I was not sure what to expect when I picked up Mary Anne Shafer’s novel, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Probably a good read, if the recommendations I’d read meant anything.

A good read? Good heavens, yes!

I cannot remember being this profoundly affected by a novel since reading Atwood’s The Blind Assassin. Shafer’s novel, written as a series of letters and telegrams post World War II, is simply a work of genius. What begins as a discreet inquiry regarding a book from a Guernsey native, unfolds into delightful exchange which then reveals, in a deftly written manner, the tragedies, complexities and very human situations that occurred during Nazi occupation of the British island. I found myself spontaneously laughing, and then weeping with sorrow, as the lives of the characters were revealed with a delicate, subtle hand.

From a writer’s perspective, I am in awe of how Shafer has created such a tight plot and rich characterization through the distant and difficult format of correspondence. Excellent craftsmanship.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Mary Ann Shafer, Annie Barrows

ISBN: 9780385340991

Random House Publishing