Book Review: The Pie that Made Me Cry

Disclaimer:  I am usually behind the times in my current  reading, as most of my books come from the Goodwill because I am too forgetful to return them from the Library and too cheap to pay full price.

The Geurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
By Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

I am not one for fits of crying or tears, but this book about did me in.  The fictional story of Juliet Ashton, a writer living in London after WWII who discovers a unique group of people who tell about their story of the Guernsey German Occupation not only gives a wonderful insight into stories of WWII tragedy, but also the love and compassion in times of war. The book is narrated in letters and could not be more charming because of it.

This book is not a love story.  This book is not a sad story.  This book is not a happy story.  This book is simply a good story.  There is no enemy, even though there are times when you dislike some of the people involved in the story.  The good people in the story do bad things (but never really that bad because they do them out of compassion for others).

Another interesting fact about this book is that it's author became very sick and had to have the book finished by another author in the family.  She passed away before it was ever finished.  It breaks my heart that we will here no more of the stories of Juliet's wonderful world that Mary Ann Shaffer made, but Annie Barrows did a wonderful job of finishing the book with her spirit and love.

The book will also become a movie in 2013, rumored to star Kate Winslet at Juliet (a wonderful choice on all parts).  I have always enjoyed Kate's work in period films as well as films she has been in that have been adapted from books.  It looks like I will have to wait until then to get another taste of the wonderful work of Mary Ann Shaffer.