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BOOK
DESCRIPTION: 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.
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