This week I wanted to do something a little different. I’ve recently read a book (and saw the movie) called: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. All of you Netflix junkies out there may have heard of it, as it was created by Netflix. I came across it one night when Nate wasn’t home and it caught my eye because of the funny title. I clicked on the description and it appeared to be a mix between a love story and historical fiction; two of my favorite genres. This story isn’t based on something that actually happened, none of the characters are real; but it is based on real historical events such as World War II and the German Occupation of the Channel Islands. I don’t know why, but I have always been fascinated in learning about both of the world wars, so I was immediately drawn to this movie.

I usually don’t like to watch the movies before I read the books, but in this case I actually didn’t know it was a book. I just happened to go to Barnes and Noble the day after I watched the movie and I came across it. I got really excited when I saw it too, because I knew I would get to relive the story in book form – which is usually better than the movie. Now, I am not knocking the book, it was very, very good; but, in this case, I think I almost liked the movie better. The book wasn’t written how most books are written. There weren’t chapters and deep detail, or really any dialog. It was written as a series of letters written between the various characters. I found this a little annoying at first, but it actually made sense after a while on why the author chose to write it this way. Even so, I think it would almost help to watch the movie first so that you can get more detail on things, and actually see conversations between the characters, and get a better idea of their personalities, instead of just hearing about how it went from the letters they write. I would be curious to see if someone who read the book first, and then watched the movie felt the same way about this. (I’m encouraging you to go read it!!)

The plot of this story involves a writer, Juliet Ashton, who befriends a group of book club members on the island of Guernsey shortly after the end of the second world war. They find each other because one of the club members, Dawsey Adams, comes across a book that was previously owned by Juliet. It had her name and address in it, and since Dawsey loved the book so much, he wrote to her in hopes she could help him find more books from the same author.

When Juliet finds out the name of Dawsey’s book club, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, she obviously becomes curious on how they created such a name for their society. The society came to be because Dawsey and some of his friends were caught outside after curfew by German soldiers who were inhabiting their island at the time. They came up with the lie that they had been participating in their book club society, lost track of time, and therefore were out after curfew in order to get back home. In order to uphold  their lie, they had to prove to the Germans that they really were meeting regularly for their society. Even when they no longer had to prove it to the Germans, they continued meeting because they all discovered the love they had for books and the discussions they would bring. The war had also brought them all together in ways they never realized it could.

Fascinated with their story, Juliet asks if she can visit the society in Guernsey, to which Dawsey and most of the members happily agree. Some were hesitant to have her, especially after they found out she was a writer. They didn’t want her to write about their experience, because they didn’t want to relive the war which had impacted them so greatly. Juliet agrees not to write anything without their permission; but, the longer Juliet stays on the island of Guernsey, the more she realizes the pain these people endured during the German occupation, and the questions about their loved ones they still haven’t received answers for. Wanting to help her new friends, she started pulling in resources she had back home in London to help her solve the unanswered questions the society members so dearly desired, especially when it came to the whereabouts of their founding member.

While she searches for any kind of information she can, she becomes very close to Dawsey, and it is clear that the two have strong feelings for each other. However, they are prevented from being together because Juliet is engaged to a wealthy American man who has been doing business back in London, where Juliet lives. The more they search for answers, the more they become attracted to each other, but neither one will admit it. It is very frustrating as we go through the story that neither one of them will tell the other how they feel.

In the end, when all of their questions have been answered, Juliet breaks her promise about not writing about the society. She writes their story out for them, because she can’t focus on anything else until the story is laid out in front of her to make sense of it all. However, instead of publishing the story like she had originally wanted to, she gives it to the society as a memoir that she hopes will allow them to make peace with the outcome of the war and move on with their lives. Although hesitant at first, the society members come to see Juliet as part of their family. And though they are saddened by the outcome of the war, the story has a happy ending that will leave you in happy tears, for reasons which you will have to go watch/read to find out for yourself.

This was a really rough outline of what occurred in the story. I was trying to tell as many exciting parts as I could without giving too much away. If you’re a history nerd or hopeless romantic like myself, this would be a great story for you to check out. It also has several funny parts in it, and it will keep you on the edge of your seat because you will be dying to know what happens and how everything comes together.

If you don’t have Netflix, I’m not sure how you can watch it, so I recommend either getting Netflix (the first month is free) or finding or making a friend who has a Netflix account they are willing to let you use. As for the book, you can find that just about anywhere, and with Christmas coming up, it might make a really good Christmas present!

As usual, I’m always curious to hear your thoughts, so if any of you have already watched the movie or read the book I would love to hear what you thought of it. I guarantee you will enjoy this story, and if you don’t, I want to know why. I enjoy having discussions about topics like this, so please feel free to message me. Happy reading/watching!

Until Next Time 🙂

Megan Reiffenberger