Review of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, directed by Mike Newell

One of the most humbling experiences as of late, when it comes to movies, is thinking about how when I see certain movies again, I realize how much time has passed. There are so many movies that feel like they came out yesterday, but almost a decade has passed.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is one of those movies. I remember exactly when it came out on Netflix, because I was in college at the time. I’d even told one of my friends that I had seen the poster for this movie and thought that Lily James looked like her. She was flattered.

But when the movie came out I never saw it then. I’d procrastinate on a lot of movies for years, and this was one of them. I didn’t watch it until I came back from a brief stint living abroad in South Korea and had a lot of free time on my hands.

I called this period funemployment, especially as I thought a gig I’d lined up and was told I had for sure was coming my way. It did not. But my blog certainly got a lot of content out of that—feel free to check it out if you’re interested in books, movies, television, and travel!

I don’t want to ramble too much in this introduction, so let’s get into the review.

An author comes into contact with a secret book society that emerged in World War II.

This movie starts in the middle of the war, in 1941, and introduces us to the Potato Peel Society. On the island of Guernsey in England, a group of friends is coming home, but they broke curfew. When the soldiers stop them, they say that they were at a book club meeting, and that the club is named “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.”

The war ends and the year is now 1946. We meet our protagonist, Juliet, who is a London author trying to promote her latest book. She writers under a pen name, and she has a new gig coming up where she can write stories about the power of literature for a big publication in the country. When she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams, from Guernsey, she learns of the Potato Peel Society.

Juliet responds to his letter and sends another book to Dawsey; she wants to learn more about the society, especially as it sounds like something that would fit in the work she’s trying to do for the publication. We also meet her American boyfriend, but she decides to leave him behind in order to meet the society members. He arranges for her travel, and she goes to the island—but not after he proposes to her.

Juliet finds the society members on the island, except for Elizabeth, who is apparently overseas. But it’s when she just meets them that Juliet lets it slip that she wants to write an article about them, which angers the members and gets her kicked out of the house and meeting.

This doesn’t deter her though, and she stays on the island for research. Instead, she plans of writing about the German occupation and what happened during the war. It’s during this research she finds out that Elizabeth was actually arrested and sent to Germany, and everyone is hoping that she’s still alive. Her landlord also lets it slip that Elizabeth was not as innocent as she seemed.

Juliet asks her fiance for help locating Elizabeth. We also learn she was having sex with the occupiers, the Germans, for access to luxuries. Dawsey is also not the father of Elizabeth’s kid Kit; the real father was a German who worked with Elizabeth. Kit’s actual father died when he was sent back to Germany.

Juliet’s fiance Mark comes to the island to visit, and is upset to see that she isn’t wearing her engagement ring. He has news: Elizabeth died at a concentration camp. They shot her after she tried to protect a fellow prisoner.

He then takes Juliet home, but in London Juliet can no longer focus. She breaks off the engagement, much to his dismay, and then writes about the society. When Dawsey receives a letter from her, he realizes she is no longer engaged, and decides to go to London to see her.

Juliet, coming back to the island, sees him on the pier. She asks him to marry her, and he says yes. They get married, and the movie ends with him reading to Kit.

Overall Thoughts

It’s a cute movie, and I really did enjoy the plot. I think my only and biggest complaint about the movie is the inclusion of the romance; it felt a little forced, and to me there was no buildup to the ending really.

That said, I would have preferred the movie to simply end without them getting together and Juliet living on the island with the society. I can see how someone else would prefer this ending, though, and how it also makes the movie more marketable.

I don’t have much to say about this film to be honest. It’s short, sweet, and simple. Sometimes we need movies like that in our lives to unwind from the harshness of daily life.

Go watch this if you haven’t already and want to. If you’re also based in the United States, it’s on Netflix with a subscription.

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