Quite simply, both the book and film are a delight.
I do love a vivacious centralising voice, and Juliet Ashton’s voice convinced me not only that spending the length of the novel with her would be enjoyable, but also that I too could compile a enthralling and witty compilation of un-extraordinary tales with humour and a captivating narrative voice. The story follows Juliet, a moderately successful writer-journalist in the late 1940s, who travels to the British island of Guernsey off the coast of France, to find out more about a mysteriously named “Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”.
When I saw it was a post-war angle, I almost lost interest, not seeking a tale of dreary disappointments and stiff-upper-lip heartache. But without being dismissive or oblivious, this is as light and sweet as ever a story featuring war could be. The story of Guernsey’s occupation is told through the personal histories of the society’s members. Part of its spell is convincing you that you need to be either a writer or a pig-farmer in Guernsey. Or both.
The secrecy that veils some of these stories was more exaggerated in the film. However, without the hook of the eclectic characters writing their own tales in their letters, I can see why the element of brooding mystery became necessary.
This movie may not be your style, so avoid it if you a) dislike close ups of type writing and letters, b) don’t care for 1940s fashion, c) are bored by sweeping landscapes and pensively framed camera shots, d) despise Downton Abbey actors or e) hate reading books (you uncultured swine).