January 6

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

By Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Another World War 2 story, but this one is written as an epistolary novel; that is, the story is told only through letters and telegrams.  Britain's Channel Islands were occupied by the German during the war, and thus subject to similar deprivations (e.g., food shortages and loss of freedom) as France (see January 3).  While there was an actual recipe for potato peel pie (something you'd concoct only when you were down to your last food staples), the Society was created by islanders to cope with the difficulties of the war, and became a place where they could exchange information without arousing suspicion by their German occupiers. There is some actual book discussion - and even a little romance. The letter format keeps the story a little "lighter" than some war stories, but the resourcefulness and endurance of the islanders in the face of hardship still shines through in this story of a little-known location of second world war.