#I want her to already know and love Amelia and Isola!

[flickeringflame216]

nooooo they cut out so much of the letter writing that she's arriving as a total stranger to these people! they welcome her as a friend in the book! this is a fine storyline but honestly I was really hoping to see that beat play out

[solitarystudies]

Movie Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

So the @readerbookclub​​ read TGLAPPPS last month (you can see what I thought about the book here). But in summary, I understood the appeal of the novel but didn’t enjoy it that much. I was expecting to have a similar response to the movie, but I actually really liked it. This post is an attempt at explaining why I enjoyed it. 

First off, if you’re expecting a movie that stays true to the book, you won’t enjoy this. The creators of the film take it upon themselves to change quite a bit of the story, while maintaining the general spirit and message of the book. I know that this is something that really annoys a lot of readers, but I don’t mind it too much. I think filmmakers are entitled to add their own ideas and creativity into a film, rather than having to adhere strictly to the book. Sometimes, a direct translation from print to screen just wouldn’t make a good movie. Now that that’s out of the way, here are some of the main reasons I liked the film:

1. Mark and Juliet’s Relationship:

This is one of the most drastic differences between the two works. In the book, Juliet is dating Mark, but that’s the full extent of their relationship. Throughout the entire book, Mark is a complete and utter dick. He’s selfish and rude and never seems to genuinely care for Juliet. In the movie, however, he’s an entirely different character. He’s very loving to Juliet and showers her with gifts. And they get engaged before she leaves for Guernsey. 

This was something that @appleinducedsleep​ already talked about, so I was fully prepared for it. What I hadn’t expected was how much of a difference this would make to the story. 

I didn’t like how Mark was written in the book, and as others have pointed out, his only purpose was to create conflict. He was obviously a bad guy, and it was frustrating that it took Juliet so long to notice this. When their relationship ended, I thought “Finally!”. I didn’t have any shred of sympathy for him.

Movie Mark, however, is an absolute sweetheart. He’s a genuinely loving guy, he’s just not a good fit for Juliet. He’s not interested in literature and reading (although in the book, he’s a publisher), which clearly isn’t compatible with Juliet who’s a writer. He’s also very much a businessman, chasing a life of wealth and luxury, which Juliet doesn’t want. Despite all this, he deeply cares for her. She’s the one who doesn’t share his affection (when they break up, he asks her if she ever loved him and Juliet’s response is “I loved our time together”, pretty harsh if you ask me).

I felt that reworking the character of Mark and his role of the story was one of the main reasons I enjoyed the movie. He felt much more realistic this way, compared to the book where he came across as one dimensional and exaggerated. When Juliet breaks off their engagement, I couldn’t help sympathizing with him. I think having characters who feel real and sympathetic (even when they’re supposed to be an obstacle for the protagonist) makes for a better story.

2. Juliet’s Nosiness:

The two Juliets are also quite different. In the book, Juliet corresponds with many members of society before visiting Guernsey. They’re all aware of her arrival and there’s a huge welcoming party. In the movie, however, Juliet decides to visit without letting them know. She just shows up uninvited, and the society reacts accordingly. They act uncomfortable in her presence, especially Amelia, who doesn’t want anyone snooping around their business. This was an unexpected dynamic, but one I really enjoyed. It made Amelia feel like a much more important character, and her relationship with Elizabeth was shown through a new light. 

Movie Juliet was quite curious, and poked her nose where it didn’t belong. She kept trying to find out what happened to Elizabeth, and asked questions that were better left unasked. Although this made her character more flawed, I really enjoyed it. Juliet no longer felt like a perfect person, she was someone who isn’t always well-mannered and open-minded. One such instance is when Juliet finds out that Elizabeth had a child with a German soldier and is completely shocked. She quickly comes around, but that’s not the point. Movie Juliet messes up and makes mistakes, but she owns up to her actions and apologizes. That made her much more human to me. 

