Descriptions, Reviews, etc.
Description:
In 1946, writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.
Review Quotes: "I can't remember the last time I discovered a novel as smart and delightful as this one, a world so vivid that I kept forgetting this was a work of fiction populated with characters so utterly wonderful that I kept forgetting they weren't my actual friends and neighbors. Treat yourself to this book please--I can't recommend it highly enough."--Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love
"Traditional without seeming stale, and romantic without being naive . . . It's tempting to throw around terms like 'gem' when reading a book like this. But Guernsey is not precious. . . . This is a book for firesides or long train rides. It's as charming and timeless as the novels for which its characters profess their love."--San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
"[The] characters step from the past radiant with eccentricity and kindly humour. [The] writing, with its delicately offbeat, self-deprecating stylishness, is exquisitely turned."
--The Guardian (U.K.) "I've never wanted to join a club so desperately as I did while reading
Guernsey. . . . [The novel] is a labor of love and it shows on almost every page."
--The Christian Science Monitor "I could not put the book down. I have recommended it to all my friends."
--Newsday "A jewel . . . Poignant and keenly observed,
Guernsey is a small masterpiece about love, war, and the immeasurable sustenance to be found in good books and good friends."
--People "A book-lover's delight, an implicit and sometimes explicit paean to all things literary."
--Chicago Sun-Times
"A sparkling epistolary novel radiating wit, lightly worn erudition and written with great assurance and aplomb."
--The Sunday Times (London) "Cooked perfectly à point: subtle and elegant in flavour, yet emotionally satisfying to the finish."
--The Times (London) "A sweet, sentimental paean to books and those who love them. . . . It affirms the power of books to nourish people enduring hard times."
--The Washington Post Book World "[A] marvelous debut . . . This is a warm, funny, tender, and thoroughly entertaining celebration of the power of the written word."
--Library Journal
"A poignant, funny novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. . . . A treat."
--The Boston Globe
"A sure winner."
--Kirkus Reviews "Delightful . . . One of those joyful books that celebrates how reading brings people together."
--New Orleans Times-Picayune "Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows have written a wondrous, delightful, poignant book-- part Jane Austen, part history lesson. The letters aren't addressed to you, but they are meant for you. It's a book everyone should read. An absolute treasure."
--Sarah Addison Allen, author of Garden Spells
