What’s in a name?

Well, if it is a book and its name is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, then the answer is quite a bit. To begin with Guernsey is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy. Although Germany occupied Guernsey in 1946, it could not control the discovery of a book by Charles Lamb with the writer Juliet Ashton’s name and address written in it. So far, nothing unusual. Add to the mix the fact that Juliet is a newspaper columnist living in London and has never been to the island of Guernsey and the excitement builds. Using Juliet’s previous address written on the flap of the book, a member of the island’s only book club corresponds with Juliet in an attempt to locate a biography of the English essayist Charles Lamb. As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet finds out about the island, the effects of the German occupation on the residents of the island, the members of the book club’s tastes in books and, of course, the reason for the book club’s unique and unusual name. Juliet becomes so intrigued with the contents of these remarkable correspondences that she visits the island and what she encounters changes her forever.

Those who have read this fascinating book of letters will meet in Quail Creek on Monday evening November 3 at 7:00 p.m. in the Madera Clubhouse Gold Room to explore the topics of friendship, books, book clubs and love as described by the interesting characters in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary A. Shaefer and A. Barrows.