Book Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Somehow, before reading this, I'd gotten it into my head that this was another Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Sweet Potato Queens kind of book.  And don't get me wrong, I love a good Ya-Ya Sisterhood, especially sprawled out on a beach towel, lazily sipping a lemonade.  But this was another sort of book altogether, although with a similar warm fuzzy, relationship-centric feel to it. 

The book takes place in London, and eventually on one of the Channel Islands just as the cloud of World War II is lifting.  Instead of a dreary post-war tome, the book is uplifting and delightful because it focuses on the things that remain the same in times of war and peace; relationships and romance.  I'd been needing something light and easy to slip away into and only a few pages in I knew it was exactly what the doctor ordered.  The lovely thing about being in a book club is that I pick up, and generally love, a whole range of books I would have otherwise missed entirely. 

The whole book is written as a series of letters, and I kept finding myself contemplating the skill of the author in conveying sufficient depth in her characters, background information and plot details to keep the reader in the loop while still having the letters read like actual correspondence.  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was the perfect light-hearted, but not too fluffy read.  I can only get into the real brain candy books during the height of summer.  Why is that?  Maybe the heat makes my brain mushy...  Anyway, this was light, but definitely not fluffy.  Perfect for when you want to slip away, but not necessarily slip into an intellectual coma.

images via this lovely site.