3. Isola:

Out of all the characters in the book, Isola was the one who felt the most exaggerated to me. The writers obviously wanted her to have a unique personality, but she came across like a caricature. Movie Isola, however, was a far more loveable character. She was still recognizable as the same person I had read about in the book, but more real. She sold liquor instead of  potions, wasn’t smart but didn’t come across as dull, and didn’t have a weird interest in phrenology. 

I especially loved the scene when Juliet shows up at her house late at night, and they become roommates. It showed her kindness and generosity, as well as her deep sense of loneliness. The relationship that grew between the two of them was one I thoroughly enjoyed. I just never connected with book Isola in the same way.

4. Elizabeth’s Story:

I think this is the most important point on the list. Elizabeth was a wonderful character at the core of both works. And I have to say, the book did a wonderful job of establishing her personality and everything she stood for. But, her story resonated with me more in the film. For some reason, seeing her selflessness on screen invoked emotions that I simply didn’t feel while reading the book.

Usually the book is the one that provides a deeper connection to the characters, but in this case, I was very confused while reading it. As I’ve explained before, I was too busy trying to keep up with all the characters and their individual letters to be able to really enjoy other aspects of the novel. And it seems that paying less attention to Elizabeth was a consequence of that. In the film, however, I could watch her more closely, and I loved getting to know her again. 

That’s pretty much most of it. There are a few other minor points, but they’re not worth mentioning. Having said all this, it’s important to mention that the movie did leave out many important aspects of the book (the most prominent being Remy and her story). While I understand that this meant key parts of the story were missing, I think the film was nonetheless pretty good. After all, there’s only so much you can show in two hours. 

That’s all I have for this book/movie, and I can’t wait to start our discussion next month :)

[appleinducedsleep]

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society was the September @readerbookclub​ choice, and I’ll dive right into it:

What did you think of the book? What were the things you enjoyed and the things you didn’t enjoy?

I really liked it. It was light, despite having some heavy subjects. I loved all the book references, the glimpses into history, and Victor Hugo’s random letters. I loved the friendship between Julliet, Sophie and Sidney. Isola was a delight, and Kit was adorable. I loved watching the new friendships grow, and the mystery of Elizabeth McKenna slowly unfold.

Did any quotes or passages stand out to you? What where they and why?

“That’s what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you to another book, and another bit there will lead you on to a third book. It’s geometrically progressive — all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment.”

“In Guernsey, Cee Cee wrote poems to freesias and the daffodils. Also to the tomatoes. He was agog with admiration for the Guernsey cows and the pedigree bulls, and he composed a little song in honour of their bells (’Tinkle, tinkle, such a merry sound...’). Beneath the cows, in Cee Cee’s estimation, were ‘the simple folk of the country parishes, who still speak the Norman patois and believe in fairies and witches’. Cee Cee entered into the spirit of the thing and saw a fairy in the gloaming,”

“The Crown cannot impose taxes on the Islands - or conscription. Honesty forces me to admit the Islanders don’t need conscription to make them go to war for dear, dear England. They volunteered and made very respectable, even heroic, soldiers and sailors against Napoleon and the Kaiser. But take note -- these selfless acts do not make amends for the fact THAT THE CHANNEL ISLANDS PAY NO INCOME TAXES TO ENGLAND. NOT ONE SHILLING. IT MAKES ONE WANT TO SPIT!’

That were two segments from Tramp.

She got up and went over to the desk. She stood there for a while, then she picked up that crystal thing with Latin, Carpe diem, or some such, etched on the top. She studied it.

“Seize the Day,” she said. “That’s an inspiring thought, isn’t it, Isola?”

“I suppose so,” I said, “if you like being goaded by a bit of a rock.”

Which scene stood out most to you? Why?

Clovis Fossey’s letter. Of all the letters, this one I remember clearly. For someone initially not interested in books and book clubs, he was particular eloquent. He won over his dear Nancy (1) at the cliffs, and fought in the First World War (2).

“Lookie there, Nancy. The gentleness of Heaven broods o’er the sea - Listen the mighty Being is awake’.

