Let's Go to Guernsey and Read about Reading

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, By Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer (c) 2008

First a (long overdue) confession: I am not a member of a book club.

If I were, surely I would have read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society last year, when it was published. As it is, my ex-mother-in-law recommended the book after I passed along Yes, My Darling Daughter.

(Aside: Yes, my ex-mother-in-law. Divorce or no, there love of books goes on.)

The novel is comprised entirely of a series of letters and telegrams - no dialog, description, or any other prose - sent from the narrator, who is also an author, to her publisher, her dear friend Sophie (sister of the publisher) and to a handful of endearing folks (and one infuriating old biddy), all residents of Guernsey.

The setting is London and Guernsey, an island protectorate of England situated near the coast of France, as the cleanup is beginning following WWII.

How the author gets in touch with the residents of Guernsey and how the titular society came to be unfolds so sweetly I don't dare ruin it for you. And that is only the first few pages. Read it, dear reader. Read it.

Need more prodding? The authors' word selection is superb and the book hinges on the sheer joy of reading. Now, off to the library with you!