The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Published: July 2018
Juliet Ashton has just published her first book in 1946 and her publisher is eager for her to start on the next one. Her book was a great relief during war time. But she's having trouble coming up with a subject that is interesting to her and will keep her readers entertained. When she receives a letter from a man name Dawsey who found her in a book he had by Charles Lamb, they begin a correspondence. When Dawsey tells her about his book club, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Juliet is intrigued and wants to learn more about the group. Each member writes her a letter to explain how they became a part of the group. Juliet is so enthralled by their stories, she feels she has to go to Guernsey so she can write a book about this group. Told through a series of letters, telegrams, and packages we learn about Juliet's journey from London to Guernsey.
I listened to this book on audio and when it first started, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. I'm not a big fan of historical fiction, especially books having to deal with wars. But this one was really good and it stuck with me. I could feel a connection to Juliet and her wanting to know more about these amazing people on the island of Guernsey.
Netflix now has this out as a movie, and I'm on my way to go and watch it now. I can't wait to put faces to the names I kept hearing. It's interesting how they can put a movie together with letters and telegrams.
If you haven't read this book, I suggest that you pick up a copy right away. This is an intriguing story with characters you will fall in love with.
Now on to the movie. The movie was enjoyable, but there were things missing that I wish I could have seen more of in the movie. Without giving away spoilers, I would say the top thing was the way she met the American, I can't think of his name right now and I wish we would have seen more of the letter writing between the Literary Society and Ms. Ashton. In the movie, when she shows up on Guernsey, it's more of a shock to the people instead of something they were looking for.
You can find the movie on Netflix. Let me know if your thoughts on both the book and the movie.
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I read this story so long ago, the differences in the movie probably won't bother me. I will have to check out the movie, it sounds like it was well done.
ReplyDeleteThe movie was well done. The biggest issue I had was that she corresponded with all of the Literary Society members before she arrived to Guernsey, and they were all excited for her arrival. In the movie, it was a shock that she was there and she wasn't very welcomed at first.
DeleteYeah... okay... um... I'm still unconvinced that I want to see this film after loving the book so much!
ReplyDeleteYou see the issues I had with it above. We already know the book is 99.9% of the time better than the movie.
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