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Cover Blurb: “Treat yourself to this book, please–I can’t recommend it highly enough.” -Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love
Sweet but never boring. Intense but never overdone. Inspiring but never preaching. Loving but never raunchy. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a rare novel, one that comes into our life without a sound, but leaves having made an imprint on our soul.
Such an odd, cumbersome title, and one that may have never appealed to me personally except Random House professionals, Susan Kamil, SVP, Editor-in-Chief, and Jane Von Mehren, VP, Publisher, Trade Paperbacks, came to my NYU SPI class to share their experience and the road to success. This title is globally recognized as this book has been on the New York Times Bestseller List since publication in 2008 (read the inside story of how it achieved such fame in my column on Beneath the Cover, “The Making of a Bestseller”). Small in stature (the trade paperback a mere 274 pages), this book may initially be cast-off as a whimsical historical fiction novel until you try to put it down… I dare you to leave it untouched for a full 24-hours once you’ve begun.
The characters are lively, quirky, and lovable as they communicate via hand-written letters in 1946, as they rediscover themselves and their world post the trauma and impact of World War II. You find yourself wanting novelist Juliet Ashton as your own pen pal and quiet Dawsey Adams as a neighbor. Twists and turns are discrete and natural so that you almost don’t realize when a revelation occurs and the impact in the character’s life.
This novel celebrates people who love books and the written word. Text, language and history are embraced within remarkable friendships.
Though the era has passed, issues of love, hope, and the kindness of the human spirit will always be timeless and this book (I wager) is destined to become a classic alongside the titles of the authors celebrated in the text, including the Brontes, Austen, Shakespeare, etc… This book appeals to a wide audience, as it is told from multiple perspectives allowing a glimpse into different psyches. I agree with Elizabeth Gilbert’s quote, above, to give yourself the gift of this book.
- NovelWhore’s Grade: A
- Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
- Author: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
- Publisher: Random House
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