After reading “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,” I decided that there is much more to this book than simply a long and hard-to-pronounce title. It is a story of a little-known historical moment, as well as an investigation into human relationships during times of hardship and the bonds that are formed when people of different circumstances join together.
Shaffer and Barrows tell the story of the German occupation of Guernsey, a small British island in the English Channel between England and France, in a post World War II setting. It all begins when Juliet Ashton, a reporter and former war-time correspondent, receives a letter from Dawsey Adams, a local from Guernsey. Their correspondence arises from an unlikely coincidence when Dawsey comes across Juliet’s name scribbled in one of his favorite books, which he found at a second-hand shop.
Their letters soon become more than simple questions about where to find more books by a certain author and actually unfold to reveal the hardships that Guernsey suffered during the war.
The events that they discuss have often been overlooked both in our history books and by news reporters of the WWII era. As a contemporary reader, I admit that I had no idea where Guernsey was located, much less that it was involved in the German occupation. Juliet’s fascination with this little-known island and its people leads her to expand her correspondence with other people living on the island in hopes of writing a tell-all book about their experiences.
The intimate letters written between Juliet and the people of Guernsey weave together complex relationships between the writers. The letter format allows the reader to hear a little bit of each of the characters’ voices and get an idea of their relationships in a way that we don’t get from a single narrator.
I was actually quite impressed that the authors were able From the town eccentric to the handyman, everyone who wants to feel some sort of connection is included, no questions asked. These are the sort of bonds that don’t form every day but are made all the stronger because of the difficult circumstances from which they arise. This is truly the high point of Shaffer and Barrows’ work, showing how very resilient the human spirit can be as well as how fragile, and how very thin that line is.
One of my favorite lines in this book comes at the beginning, when Juliet writes to Dawsey, “Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers. How delightful if that were true.”
Juliet’s name scribbled inside of a second-hand book that Dawsey happened upon is how all of this correspondence begins, and it opens the door to some incredible discoveries and the forging of great bonds. It is a little fantastic and a bit hard to believe, but if we do believe that one event can change the lives of many people, how wonderful it is that it can begin with something as simple as a book.
Keeping this in mind, here is my hope for the year: I hope that you won’t read just what you have to but that you may also find a book that makes you think differently, that helps create a connection with someone else or that at least makes you take a second look at something you may have otherwise dismissed.
Melinda Truelsen is a graduate student in literature and a Mustang Daily book columnist. Her column, “Reading Between the Lines” will appear on Wednesdays.