I love books written by book-loving authors. It surprises me how many authors don't really seem to love the written word. For them, it's more like I have something to tell you and this is the most expedient way to do it, but then, some authors are lovers of language. Jane Austen comes to mind. Books like hers should be cherished.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows should too. One of the authors has passed away and regrettably this, her first book, will also be her last. Its epistolary style works perfectly. It focuses mostly on Guernsey, an English island between England and France, that was occupied by the Germans during World War II. Its moments, sentences, and stories were wonderful from start to finish. Part of me wanted the book to end so that I could confirm what I thought would happen with its characters; part of me never wanted it to end because I enjoyed reading it so much.
It was quaint and lovely without being trite. The authors write, "I wonder how the book got to ...? Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers." It makes me think: somehow this book found its perfect reader in me--how lucky am I?
