Revisiting an Old Friend: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

I recently re-read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society,  a book I liked.  Upon second reading, I re-liked it all over again…but even more.  I LOVED it on the second read.
Why?  Well, could it be attributed to growing older (I first read it in 2009)? Or experiencing more loss and pain in life?  Or maybe just being in the mood for a sentimental book?
Well, whatever it was that made me change my GOOD read to a GREAT read, I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this story.  There is something for everyone here…romance, history, sentimentality, friendship, etc.
One of the things I forgot was how immersed you get into the world of Guernsey and the period of the story (post-WWII).  I remember adding Guernsey to my “must see” travel list right after I finished this book the first time.  Well, this time, I wanted to RUN there.  Between the sense of place and the sense of history, I felt like I was right there, in 1940s Guernsey, chatting with the characters and partaking of some potato peel pie.  The characters all jump off the page so it is easy to imagine them conversing with me about books and travel and the hardships of the war.
Told exclusively through letters exchanged from Guernsey natives to Juliet, a writer who is searching for her next story, this book begins in 1946, after the Germans left Guernsey.  Juliet lives in London and somehow, one of Guernsey’s residents comes across a book that has Juliet’s name in it so he writes to her.  This letter strikes up a series of events that leads to Juliet and some of her friends traveling to Guernsey and becoming one of the Guernsey family.
No, it is not one of the finest books ever written.  But, sometimes you just need a book to transport you to another world for a little while…something that takes your mind away from the ordinary and the mundane.  For me, this was that book.  Maybe it will be yours too.

Death in the Floating City by Tasha Alexander

This is my second Tasha Alexander novel featuring Victorian Lady Emily Ashton and maybe because this one is set in Venice, a city I love, I enjoyed it even more than the the first one I read (A Fatal Waltz).  Alexander, like Donna Leon, another author who writes mysteries set in Venice (though featuring a male detective), does a brilliant job of breathing life into Venice.  And Lady Emily is a force to be reckoned with...a kin to Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia Grey (set in Victorian England).  Unlike Raybourn's heroine, who sometimes is too tough and "un-Victorian" for the times, I felt Alexander and her Lady Emily hit just the right tones of passion and passiveness.  Though the ending got a little convoluted (I began to get some of the characters confused because of their titles and their flowery names...not to mention all of the place names), I still highly recommend this series for anyone who likes historical mysteries, female-based mysteries or vivid depictions and/or senses of place.  

Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton

A fire races though a London private school and a mother rushes to save her daughter’s life. How the fire started provides the backdrop for this suspenseful thriller with paranormal aspects and graced with lyrical writing.


This novel with its realistic portrayal of contemporary families is heartbreaking in its tragic elements but appealing in its devotion to the protective instincts that are the core of the love between mothers and children. The twists and turns in the thriller are so well done that the culprit is revealed deftly in the final pages.

Readers of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and Broken Harbor by Tana French will devour Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton.