Sooo much pooping

[Cinnamon]

Chat here for 'The Guernsey literary & potato peel pie society',please.

 

I first started this book way back at the beginning of the month & after a couple of evenings reading it I gave up & almost deleted it from my Kindle.

The reason? - I loath books told in letter or email format!

 

But then I happened to get back in touch with a very old friend via Facebook & saw that she was a fan of the book,so thought I would give it another try.

Well,I am so glad I did - it is an absolute corker!

 

Also,all my childhood holidays were in Guernsey & Jersey,so I had a lot of interest in the location.

I have toured the creepy underground hospital corridors mentioned in the book & know a few of the other locations too,which was fascinating.

 

I found the book totally charming & was blown away by the mixture of a sweet,gentle story,& the horrors of war.

 

I especially loved the story of the butler who took on his masters identity & fooled the Germans, then later in the book we learned some horrific details about him too.

 

I also loved the dynamic between Juliet,her publisher & his sister,which was beautifully written.

Couldn't quite see Juliet & Dawsey together though...he seems far too quiet for her.

 

There was a great passage about hens in it too - I highlighted it & will come back later to flag it up,as it made me chuckle!

 

I can so see a BBC adaptation of this book

 

All in all,a lovely read & one I would thoroughly recommend.

 

JULYS BOOK: The Outcast by Sadie Jones

[fantasticjudyann]

I really enjoyed this book It was light and easy to read but I mostly enjoyed it for the following reasons which I will describe here briefly. I hope they are of interest to you.

 

Many years ago when I was at primary school I went on a school trip to Guernsey. We stayed at Rocquaine Bay. On a day trip we visited the German Underground hospital and I was so nervous because I thought it would be full of Germans-of course it wasn’t!

 

Several years back I visited Jersey and the War Tunnels museum and exhibition. It was excellent because it showed how life had been under the occupation. I learnt among other things all about Jerrybags , the near starvation and how the working prisoners were treated.

 

Recently, the mother of one of my dear friends died. She was a Czech Jew and she was called Helen Lewis. She had been incarcerated in Terezin near Prague during the war and then sent to Auschwitz. She survived that, but nearly died several times on a death march when the allies were approaching. She wrote about her experiences in “A Time To Speak” which is an absolutely brilliant book too. I might even choose that when it comes to my turn. Her story was very moving and I was reminded of it when I read of Remy’s experience in Ravensbruck .

 

I must add that I thought all along that Juliet and Dawsey would be together at the end! All in all, a thoroughly entertaining and fascinating read. I’ve got it on my e reader so I shall read it again and again. Thanks for a great recommendation.

[Seagazer]

I actually finished this book at the beginning of May so can't remember all the names etc but have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found it a bit confusing at first quite who was who in the first couple of pages of letters but soon got to grips with it.

 

A lovely, charming story and I too 'knew' that Juliet and Dawsey should and would get together at the end.

 

Its defnitely made me want to visit the islands.

 

p.s. my mum was reading this at the same time and she really enjoyed it too. I've passed my copy on to my MIL.

[freddie]

loved it, and have lent it out to several, who also have loved it,

Quirky way to write a novel, and also to start I felt it may be too mawkish for me, but thought it was well written, and the male characters were so matter of fact about what they had been through.

[Janepie33]

I'm so glad everyone enjoyed it. I loved the book which was why I recommended it. I have visited Guernsey and am ashamed to admit that I knew nothing of it's history before reading this book. There was a TV programme on the other night about the occupation of Guernsey. Did anyone see it?

[AJuff]

I read this book with little interest in it. I persevered but I couldn't 'get into it' at all. My OH read it and really enjoyed it. He found the history element very interesting.

[chickencam]

I loved this book, it was a light read in parts, and thought provoking in others.

 

It was basically a light love story with a historical twist. The bits about the occupation were both fascinating and disturbing.

 

The time scale for her going to live there and gaining Kit's trust, then applying for adoption of the little girl seemed a bit unrealistic in today's cynical world, but maybe immediately post war there were a few such happy endings.

 

I would definitely recommend this book as a holiday read especially if you were off to Guernsey.

[jlo]

I have just finished this book but didn't read it as a result of the forum. A friend recommended it and I really enjoyed it. I thought I would come on and see if it had been listed as an "Omlet Book CLub" read - only to fnd that it was last month's selection - a bit of a coincidence.

 

I loved it too. Yes - it is unrealistic in terms of the letter writing as well as the timings of the events. It really made me miss the times of writing letters now. We are so quick to dash of a quick email or text but it would be wonderful to have the time and the way with words to write such long and interesting letters.

 

On the face of it, it is charming, witty and light hearted but there are parts in there that are incredibly sad and thought provoking.

 

I would certainly recommend it. The only problem was that I became too absorbed in it and left the risotto to burn my saucepan! I was sitting outside thinking, "someone is cooking something round here," and then suddenly remembered it was me!