Shaffer, M. A. & Barrows, A. (2008) The Guernsey Literary & Potato Pel Pie Society

Shaffer, M. A. & Barrows, A. (2008) The Guernsey Literary & Potato Pel Pie Society. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. (Published originally [2008] by The Dial Press and Bloomsbury Publishing.)

Summary
In 1946, Juliet Ashton is a successful author who can't think what to write about next. She receives a letter from Dawsey Adams of Guernsey, who has bought a book that Juliet once owned and in which she wrote her name and address. They correspond about books and writing, during which Adams reveals that he is a member of The Guernsey Literary & Potato Pel Pie Society. At Adams's suggestion, other members of the Society write to her. They tell her about how the Society started during the Nazi occupation of Guernsey, how it helped them to survive the occupation and its continuing role in their lives. Ashton visits Guernsey to meet the members of the Society. The visit changes her life irrevocably. (Many Ann Shaffer died before the book was finished, so her niece Annie Barrows completed it.)

My comments
The book takes the form of a series of letters between Ashton, her publisher Sydney, her friend Sophie (Sydney's brother) and, of course, the members of The Guernsey Literary & Potato Pel Pie Society. The first letters are between Ashton, Sydney and Sophie and they made me regret buying the book!

Ashton is one of those silly, affected women who were the subject of light romantic comedies in post-war British cinema. Somehow they lived well with no discernable income and not a care in the world, peppering their speech with 'ghastly', 'gorgeous', 'darling' and 'simply heaven'. (We learn towards the end of the book that Ashton has a considerable income from her 'witty' columns in the war-time Spectator, which have recently been assembled into a - wouldn't you know it - best-selling anthology.) In their letters to Ashton, Sophie and Sydney seem much the same sort of people, although Sidney thinks that being A Publisher gives him a gravitas that ordinary people lack! I dreaded reading a whole book populated with these prattling people!

However, once the letters start to arrive from Guernsey, it is clear that Ashton, Sophie and Sidney are each 'merely' finely-drawn portraits. Shaffer has an eye for personality and an ear for language. While I sometimes forgot who was who, I enjoyed watching each character develop in their letters and then - in Ashton's later letters - reading about their relationships with each other and with the Society.

At times, the book is dreadfully heart warming, with a cute child, a drowned kitten and tales of simple, homespun folk making the best of things. At other times, the characters' harrowing tales of the occupation made me wonder whether Shaffer was counterposing different styles of writing as she counterposes different personalities and characters. The book was also funny at times. My favourite piece is:
'The Beginner's Cook Book for Girl Guides … assumes you know nothing about cookery and gives useful hints: "When adding eggs, break the shells first."' (p. 183)


1. Mary Ann Shaffer appears to have no Wikipedia entry. Read her profile on the Book Browse site:
www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index/author
Annie Barrows - published in her own right - has no Wikipedia entry either, but she has her own website:
www.anniebarrows.com
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Pel Pie Society has its own website:
www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/guernsey

2. Annie Barrows was interviewed about the book by Bethanne Patrick for The Book Studio: www.thebookstudio.com/authors/annie-barrows

3. The Guernsey Literary & Potato Pel Pie Society was Mary Ann Shaffer's first and last book. Annie Barrows has also written the Ivy and Bean series of children's books (published by Chronicle Books).

4. Shaffer's & Barrows's publishers
Allen & Unwin. An independent Australian publisher, established in 1990 through a buy-out of the Australian assets of UK publisher George Allen & Unwin Ltd. Agents for several other publishers, including Bloomsbury Publishing.
The Dial Press. Part of the Bantam Dell Publishing Group - itself part of Random House Inc. - itself part of Bertelsmann.
Bloomsbury Publishing. An independent UK publisher. It also published Khaled Hosseini's Thousand Splendid Suns and Kite Runner; and the Harry Potter books.