A Book For Everyone

Last night before a successful (seven books sold) and enjoyable talk at the Wyckoff Historical Society, I was talking with one of the members about books on the American Revolution. I was able to suggest two books by David Hackett Fisher that he had never heard of - "Paul Revere's Ridge " and "Washington's Crossing," both in my mind classics. I think anyone who enjoys reading also enjoys those moments when they can introduce others to good authors and good books. Most of the time that tends to happen with specific areas of interest - the American Revolution, the Civil War, Shakespeare etc.

If that is true, and I think it is, then perhaps the highest compliment one can pay a book is the belief that it can be recommended to anyone, which is my feeling about "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows. As noted in an earlier post the book was written by Shaffer and then revised by Burrows (her niece) when Shaffer became terminally ill. The book is about life on the Island of Guernsey (above left) during and immediately after the German occupation during World War II. In fact the present of the book is 1946, a year of no small importance in my life. Guernsey is an island in the English Channel actually closer to France, but with a population wise enough to align themselves with England.
Because Guernsey is an island, the German's were able to maintain a higher level of control during the occupation, for example islanders who evacuated their children to England were unable to communicate with them until the Germans left.

The title of the book refers to a ruse used by Elizabeth, one of the main characters, to get a group of islanders out of a tight spot. Out after curfew with no good excuse, she tells the Germans, they are part of a literary society and were coming back from a meeting. In order to validate their excuse they have to then form such a society which forces many in the group to start reading books that they would otherwise never read. To their surprise they find out not only do they enjoy it, but what they read helps them cope with the difficulties of the occupation. One of them, for example, says that if he only knew the following quote from Shakespeare, "The bright day is done, and we are for the dark," that it would have kept him from despairing so much. I think Shakespeare has the ability to do that in a number of different ways which helps explain his universal appeal.

At first I was a little reluctant to read this book because with one brief exception it takes the form of letters, but once I got into it, I found it worked really well. One such letter to an author, Juliet Ashton, alerts her to Guernsey, the Society and the lives of the islanders during the occupation. She is ultimately drawn to the island, the people and their efforts to pull their lives back together. Some parts of the book have "A One Fine Day" feel to them - what was saved by England winning the war and why, therefore, it was so important. But perhaps even more appealing are the characters, both Juliet and her mainline friends as well as the people of Guernsey - without much difficulty one gets caught up in their lives, anxious to find how it will all come out.

I was shocked to find out that both authors are Americans, I don't know how an American could so perfectly capture British life, although I am not sure I would notice any errors. But given the overwhelming praise the book has received, I doubt that there were many, if any. The only thing that wasn't appealing about the book is the recipe for Potato Peel Pie -Barrows in her afterword writes that she advises against trying to make one, and with good reason. The book is, as I say, one I recommend to everyone and it is hard to give it more praise than that. In fact, the best review of the book would probably consist of only two words - read it!