A delicious collection of epistles
Nausheen Rahman is thrilled by an unusual book
MARY Ann Shaffer's The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society came to me like a wish granted. For the last few weeks, I had been longing to read a book written in letters. Not only is this book a delicious collection of epistles, it has elements not often found all together in one book: wit, pathos, romance, honest representations of true-to-life, yet individualistic characters, exciting events, lots of literary references and a unique, eye-catching title. The story starts to take shape when Dawsey Adams (who lives in Guernsey, the Channel Islands) manages to contact the former owner of a book he has read and loves (Selected Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb). This former owner is Juliet Ashton, a writer who lives in London and works for a publishing house, and who is trying to come up with a good plot for her next book. Thenceforth begins a regular exchange of letters between not only Dawsey and Juliet, but between Juliet and the other residents of Guernsey, (sparked off by a shared love of reading) between Juliet and other people in London (like her publisher, her friends, her suitor, etc). The spontaneity and ease with which Ms. Shaffer brings in the different characters is truly wonderful. These characters come to life through their simple, down-to-earth, but very expressive missives. A friendship grows between Juliet and her island friends through their correspondence. Readers, your hearts will go out to Isola (who brews potions and elixirs to enhance "manly ardour" among other things); Amelia (in whose house the Society used to meet); Dawsey (the more you read of him, the more you'll like him); Eli and Kit (two charming children), Eben and other lovable characters. You'll want to be in Guernsey with them - as did Juliet. Juliet goes to visit the island and to collect material for her articles and she soon becomes very close to the inhabitants. She finds friendship, love, peace and happiness there, and in the process, discovers her real self. She also finds her story which will be based on one of the residents, Elizabeth McKenna (whom ironically she's never met because she'd been taken away to concentration camp before Juliet arrived in Guernsey). This Elizabeth is, indeed, an intriguing character. You'll be eager to know about her life and fate. The episodes take place mostly in Guernsey during the post-war period. Ms. Shaffer blends the past and the present in a very commendable way. She gives us gruesome details of the torture people had to undergo and the agonies they had to bear during the German Occupation. However, these facts do not leave us feeling totally melancholic. This is because of the freshness with which the author surrounds her characters and the courage and strength they possess. We get a solid feel of what things must have been like in Guernsey during, as well as, after the Occupation. The writer's tone is amusing and humorous (the humour is often aimed at herself), yet loaded with substance. Her innate talent of story-telling (her niece, Annie Barrows calls her "our own personal Scheherazade") makes us appreciate the characters' situations fully; we feel deeply involved as we read about the interaction between Juliet and the Guernsey dwellers and the bonds these people share with one another. This is a book so different from others (because of its fascinating people and incidents) that we want to keep perusing it and dread its coming to an end. The book is largely about people's love of reading and treasuring books. Many of these people have been newly introduced to books; their observations of well-known authors and classics are clever and interesting. How and why this society came into being and how it got its strange name, arouses Juliet's curiosity - as it does readers'. Mary Ann Shaffer herself belonged to a writing group, a book club, the members of which were a constant source of support to her, and who made sure that she saw her novel through to the end. Another interesting facet of this book is that the author's niece, Annie Barrows, also a writer, helped her to finish it (as she had fallen ill). Finally, this book will make members of existing book clubs feel grateful and those who are not a part of any such club, want to join or form one. This book guarantees happy hours of reading. Nausheen Rahman reads voraciously and is a teacher.
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