I just read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society the other day. I feel mildly uncomfortable about how endearing I found it. It's basically a pastoral romance pasted on top of a horrifying story of occupation, and it shouldn't work at all. And yet it does.
Ok, I've finished the book. I think there were enough horrific elements to make it seem like it wasn't taking the occupation too lightly. And it showed the occupying forces as human--mostly awful, 'cause Nazis, but all too rarely decent. And it showed some complexity in the occupied--some selling out their fellows, some heroic, many just trying to survive the experience. I like how the heroine didn't end up with the stereotypical male lead, but went for the pig farmer who appreciated her writing. I suspect I'll end up like Isola some day--I just hope I can get my hands on a motorcycle. I liked the epistolary narrative style. That's worked for me in other books. It's a good way for an author to show different character voices.
And I want to visit Guernsey now, but I wouldn't have turned down a visit before. Did anyone read about the author?