After reading this I want to go to Guernsey. And join a literary society. And write letters.
Set in post world war 2, TGLAPPPS is the story of a group of friends in Guernsey and how they survived the German Occupation with good books and good friends. It all starts when one of the society write to Juliet Ashton, a writer in London who throughout the war wrote a column under a pseudonym about the war, often painting events in a humourous light. When Dawsey Adams discovers her address in an old book of hers, he writes to her asking for the name and address of a bookshop in London where he may get more of Charles Lambs works. Thus begins the friendship between Juliet and the Society as more of them write to her and she eventually visits them to write their story.
The whole book is written in letters - something I thought I would find difficult to follow but actually found it incredibly easy. It's amazing how easy it was to follow each characters story and identify their different "voices." It truly made me mourn the lost art of letter writing! The other great thing about this book is because of the letter format, it was easy to read one or two letters when you had a free ten minutes, rather than having to get through a whole chapter or stop half way through one. Since I spent much of my reading time on a ferry travelling back and forth, this format never left me feeling rushed or unfinished.
There was one particular quote I wanted to include and of course, I can't find it! It went something along the lines of "That's the problem with good books, they spoil you for all the bad ones you use to read." I promise when I find it I'll source it properly!
Started: 18/1 Finished: 20/1