The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The curious listener will be intrigued with this audiobook, from the origin of its title to the final letter in this epistolary marvel, which is truly perfect on audio. A most unlikely and unexpected book club is established during the German occupation of Guernsey, in the British Channel Islands. Five narrators bring alive the letters exchanged between a young author, Juliet Ashton (Susan Duerdin), and her London publisher, as well as her "new" friends from the isle of Guernsey. The unfolding of the story through the different voices is completely charming, joyful, sad, and uplifting. The astute casting and scintillating performances by John Lee, Juliet Mills, and Paul Boehmer bring honed, authentic speech and manners to the characters. A special nod to Rosalyn Landor, who reads the letters of Isola, the herbalist and would-be Miss Marple, and other quirky island characters. Really--every one is a delight. R.F.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine


The curious listener will be intrigued with this audiobook, from the origin of its title to the final letter in this epistolary marvel, which is truly perfect on audio. A most unlikely and unexpected book club is established during the German occupation of Guernsey, in the British Channel Islands. Five narrators bring alive the letters exchanged between a young author, Juliet Ashton (Susan Duerden), and her London publisher, as well as her "new" friends from the isle of Guernsey. The unfolding of the story through the different voices is completely charming, joyful, sad, and uplifting. The astute casting and scintillating performances by John Lee, Juliet Mills, and Paul Boehmer bring honed, authentic speech and manners to the characters. A special nod to Rosalyn Landor, who reads the letters of Isola, the herbalist and would-be Miss Marple, and other quirky island characters. Really--every one is a delight. R.F.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

April 21, 2008
The letters comprising this small charming novel begin in 1946, when single, 30-something author Juliet Ashton (nom de plume “Izzy Bickerstaff”) writes to her publisher to say she is tired of covering the sunny side of war and its aftermath. When Guernsey farmer Dawsey Adams finds Juliet's name in a used book and invites articulate—and not-so-articulate—neighbors to write Juliet with their stories, the book's epistolary circle widens, putting Juliet back in the path of war stories. The occasionally contrived letters jump from incident to incident—including the formation of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society while Guernsey was under German occupation—and person to person in a manner that feels disjointed. But Juliet's quips are so clever, the Guernsey inhabitants so enchanting and the small acts of heroism so vivid and moving that one forgives the authors (Shaffer died earlier this year) for not being able to settle on a single person or plot. Juliet finds in the letters not just inspiration for her next work, but also for her life—as will readers.

Starred review from October 15, 2008
Read LJ's 9/9/08 starred audio review of this debut title, currently a best seller in hardcover, which was recently optioned for film, at xpressreview.notlong.com

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 29, 2008
Shaffer's debut novel, written with her niece Barrow, is an original account of one writer's relationship with a member of a unique book club formed as an alibi to protect its members from arrest at the hands of the Nazis during WWII. With a small cast of gifted narrators including Paul Boehmer, Susan Duerdan, John Lee, Rosalyn Landor and the enjoyable Juliet Mills, this production is first-class from top to bottom. The narrators' British dialects, each quite regional and equally as different as they are ear-pleasing, serve the story well and allow Shaffer's words to leap from the page into the hearts and minds of her listeners. The final result is an almost theatrical experience with a plethora of enthusiastic performances. A Dial Press hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 21).