Most novels centered around World War II take place in the midst of the war. However, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows deviates from this norm. This epistolary book takes place after the war as people work to put their homes and lives back together. Hilarious and heartbreaking, witty and warming, this book has been loved by many and in recent years it was turned into a movie. Today I will be reviewing it.

Juliet Ashton, a writer and book fanatic, is on the hunt for her next book idea, when out of the blue she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams, a man from the Guernsey Islands. One letter leads to another and soon she is regularly corresponding not just with Dawsey, but also his friends. They all tell her of their literary society called the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which their missing friend, Elizabeth McKenna, started during the war. Elizabeth was sent to a concentration camp, but her friends - as well as Juliet - await her return one day. Juliet believes the war stories of her new friends will make the perfect book and she sails to Guernsey so she can research. She doesn't know she's sailing towards a new life that includes community, family, and even love.

This book is full of quirky characters and lots of fun scenes. The German occupation from the Islanders' perspectives is interesting and the story gives insight into what living in that time looked like.

There are some swear words such as d**n, h**l, b**ch, and s**t. God's name is taken in vain a few times.

There is a four year old girl that was born out of wedlock. Another character is mentioned in passing as being a homosexual.

While there is nothing graphic, the horrors of the war are discussed, such as life in concentration camps, the treatment of slaves, living during the German occupation, and bombings.

This book is best for teens and adults.

For those of you who have read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, what did you think of it? For those of you who haven't read it, would you read it? Tell me in the comments below!