POST #2:BEGINNING

The main character in the book would be Juliet Ashton.  Every letter in the book is either to her or from her.  Throughout the first seventy-some pages, she has written to and has been written to by at least ten different characters, but there are only a few that are important at this point in the story.  There is Dawsey Adams, who is the man that first wrote to Juliet about his reading and his Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  Another important character is Sidney Stark, who is Juliet's publisher and dear friend.  Lastly, there is Sophie Strachan.  She is Juliet's closest friend and always gives her good advice, but they don't get to see each other very often because Sophie lives in Scotland, which is a pretty good distance away from London.

The story starts off with an exchange of letters between Juliet and Sidney regarding her latest book, Izzy Bickerstaff Goes to War, and its sales and tour for book signings and readings within England.  She's not too happy about the tour but she doesn't have much of a choice because it will boost the book's sales.  Then she receives her first letter from Dawsey Adams, who had stumbled upon a book with Juliet's address written on the inside cover.  He discussed his thorough enjoyment of the book Selected Essays of Elia and of the book's author, Charles Lamb.  He mentioned the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and also asked for the address of a bookstore in london so he could purchase another Charles Lamb novel.  Juliet responded in favor, also including a book by Charles Lamb and a photograph of him.  She was intrigued by Dawsey's letter and his mentioning of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and wished to know more.  In the meantime, Juliet's tour through England was going spectacular until she had a little run-in with a sleazy reporter where she threw a pot of tea at his head.  This made big news, in turn increasing the sales of Izzy Bickerstaff Goes to War, which shot it straight onto the bestseller's list.  Due to her great success and publicity, the Times (one of the most prestigious magazines/newspapers in England), wanted Juliet to write a featured article for them.

All of this begins to set the stage for a few different conflicts arising in the story.  The first is the featured article she must right for the Times.  She is having a spot of trouble with it because it is on a very serious topic that she isn't too familiar with.  This is how the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society comes into play.  She employs their aid for her article.  She writes to many of the members of the society to get an idea  about how their society works and how it came to be, to learn more about the occupation of the Germans on the Guernsey Islands during World War II, and to get to know each of them better as people.  This all is a great help for her article, and she also manages to make some new friends along the way, especially Dawsey.  Another conflict she has is this American fellow by the name of Mark Reynolds.  He is a very rich publisher and paper manufacturer over in America who came to England to find great new authors to publish.  Juliet begins to strike up a bit of a romance with him.  Sidney wishes that Juliet not see Mark because he is convinced that he will attempt to steal her away from Stephens & Stark and bring her to New York to be an author in America.  Juliet thinks nothing of it, but it could grow into a greater conflict later on in the story.

Surprisingly, I am really enjoying this book.  When read the back of the book I became interested, but I still wasn't sure if I would like.  Then when I read the first page, I became almost sure that I wouldn't like it.  I'm glad I kept reading on because about three pages later, I began to like it.  Now, I am truly a fan.  I'm really enjoying it because it is funny, interesting, and informative all at the same time.  It amazes me how much you can learn about a person by just reading their letters.  While I'm reading, I am constantly inferencing.  Your never actually directly told something while reading, so you must analyze the dialogue and writing of the letters and make inferences to really understand what's going on.

One prediction that I have is that Mark Reynolds will in fact, as Sidney had said, attempt steal Juliet away to America.  I'm still not sure whether she would accept the invitation because she is very loyal to Sidney and Stephens & Stark.  I think she would most likely turn the offer down.  Another prediction I have is that the relationship between Juliet and Dawsey will grow much stronger.  Just by reading their writing to each other, I can tell that they have taken a fond liking to each other.  I believe that they will one day meet in person.