The guernsey literary and potato peel pie society by Mary Ann Shaffer

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This remarkable book is an epistolary novel, a style which went out of fashion around the time of Jane Austen. It consists of letters written in 1946 by Juliet Ashton, a writer living in London, her friends & the members of a literary society on Guernsey. Dawsey Adams has bought a book which Juliet once owned, and has written to the address in the front cover to tell her how much he enjoyed it. The book was the essays of Charles Lamb, and this starts a correspondence which changes Juliet's life. She hears about the formation of the Literary Society during the German occupation of the Channel Islands in WWII, learns what a potato peel pie is, & learns of the harsh conditions of life for the islanders, who were completely cut off from the world & relied on their German captors for news, food, & life itself. I smiled with recognition, laughed & cried. The book is full of the love of books & reading, friendship, & tells a relatively unknown story of WWII. The author worked on the book for many years, and sadly died just before it was published. This is a unique reading experience.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Wedding season by Katie Fforde

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Genre - Romance

This book is gorgeous romantic froth & I loved it. How does Fforde manage to make her heroines real women, juggling jobs, families, relationships, and yet, her men are pure fantasy figures? Still single & straight in their 30s, bruised by love but not bitter, kind, helpful & sexy all at the same time. Sarah is a wedding planner who doesn't believe in romance; Elsa, a dressmaker who needs some self confidence; and Bron, a hairdresser with a boorish boyfriend who wants to make some changes in her life. When a Hollywood celebrity hires Sarah to plan her perfect wedding, Sarah is eager to take up the challenge, with help from Elsa & Bron. Then, her younger sister, Lily, announces that her wedding is planned for the same day, and could Sarah help her plan the perfect wedding with no budget at all? Throw into the mix three lovely men – Hugo, the photographer who reminds Sarah of a miserable love affair; Lawrence, the best man at a wedding where Elsa steps in as bridesmaid at the last minute; and James, a gardener with a bruised heart who lives next door to Bron – and you have all the ingredients for a lovely romance.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

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Genre - Fiction

Kate and Tully are two women who have been friends for thirty years. They meet in 1974 as girls in a small country town where Kate feels she is a social outcast and Tully seems to be the coolest girl in the world. One terrible night they make a pact to be friends forever and we follow their lives and loves through the years against a backdrop of popular music from the times. This is the kind of book that is easy to read, with larger than life characters making difficult, wrenching decisions. It reminds us of the importance of friendship in our lives and to appreciate the people who have made us who we are.


---- Reviewed by Sue, Knox

The Spare Room by Helen Garner

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Helen Garner’s first novel in 15 years is a moving, funny account of a woman dying of cancer and her friend, who tries to help her. The novel begins as Helen gets her spare room ready for Nicola, who is coming down from Sydney for three weeks to undergo an alternative treatment in the hope that it will cure her cancer. Helen’s skepticism about this radical treatment which leaves Nicola exhausted and in pain, is contrasted with Nicola’s determined optimism. Helen feels inadequate to cope with Nicola’s pain and helpless in the face of Nicola’s refusal to accept that she is dying. One of Helen’s friends describes the situation when he says, “Maybe she wants you to be the one… The one to tell her she’s going to die.” There’s a lot of humour in the novel and, as always in Garner’s work, beautiful descriptions of domestic life. This book is an emotional journey which raises questions about love, friendship and honesty.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Friday nights by Joanna Trollope

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Eleanor, a retired administrator, sees two young single mothers aimlessly walking up and down her London street. Her determination to alleviate their loneliness, and her own, leads to a group of women meeting at Eleanor’s house on Friday nights. The friendships that develop between Eleanor, Lindsay and her sister Jules, Paula, Blaise and her business partner Karen, become an important part of their lives. The dynamic of the group changes when Paula wants to introduce her new boyfriend, Jackson, into the group. Jackson is polite, unthreatening, confident yet detached. He affects every one of the women and changes the way they relate to each other. This is a novel about friendship, and the way in which it has become, for some people, the new family. The domestic details and the conversations are beautifully observed.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters