Refreshingly funny and human.

Luckily for me, I saw a small review of this book in USA Today. I had a feeling I’d like it, and I certainly did! The book is based on the German occupation of the island of Guernsey in the English Channel during WWII. The plot revolves around a thirty-something female writer, Juliet, who is extremely witty and funny. Juliet wrote a column “Izzy Bickerstaff Goes to War” that was very popular during the war, because she was able to use humor to keep her readers’ spirits lifted during very dark times. But now the war is over, and she and her publishers are looking around for other writing inspiration.

Juliet finds it, quite by accident, when her publisher gives her a letter from a farmer named Dawsey Adams in Guernsey. Adams wants Juliet’s help locating a bookstore in London where he might purchase other books by Charles Lamb. Mr. Lamb had become one of Adams’ favorite authors because he brought joy to Adams’ life during the German Occupation. And thus begins Juliet’s acquaintance with the members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, a group that formed quite by accident when some of the residents of Guernsey were caught returning home after a forbidden feast of roast pork.

The writing in this book is absolutely refreshing, funny, and human. And I completely agree with Elizabeth Gilbert, one of my favorite authors (and author of Eat, Pray, Love), who said the following about this book, “I can’t remember the last time I discovered a novel as smart and delightful as this one, a world so vivid that I kept forgetting this was a work of fiction populated with characters so utterly wonderful that I kept forgetting they weren’t my actual friends and neighbors. Treat yourself to this book, please—I can’t recommend it highly enough.”