Recently, I took a break from my "body of work" reading of the novels of Alan Furst. I came upon the ...Potato Peel Pie novel in my favorite paperback exchange just after seeing a trailer of the Netflix film. I'm intrigued by the Channel Islands. I was already aware of the WW 2 German Occupation of the islands. It called to me.
Basically enjoyed the book: it introduces several vintage classic writers to modern young readers in a context they may appreciate; heartfully discussed the Occupation which lasted 5 years and involved suffering to the people of the islands.
The novel reminded me of the works of Rosamunde Pilcher in the subject; "The Shell Seekers", for example.
The novel is written in the form of letters between and among the various characters in the post-war year of 1946. This can be an interesting format: a good way to present this novel, since there are several plots threading through the story, and lots of characters.
The idea for the book was conceived by Mary Ann Shaffer, who started the book. When her health failed, the completion of the story was done by her much younger niece, Annie Barrows.
Any criticism I may have of the book are because I think this is a "younger" persons' story; probably a younger woman's book. For me, the novel did not successfully capture the zeitgeist of the late-and immediate post WW 2 period. I was always aware of reading words on the page, not seeing the visions of the story appearing in my mind.
I promptly went to You Tube and searched for videos about the Channel Islands and they are very lovely.
