The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer & Anne Barrows

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Review by Andrea

8/10

This was a book I never thought I would read and one that I never planned to read. My mum and her sisters seem to have debates when the film is mentioned, so I decided to watch the film and then decided to read the book and because it had mixed reviews I was a bit dubious about what I would feel about it. This book is way out of my time zone, so there were times I had no idea what I was reading about. Although I did in fact learn a fair bit while I was reading this book. Seeing as I had recently watched the film I had that image around in my head, so when reading the book there were times that they didn't line up.

The book is about Juliet Ashton, who is an up and coming author who lives in London just after the end of the Second World War. Her publicists Sidney Stark has signed her up to do a book tour through out England with her latest book. While on the book tour, she receives a letters from a man named Dawsey Adams who lives in Guernsey, he was given a book that once belonged to her before the war. Juliet and Dawsey write letters backwards and forwards, telling their lives and what each other have in common. When she hears about the book club that they set up during the German Occupation Juliet decides that she wants to go and find out more, not just about the book club but also about the island. Juliet gets to know the other members of the club and not only falls in love with the island, it's people but also with Dawsey and decides to stay in Guernsey. 

When I read this book I knew about the Occupation but I didn't know that much about it. I have been to the island and have been around most of the German sites that are still there, but at the time I'm afraid to say I wasn't to interested. But this book opened my eyes a bit more and given me more understanding about what happened. I know that this is a fiction book, but I think that it helps open your mind a bit more about the occupation as it shows the emotion and what people felt during that time. When I watched the film, it had the same effect, seeing those images makes it hit home more that people would do that to other people. 

To me this is a heartfelt story, Juliet sets out to get the society heard and out there while at the same time she seems to find herself and fall in love with her love of book all over again. I fell in love with a few characters while I was reading this, I started liking Juliet as I felt she was a bit like me at times. As I carried on reading I was drawn towards Isola, this was because she was seen as a witch, which is something that I find interesting and something that I am starting to learn. There was one person that I would have loved to have met properly and that was Elizabeth, she was everyone's best friend and the creator of the book club. She was taken to Ravenbruck work camp where she was sadly shot. But through the memory of everyone on the island, it was as though she had never gone. 

Like with any book to film situation, there will always be dramatic license and the odd thing changed or swapped. This book is no different. The biggest appointment's to me was the character Remy, she was at the same work camp as Elizabeth and soon came to the island. She was in the book but not the film and to me plays a big part to the story especially when it comes to Juilet and Dawsey. In the book Juliet has a love interest at the start, Mark an american working in the war office. I feel that the book didn't give him much justice and there is more to him and their love story in the film. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who is like me and debating about reading it as it opened my eyes to a few things. I would also recommend watching the film, but I would do it straight after so can follow the story and not lose anything. Watching the film for me I found was better as when I came to pick up the book, it helped my imagination and allowed me to picture everything and everyone.