War in the Margins

This novel, by Libby Cone, more than The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, described what day to day life was like for the residents of the Channel Islands during the German Occupation in World War II. Especially for the Jersey Jews. I found it fascinating how the Germans passed laws culminating in complete control of the Jewish population one by one, first requiring registration then slowly taking all of their rights until there were none. I've heard about this in the past but reading this & feeling as if I were a part in this novel really brought it home & made it more for me.

I thought this seemed to start a little slowly, but once it took my attention it had it & drew me into this world, using excerpts from official German documents to tell the story, not merely supporting the story. Without these documents the story would have been untold. This made it so much more real to me. It's one thing to read how some change is enacted and yet another to read the actual documents that made this happen.

The stories of starvation, of the loss of trees for building for the Germans and firewood for warmth is something I have no concept of. I live in the United States & have never lived through a War that has affected my life on a day to day basis. I struggled to wrap my head around a world where there was no food, where I would have to live in hiding in my home land.

The author tied the characters together quite nicely, not necessarily pleasantly yet leaving a very realistic taste in my mouth. The ending is sweet but a bit of bitterness is there, too, most characters have some action to account for in themselves. Some bit of oversight or action caused by fear. The author created an opportunity for forgiveness and redemption between a group of people with little in common before the war but with so much in common after the war.

Please read this one, it is wonderfully written and will give a much more personal spin on life in the Channel Islands during World War II.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society,Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrow

A member of my local book club suggested this book for our next book club and I am so grateful. She tends to offer up really great stories which I may enjoy because we are two of three girls in the club, we always have to be careful not to choose chick books. This one falls close to that category but not quite.

This is written in a new style for me. It is offered up in letter style, as if you are reading some one's personal correspondence without all the boring passages included. The story is of a successful city career woman who finds herself drawn to the Channel Islands to write a story of their occupation during World War II. While passing letters to & from the residents of the town of Guernsey she falls in love with them and their lifestyle although she doesn't quite realize it at the time. She moves there to research the story more and completely falls in love with the people, the place and the pace of the town.

There is a love story hidden in the midst of a mystery and drama. There is also humor in this drama as the town members share their stories of the German occupation and the terrors of it all. As in Zoo Station I was a affected by the stories of cruelty and the story of children being shipped from the islands for safety, but there was so much more to this one than Zoo Station that I was able to focus on the overall story more and enjoy it for what it was. A wonderful read, a heart rending love story of a woman and a tow.