The Geurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Society

Horrors! Not fantasy! But I shall let that pass...

One reason this book was so very excellent was because it was correspondence.  I’ve always loved sending and receiving letters--it appeals to my romantic side.  One of my favorite books, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, is written entirely in correspondence.  Those letters, however, are only between two people; The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society manages to balance numerous different letter-writers without the reader becoming too confused.  It helps that there is one central character tying all of them together.  The only cavil I have with books written in letters is small: not everyone can write interesting letters.  If one wanted to make the book entirely realistic, one would have to put in at least one character who writes incredibly tedious letters, or has bad grammar, or can’t spell.  But then nobody would want to read it, so I’m not really complaining.

Another reason this book was brilliant was because of the main character’s writing style.  So wonderfully sharp and witty!  She may not want to be a “light-hearted journalist” anymore, but she certainly excels at it.  I was slightly reluctant to read this book at first, but then I got to the end of her first letter and read the postscript about “that dismal woman” and Jane Carlyle’s “charming little notes.”  I started sniggering loudly and was very disappointed when I had to stop reading and listen to the visiting Dalai Lama.

Not many books can manage to be funny and deadly serious at the same time without being campy, but The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society did.  The main character was engaging and amusing, but she still took everything seriously.  She never laughed at the islanders’ war stories like some journalists.  The islanders themselves never made a huge deal out of it.   They didn’t describe the horrors of the occupation overdramatically, but told it simply as it was, and that’s what made it so effective.  This book was the perfect mix of serious and funny.

All of these reasons add up to make a marvelous novel, and the happy ending made it a perfect read.