Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: a book review.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Dial Press  2008   $22.00       ISBN 978-0-385-34099-1       274 pages

You need to understand that this both is, and is not, a cozy and comfy read.

Sure, on one level this is the cheerful tale of a young British woman, Juliet Ashton, who emerges from World War II bored and and wanting something- and who finds much of what she wants and needs as a result of the fateful arrival of a letter from a farmer on the island of Guernsey, out in the English Channel near the coast of France. Yes there is local color galore, a bit of romance, colorful and eccentric people brushed in with a few bold strokes of watercolor.

But there is also heartbreak, starvation, loneliness, the bitterness of separation, the mind wrenching cruelty and deprivation of the German occupation, and death, quite a bit of death- and it happens not just to bit characters but to key characters. And all of this is presented as a novel-in-letters-and-notes. It was a tremendous amount of work, imagining this material and organizing it so beautifully and effectively.

What you can say about this little novel is that it is very cleverly and intensely written by Mary Ann Shaffer, who sadly has died and will never write anything else. Annie Barrows is her niece, and I hope she will write again. Oh yes, and one more thing. Guernsey island is a real place, and someday I am going to have to visit it.  One more thing; this novel is about the importance of sharing stories and literature as solace in a painful world. It's ironic, because this novel itself is a piece of that solace.

Perhaps this book is not a magnum opus, a priceless jewel. But it is a wonderful bit of beach-glass, beautifully rounded and fascinating, a gift of the sea, and it will have the power to move your heart.