This is a delightful little book about the German occupation of Guernsey in WWII that my book group is reading now. We haven't discussed it yet, but I hear that most people are liking it. I had a terrible time remembering it's unique title before acquiring and reading the book, but now I'll never forget it. I wanted the book to contain a recipe for potato peel pie, but the afterword says, don't bother. There is a recipe for this fictitious (?) dish on the book's website that is fun to read, and put me off the idea--read it for yourself and decide.

I like reading books about other places, and when I finish, I like to look at pictures of the place. Of course, when I looked at the BBC Guernsey web page, it told me that they were having heavy rain, and I enjoyed the icon. Funny that it didn't rain much in the book--maybe it was Juliet's "sunny nature" shining through. The other site I enjoyed about Guernsey gave some history and the folklore tab talks about the island's association with fairies, which explains one of my favorite characters, Isola. In fact, I loved all the characters in this book.

My only complaint: I found the Markham V. Reynolds, Jr. plot line to be superficial and distracting, until it came to its conclusion, thankfully and in a way I would have dispatched the whole thing. I adored the Oscar Wilde story, and have just learned that Victor Hugo wrote Les Miserables while in exile in Guernsey!

Some of my favorite passages:

From Isola: "Men are more interesting in books than they are in real life" and in the same letter, "reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books."

From Amelia: "My greatest pleasure has been in resuming my evening walks along the cliff tops. The Channel is no longer framed in rolls of barbed wire, the view is unbroken by huge VERBOTEN signs. The mines are gone from our beaches, and I can walk when, where, and for as long as I like. If I stand on the cliffs and turn out to face the sea, I don't see the ugly cement bunkers behind me, or the land naked without its trees. Not even the Germans could ruin the sea." To me, this really captures the spirit of the Islanders, which Mary Ann Shaffer has communicated fabulously.

I adored Micah Daniel's "list" that Isola asked him to send, and his description of the Vega box. "I gave my prunes away--but wasn't that something? When I die I am going to leave all my money to the Red Cross. I have written to tell them so."

Highly recommended!! To be released after the book group meeting...

Gave to my 98yo grandmother to read...and my mom wants to read it too.