A Delightful Read

If you are looking for a light and enjoyable book to read, may I suggest the novel called "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"?

My mom had this book lying on her coffee table at Christmas. I picked it up the first night I was home and couldn't put it down.

It takes place in 1946, just after the end of World War II and it's the story of the residents of the island of Guernsey, which was occupied by the Germans during the war. Apparently, the Germans landed there early on and thought they would soon be occupying the mainland of England but of course, that never happened.

The main character of the story, Juliet, in a writer living in London and hadn't heard that Guernsey had been occupied and after receiving a letter from one of its residents, begins corresponding with various members of the Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The story is told by way of these letters and it is a delightful read. It is at times quite amusing, informative, very touching, tragic and sad, and always entertaining.

The book was written by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. This was Mary Ann's first book and sadly, she passed away before finishing it. Her niece, Annie, who was a writer herself, completed the final rewrites of the book.

Guernsey is situated in the English Channel, between England and France, off the coast of Normandy. According to Wikipedia, it's not actually part of the United Kingdom, although it is the responsibility of the U.K. to defend. It is known as a "British Crown Dependancy". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernsey

It's a fictional story based on true events and a fascinating peek into a time long ago that many of us are too young to have lived through. Reading this book almost makes you wish you had.