‘Passive Suffering? Passive Suffering! I could have hit him. What ailed the man? Lieutenant Owen, he wrote a line, 'What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? Only the monstrous anger of the guns.' What's passive about that, I'd like to know? That's exactly how they do die. I saw it with my own eyes, and I say to hell with Mr Yeats.’

Is there anything you would like to change about the book?

While the story wasn’t fast-paced, the ending was a little rushed. In the movie, I wondered at how fast Julliet was travelling to Guernsey. In the book, I was surprized at how fast Kit was pretty much living with Julliet at Elizabeth’s cottage (Julliet wasn’t a stranger, but still), and while I totally understood she wanted to adopt her, as that horrid Adelaide Addison wrote; the Literary Society pretty much raised her, while ‘the principal work of the baby’s maintenance was undertaken by Amelia Maugery, with other Society members taking her out -- like a library book -- for several weeks at a time’. Julliet mentioned taking Kit to London in a one letter, and that kind of shocked me. I wondered about Christian Hellman’s family, they might never know he had a daughter.

I pretty much hated Mark from his first letter, he was so entitled and arrogant. I likened him to Gaston, I still hold firm to that. The movie softened him, while the book just made me wonder why he was that obsessed. Movie-Mark seemed genuine, and they actually got engaged before she left for Guernsey. Book-Mark seemed only to be there for the story to have a love-triangle and to add tension between Juliet and Dawsey. When she dumped him once and for all, it didn’t seem to matter to her at all, so I wish Mark had been more sympathetically written. Any internal struggle shouldn’t have been reduced to ‘will I end up as a lonely spinster?” @readerbookclub​ remarked that Remy was also mostly there to drive up the tension, and I agree.

How did you feel about Juliet’s romance with Dawsey? Was it well written? Did you enjoy it?

I love the trope of friends to lovers. I loved Julliet’s denial, and Sidney and Sophie rolling their eyes at her from across the channel.

29th July 1946

Dear Sophie,

Please ignore everything I ever said about Dawsey Adams.

I am an idiot.

I have just received a letter from Dawsey praising the medicinal qualities of my ‘sunny nature and light heart.’ A sunny nature? A light heart? I have never been so insulted. Light-hearted is a short step from witless in my book. A cackling buffoon - that’s what I am to Dawsey.

3rd August 1946

Dawsey and I have not been as easy with each other as we once were, though he still comes often to visit Kit, or to bring Remy over. When we heard Remy laugh our eyes met for the first time for a fortnight. But perhaps he was only admiring how my sunny nature had rubbed off on her. I do, according to some people, have a sunny nature, Sidney. Did you know this?

She was so hilariously bitter about an innocent compliment. Honestly. Dawsey might have well have said she was tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt him. 

Is there any character who has a similar taste in books to you?

Isola, she was also obsessed with Pride and Prejudice. Boom, instant connection. I related to her, because she could get intense about her interests, even if phrenology was debunked already in the 19th century. That was very random, I must say.

What were your expectations before reading the book? Did it meet them?

I actually saw the movie before reading the book, so all the big plot-points, I already knew. Still, I was really surprised to learn that the entire book was letters. The movie didn’t start with letters, there were barely any letters at all. She up and went to Guernsey on a whim, there wasn’t a welcoming committee; in contrast to the book, where the Guernsey Literary Society was there at Peter’s Port to welcome her. I preferred the way the book went about it, though I understand the limitations of the movie.

The entirety of the book is written through letters (except for some brief Isola detective work!). What did you think of this unusual structure? Would you be interested in reading more books written like this?

I was familiar with the style, Jane Austen’s Susan was also all letters. I was thankful all had the talent of letter-writing. I would have preferred that the format had kept to just letters, Isola’s part was amusing enough, but I wanted to experience it through Julliet’s voice.

What did you think of Elizabeth’s story? Did you grow to love her even though we never actually see her?

Elizabeth was the heart of the story. 

