If you have not read this book yet, please, please do so!
At the end of January, after reading this epistolary novel for the first time, I wrote an open letter to the authors of the book and it was posted on the website until recently. You can imagine my surprise when I got a lovely letter from the daughter of the author a day or so after I posted it--she said that of all of the letters they have ever received my letter touched them the most deeply.
I'll be starting Guernsey for the 3rd time on my holidays in July and I cannot wait to get back to the wonderful world that Annie Burrows created. I'm including my letter below in the hopes that it will inspire you and give you the incentive to pick up this amazing book and read it!
From S...... to Mary Ann (posthumously) & Annie 30, January, 2009
Dear Mary Ann & Annie:
I just read the last page of my friends’ copy of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, wherein I had a good cry and came to this website directly.
I am a speed reader. Most books I can devour in an hour or two and most stories go in & out-they are entertaining and a way to escape but not worth remembering or cluttering my brain with. There are a few very rare books that make me slow down and savour every word.
I initially grabbed this novel like any other. I flew through the first letter; I read the second letter more slowly; by the time I got to Juliet’s line about throwing “The Shepherd Boy Sings in the Valley of Humiliation” at the elocution mistress, I knew that I had to go back to the beginning. I started again and read very slowly.
It has taken me a week (glorious appointments I made with myself to read while having a cup of tea) to finish this amazing, wonderful story. The characters became my friends-they became so real I had to remind myself that this was fiction. This book has done something for me that has not happened in many years–my heart & my entire being became engaged. I have laughed out loud; I felt utter horror & shock when news of Elizabeth’s fate was delivered and my heart grieved as I read. As I knew I was nearing the end of the book, I cleared my schedule this morning so that my attention could be undivided. As much as I wanted to find out what was going to happen to Juliet, Dawsey, Kit, and the others, I also did not want this profound and life enriching experience to end. When Kit gave Juliet the memory box that contained her treasures tears slid down my face. This was the first time in my life that I cried while reading a book.
How grateful I am that you, Mary Anne, graced this earth long enough to visit Geurnsey, to open this world and your characters to us. Annie, thank you for helping to complete her legacy when she could not.
I’m on my way now to purchase my own copy of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and I’m planning to stop at my favorite tea shop, sit down and start reading it again. I know that on my way home I will carry this book close to my heart; when I do put it down it will sit on the shelf that holds only those few books that have touched the deepest parts of my soul.
With deep & reverential sincerity,
S.....
Salynne©2009
Wow...that book does sound really inspiring! Perhaps that should be my next book to read...hmmmm..
ReplyDeleteI absolutely recommend it as well!
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