Hey everyone, I'm going to introduce to you all to the second of our wonderful guest writers!This is my good friend Rachel! She and I met at college, while sitting in one of the many English classes that we've shared throughout the years. Rachel is also a double major in Elementary Ed. and Secondary Communicative Arts and Literature. In her spare time, Rachel enjoys hiking, running, music, and spending quality time with her friends and family. In the past few months, she's been hopping from mountain to mountain in Colorado, teaching VBS with her sister. Lucky for us, she was able to find the time (and internet service) to write a review! Thanks, Rachel! I'll let you take it from here!
Hi everyone! Although it took me 2 months to actually write this review, Kaylee has still accepted me as a guest writer which is very generous of her. Thanks for having me, Kayles! We made a pact where we would both read the same book and then review it side-by-side. We chose The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society since it was one we’d both had on our lists for a while. You can find Kaylee's review here!
My initial impressions of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society were based mostly on word of mouth. It came with high recommendations from my aunt and older cousin, both big readers with wonderful taste. But when I asked for an overview, all I got was, “It’s hard to explain. But you’ll love it!” They were right on both counts. Even the title is hard to say, much less explain!
The book is written in the form of letters, each one between different characters. I might as well say now that I feel weird even calling them “characters” so instead I’ll just use the word “people” because that’s what they felt like. The voice of each person is masterfully done, and makes the novel constantly fresh. Each one is so unique and exaggerated just enough that they’re endlessly entertaining.
A quick plot summary so we’re all on the same page:
Juliet is an author in England shortly after World War II. Her magazine column and her humor in the face of tragedy have gotten the city of London through the war, and now that the war is over, she’s in high demand. But one day, a book she formerly owned ends up in the hands of a reserved pig farmer, Dawsey Adams, on the island of Guernsey in the Atlantic. The new owner writes to her – and so begins an unlikely relationship between Juliet and an entire group of people on the island. Discovering these people and their incredible war stories captures Juliet’s heart, as do the mysteries behind their “Literary Society.”
What really made this book stand out for me was the deep love of reading and writing the authors so clearly displayed through the people in the book. As an English major I spend a lot of time reading books for class, and very little of that time actually enjoying them. It’s a shame, really. But this book reminded me of all the magic that can be found in literature, and all the reasons I love it. It leads us to discover other wonderful people, and to discover more about ourselves. Many of the letters in the book were written by uneducated people from Guernsey sharing their favorite quotes or authors with Juliet, and I found myself touched by many of them. Literature is not just appreciated by the educated because, really, it’s about sharing experiences. This book explained that through the plot and also by bringing in famous authors and quotes and moments in history. Reading it was like getting to watch people find the joy in reading who never had any before – which brings great joy to the heart of any future teacher.
I can’t say the book met my expectations, because I really didn’t know what to expect. It was entirely different than I thought it would be, and it was delightful. Have you ever had that experience where the perfect book comes to you at the perfect time? That was Guernsey Literary Society for me. Right when reading was starting to become a chore, the people of Guernsey let me borrow their eyes to see the magic of discovering it for the first time. So I’ll gladly give it 5 beans!
Rachel says:
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