Final Post- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I read the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which is a story written in the epistolary form about what happened during WWII on this island. It follows four main characters, who write to each other and describe their experiences in the aftermath of the war and how they are putting their lives back together. The main character is Juliet, who after writing letters to many members of the literary society, decides to go visit and meet her new friends. She is so moved by their story that she ends up writing a book about it. I would definitely recommend reading this book, it is somewhat slow getting started, however once the story lead us to Guernsey, and we really started to meet the more interesting characters, I found it fascinating. Each person had their own story and tragedy, but they all banded together to try to overcome and recover from the damages of the war, and they were all very inspiring. Even though there were many aspects of the book that were sad, because that is a major theme of war, it did not focus on those parts as much as the relationships and love that came out of this suffering. I found that the love these people were able to hold, especially after that much torture and heartbreak to be admirable. I loved the theme of respect and loyalty that held true in this book, and I really enjoyed the time period so I would like to read another book, not necessarily about a war, but with this major theme.

I think that it is most similar to Of Mice and Men, because in that novel, the two friends suffered greatly because of their trouble finding work and struggled with Lennie’s obvious disabilities. However, even though it would have been easier for George to leave Lennie, and lead a more normal life, he did not do that because of the love and companionship they felt. George and Lennie stayed together and loyal to each other through good and bad conditions just like the people in the literary society. In both these books, the characters banded together to hold bonds of love and acceptance and for support during difficult points in time. Both of these strong bonds are admirable and provide support for the people involved.