Wearing "beautiful" hats makes tea time more enjoyable!

Hannah Altmaier and Ting Davidson lead the discussion of the book.

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It was tea time for the British Literature class on Wednesday as they hosted a “literary society” meeting loosely patterned after the group in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Although Shaffer and Barrows aren’t British writers, Shaffer did extensive research on the isle of Guernsey and Barrows completed the manuscript with the same attention to historic detail as Shaffer. “After slogging through British literary classics for the entire semester, it was a treat to dash through a charming novel recalling a time in British history we seldom read about,” said teacher Mary Forney.

Class members Hannah Altmaier and Ting Davidson invited Jane Widmer Yoder and Maddie Miller, who had also read the novel, to the meeting. While no potato peel pie was consumed, the group did enjoy modern tea time treats while wearing decadent tea party hats. The class members led a rich discussion of the book. All agreed that the novel’s quirky characters spun an endearing tale of community and fortitude following the German occupation of Guernsey. We’d recommend the book to anyone looking for a satisfying historical fiction book complete with love, courage, tragedy, and hope.