Potato Peel Society - thoughts from Annette

I loved this book. I found it very human, very touching. Jerry and I don't often read the same type of fiction but he was desparate for something to read towards the end of our trip (and was running out of books) so I suggest PPS. He loved it as well.

1. What was it like to read a novel composed entirely of letters? What do letters offer that no other form of writing (not even emails) can convey?

I liked this format for this story. It easily allowed the story to switch "points of view" without cumbersome narrative. And since part of the story line was uncovering how the war effected different people in different places, I found this a very effective way of conveying that information. The author had the ability of making each character's letters easily convey their personalities and histories.

2. What makes Sidney and Sophie ideal friends for Juliet?

Having been an only child (and having raised an only child), I personally know and understand the importance of and the trueness of choosing friends who become your family. I've often said that you have the family you are born with and the family you choose (and if you are lucky there is some overlap). Maybe its even easier to have that honesty and uncompetitive love amongst friends you choose as family...maybe there isn't the baggage (the good and the bad) that comes with siblings and family history? hmmm...don't know for sure since i wasn't raised with siblings. But I know that my husband although close to his brother was never close with his sister...ever.

What made Sidney and Sophie special was their honesty, their appreciation of intelligent thought, and I believe they offered Sophie, unconditional love (which she returned). I really enjoyed watching their relationship unfold throughout the book.

3. Dawsey first wrote to Juliet because books, on Charles Lamb or otherwise, were so difficult to obtain on Guernsey in the aftermath of the war. What differences did you note between bookselling in the novel and bookselling in your world? What makes book lovers unique, across all generations?

We still fortunately have access to a wonderful independent bookseller in the town next to ours. His bookstore is like a treasure trove although it is so messy that it is really more like a treasure hunt! But for the most part we have such easy access to knowledge of books, authors, and history through the internet that it is hard to compare the bookselling worlds at all (hence the demise of small bookstores). We can buy new books and old books online through individuals and large bookstores. In most ways this is really cool...but there is also a little loss of "the hunt" of the anticipation (one of the reason I still love to just blindly walk through used bookstores).

I believe book lovers are curious (in all aspects of that word actually). I believe book lovers enjoy the ability to travel with the mind. I believe we eager to explore other people's worlds and thoughts and beliefs (even if we don't share them).

4. What were your first impressions of Dawsey? How was he different from the other men Juliet had known?

I found Dawsey self contained and centered from the very first. Unlike Anne I didn't immediately see him with Juliet until Juliet actually travels to the island...then it was SO obvious to me that they would be good together. How was he different? I believe that his sense of self and his self confidence was not dependent on other people and in particular not dependent on his reflection in the eyes of a woman. Because of that he had the ability to let other people (juliet included) be who they were without trying to fit them into a cubby that suited him. I liked his ability to be quiet. There was a line in the book where Juliet says she couldn't imagine being with a man who she couldn't be quiet with (or something like that). Dawsey was a man who she could comfortably sit in silence with.

5. ...Whose lives were changed the most by membership in the society?

Wow...this is a tough one for me. Maybe that guy (I can't remember his name) who comes to love Shakespeare? Or perhaps Dawsey...because in the end it was his interest in Charles Lamb that led him to Juliet. It was that interest that ended up bringing her to the island and to him.

6. Juliet occasionally receives mean-spirited correspondence from strangers, accusing both Elizabeth and Juliet of being immoral. What accounts for their judgmental ways?

Now that is the 64 dollar question. They had very narrow views of the world. Whether that came naturally, from religion, through some disaapointment or defeat in life...I can't figure it out. I didn't give it much thought. There are always people like that everywhere who are mean spirited, narrow minded and unfortunately feel a compunction to tell everyone within ear shot how they feel about things. I often think they are people who are angry or unloved or both.

7. In what ways were Juliet and Elizabeth kindred spirits? What did Elizabeth’s spontaneous invention of the society, as well as her brave final act, say about her approach to life?

I agree wtih Anne's comment that they both marched to their own drums different from others and felt comfortable about it. They both were accepting of people's differences, appreciative of intelligence, emotionally brave, a little pig headed (in a good way), and generous of spirit.

10. How did Remy’s presence enhance the lives of those on Guernsey? Through her survival, what recollections, hopes, and lessons also survived?

This is an interesting question that I'm not sure I know how to answer. Remy was another "outsider" like Juliet, who manages to find her own place in really what is quite a remarkable community of friends. She, I think, was a bridge to Elizabeth and perhaps helped bring closure for many people. Perhaps for some their ability to help Remy heal was like a final act of homage to Elizabeth who they ended up not being able to help out of her tragedy. I think that many felt that Elizabeth would have wanted them, perhaps would have expected them, to help Remy. Perhaps it helps the community heal from the war.

11. Juliet rejects marriage proposals from a man who is a stereotypical “great catch.” How would you have handled Juliet’s romantic entanglement? What truly makes someone a “great catch”?

I'm not sure I would have dated him as long as she did...except that I know he was a welcome respite from the grayness and ugliness of London during the war. Perhaps he was like a vacation. But it didn't seem like they ever really talked about anything that mattered to her and that he absolutely didn't understand her true yearnings and intellect. He wasn't a bad guy at all...he just definitely wasn't the right guy.

13. What historical facts about life in England during World War II were you especially surprised to discover? What traits, such as remarkable stamina, are captured in a detail such as potato peel pie? In what ways does fiction provide a means for more fully understanding a non-fiction truth?

Neither Jerry nor I knew that the Channel Islands had been occupied for almost the entire war...that was a complete surprise. I knew about the bombings and deprivations of London and about the children who were sent to the country (they were actually send from all over europe). But what I hadn't realized was that the rationing and shortage of goods went on for so long after the war.

14. Which of the members of the Society is your favorite? Whose literary opinions are most like your own?
Isola, I think. Was she the Jane Austen nut?

15. Do you agree with Isola that “reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones”?

Pretty much...

Rebecca's question about the book ending. I hadn't really thought about it so had to go back and read that section of the book. And although it obviously didn't spoil the ending for me (otherwise I would have noticed it) I do find it a big odd. Especially since it goes back to the "letter" format for one final letter from Juliet to Sidney. However, it kind of fits Isola's quirky nature and is an extension of her love of everything "miss marple".

I have one theory. This book was researched and started by Mary Ann shaffer but was finished by (or was assisted in finishing by) her niece Annie Barrows when Mary Ann Shaffer became ill. She actually died before the book was published (in february 2008...just two months after she wrote the acknowledgements). Maybe they just ran out of steam and used Isola to tie up the loose ends?

A few of my favorite quotes

Page 11> "That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book."

Page 8> "I can't think of anything lonelier than spending the rest of my life with somone I can't talk to or worse, someone I can't be silent with".

And now from Guernsey Island it is onto Mansfield Park!

Annette B