A rising from the shadows of war

First things first — This review contains spoilers... A feel good book, it is written in an epistolary format, set in 1946 England, soon after the World War II. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society written by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows even had actress Helen Mirren speak highly of its story telling.

Guernsey is an island on the English Channel, which was occupied by the Germans, during World War II. Its people are still emerging from the ashes of war and trying to figure out how to reclaim their lives in the aftermath of the ravages of war. Juliet Ashton is a writer, also rising from the shadows of war, having lost both her parents and her home in london, during the war. She lives with her friend Sophie and her brother Sidney, who is a publisher and is like a brother, guardian and mentor to Juliet. He persuades her to write another book, as her first book was a huge success. Juliet, who is looking for a subject, to lift her from her writer’s block, learns about the sufferings, the deprivation and devastation of the people of Guernsey through a series of letters and decides to visit the islanders to get a more in-depth view, so as to write a book about them and their stories of war.

The book ends on a sweet and romantic note, with Juliet and Dawsey (who is a pig farmer on the island), falling in love and getting married. Juliet makes the island her home and lives there happily ever after.

Although the idea was conceived by Mary Ann Shaffer, the author became very ill before she could finish the book, and asked her niece Annie Barrows to help her. Unfortunately, Mary Ann died a few months before the book was actually published. A heartwarming book about survival stories of war. Highly recommended.