Monday, September 7, 2009

A friend of mine noticed this book in one of my vacation pictures and asked to let her know how it was. It was a terrific read! It is written entirely in letter form written to and from about twenty different characters which is a first for me and took a little getting used to but it was so worth it!

It takes place right after WWII so much of the topic was the German occupation of the isle of Guernsey which is in the English Channel.

From Publishers Weekly
The letters comprising this small charming novel begin in 1946, when single, 30-something author Juliet Ashton (nom de plume Izzy Bickerstaff) writes to her publisher to say she is tired of covering the sunny side of war and its aftermath. When Guernsey farmer Dawsey Adams finds Juliet's name in a used book and invites articulate—and not-so-articulate—neighbors to write Juliet with their stories, the book's epistolary circle widens, putting Juliet back in the path of war stories. The occasionally contrived letters jump from incident to incident—including the formation of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society while Guernsey was under German occupation—and person to person in a manner that feels disjointed. But Juliet's quips are so clever, the Guernsey inhabitants so enchanting and the small acts of heroism so vivid and moving that one forgives the authors (Shaffer died earlier this year) for not being able to settle on a single person or plot. Juliet finds in the letters not just inspiration for her next work, but also for her life—as will readers. (Aug.)


Poignant but also laugh out loud funny, this book had a little bit of everything :) If you like historical fiction, you'll love this book!

5 comments:

  1. That sounds great! Thanks for the recommendations!

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  2. I love to read. It's a struggle to find the time but I'm always reading SOMETHING.
    So thanks for this, I'll stick it on my list!

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  3. Historical Fiction is my favorite! I will add this to the never ending list! Love that everyone blogs their current reads, I love to go back and write them down before we go to the library!

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  4. Laura, I'm reading it RIGHT NOW. . . well. . . not this second but you know what I mean! I love it. . . love it! The characters are amazing! So many different personalities. Great book!

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  5. Shelly, that's so funny that you're reading it! And you're right, the characters are amazing!

    Angi, Jenny, and Carla, You're gonna love it! That is if you ever find time to read now that school, and very soon co-op, is in full swing ;)

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