The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Image courtesy of Goodreads.com.

A tale paying heed to the importance of letters -- and books.

Shaffer and Barrows are stunning writers when it comes to crafting the world of Juliet Ashton, a London journalist who did her part for the WWII war effort by penning satirical Izzy Bickerstaff columns. Now that she's successfully published and is longer dashing into Blitz fires, Juliet's looking for a real story about real people. She finds them in the Channel Island of Guernsey after Fate introduces her to Dawsey Adams. Dawsey, who sat out the war due to a hip injury, begins a penpalship with Juliet under the most remarkable of circumstances. Through their shared letters, Juliet learns about the German Occupation on Guernsey and one very special woman who fought it every step of the way. When the war was at its worst, the people of Guernsey were saved by a roasted pig and the words of Charles Lamb.

Shaffer and Barrows concoct this story entirely through letters, doing justice to each character's personality and situation. From Guernsey to London, London to Australia, Australia to Scotland and Scotland to Guernsey, the people in Juliet's life are hearty, honest and dry. Whether she's dancing with the dashing American publisher who's courting her in more ways than one, or having tea with a founding Society member, Juliet keeps her chin up and thinks with her heart. In the Reconstruction, that the only way to do it.

A beautiful, sweeping and hysterical story.