Book Review: Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society

I believe the female readers out there will really enjoy reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.  This book was very well liked by me, my book club, and my Mom, who just finished it up based on my very enthusiastic phone recommendation.

This book, written as a series of letters, is a charming and poignant story of Juliet, a writer searching for her next book subject just after the end of WWII.  Juliet receives a letter by a man living on Guernsey, an English channel island, who ends up with one of her books and requests some additional information about the book's author. 

Their correspondence continues and expands as the Guernsey residents, some of whom started a book club (a.k.a., the Literary and Potato Peel Society), share some of their experiences with German occupation of  their island during the war.  The islanders' experiences are at times heartwarming tales of strength and sometimes heartbreaking stories of loss. The vivid characters in this book come further to life when Juliet visits the island to meet the people she has come to love in person. I immensely enjoyed this book, and I have to admit that I even felt a little sad when I reached the end since I had grown quite attached to the quirky Guernsey residents too.