Great book by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.
I like to think of it as Jane Austen meets Saving Private Ryan.
If you want to pull me into a story the best way is to have your heroine, Juliet Ashton, throwing something into a crowd of annoying people-tells you all you need to know about her. She's sarcastic and defensive and hilarious and amazing. She is Elizabeth Bennet grown up and living on her own, in post world war II bombed out London.
Juliet has written a successful book in post war London, and while on her book tour she ends up corresponding with basically the entire island of Guernsey when one man writes to her inquiring about a book he came to own that was once hers. The entire story is told through correspondence, and takes on a mystery of whatever happened to the originator of the Literary and Potato Peel Society, Elizabeth. During the war, Guernsey was occupied by the Nazis and rationing and curfews were imposed on the islanders. One night, one islander managed to roast a pig for her neighbors and on there way home three were stopped by a Nazi guard. To save their asses Elizabeth made up the literary society and once in the clear, they decided to actually form the society and meet on a regular basis.
The characters are delightful without being too quirky and you fall in love with the residents along with Juliet. It was a lovely read. I originally thought a story told through letters would be less compelling, too dry, but the authors did a great job crafting the voices of the different characters. There is love, intrigue and heartbreak, a worthy descendant of Ms. Austen.
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