Sidney remarked the same about Julliet’s book, which wasn’t a coincidence. Without Elizabeth there wouldn’t have been a Guernsey Literary Society, she was brave to a fault, and even after, Kit held together this band of people; I can understand how Julliet felt connected to her based on stories alone.

[sptmbrrr]

paper riches - dawsey x juliet

I watched the movie, fell in love, read the book in 12 hours, watched the movie again, then wrote this. It takes place in the bookverse, where Juliet corresponds with Isola, Dawsey, Amelia, and Eben for several weeks before deciding to visit Guernsey, and sends Amelia a copy of her Anne Brontë biography as proof of her authorship.

The sea breeze, if Dawsey Adams cared to notice, bore the scent of salt, foam, and decomposing seaweed, same as it always has. But as it is, Dawsey doesn’t make a point to notice the same air that’s sustained him for nearly four decades--not since the stench of death and starvation has seceded from Guernsey, departing with the German troops who conjured it. The only thought Dawsey gives to the ever-present wind is that it whips back and forth so, blowing his fringe constantly into his eyes, and so it must be time for Isola to attack it with her shears again.

He pushes his hair out of his vision as he winds his way through Isola’s garden, picking his path to avoid the jungle of herbs that nearly obscure the cobblestone walkway. He hears her shout before he even reaches her door, and the corners of his lips tug up into a cheerful smile. Isola, ever the eager, ever the hostess.

“Dawsey!” She wraps her arms around him in greeting, and Dawsey gently encircles her lean body in his arms. She smells of rosemary and sage, as usual, and she’s already babbling before he lets go.

“I’ve written her, of course, not four days ago. She’s truly a writer, now isn’t she? I feel as if I know her already, from your letters and her ones to Amelia. D’you think she’ll ever come calling?”

Dawsey’s usual response to Isola’s prattle is a hum and a nod. But this time, it fails him. The familiar swooping sensation commandeers his stomach, as it always does when the topic of Juliet Ashton arises, and he cannot bear to utter anything that would dismiss the conversation. “I dearly hope so,” he replies. It’s a fine line to walk, one that will prod Isola forward with the subject of Juliet, but not so far that she’ll notice his obsession.

Isola, having turned towards her drawing room, pauses at the lintel with one hand on the doorjamb. “You are corresponding with her too, are you not? I do hope you’re not frightening her off with your brooding reticence.”

“I do write,” Dawsey counters, with a little more force than necessary. How little Isola knew of the hours Dawsey spent at his writing desk, rehearsing the penmanship and the words to write before committing them to paper. How to seem as effortless as Juliet did, when her skill so far exceeded his own.

She smiles genially and rests one pale hand against his wrist. “Just needling you, Daws. How short are we going today?” She lifts her hand from his arm to his forehead and makes a scissor shape with her first two fingers, then squeezes his fringe between the “blades.” “Shall I lop it all off and be done with winter?”

He frowns, his pride slightly wounded by how quickly he’d fallen for her ruse, and he tilts his chin upward so that his bangs slip out from between Isola’s fingers. “Just a trim, or Kit will have my head.”

Isola laughs at that, a waterfall of giggles that, once rare, he’s heard more and more over the last year. “I’d forgot about that. Didn’t recognize you, did she?”

“No, and we shan’t do it again.” She turns back to her drawing room and gestures to the highbacked chair by the window, on which rests a patched and frayed tablecloth. While Isola busies herself with her tools, Dawsey crosses the room in two strides and unfolds the tablecloth. He sinks into the chair, facing the window, and ties two corners of the tablecloth around his neck.

He breathes out a long sigh as Isola’s comb drags across his scalp. Even during the Occupation, and even despite Isola’s chattering, he’s always found solace in the rhythmic motion of her hands in his hair, the snip of the shears, the lilt of her voice (he never took in a word she said, he just enjoyed the sound of a voice that wasn’t a barking Nazi or a squealing pig).

But this time, he doesn’t block her out. “What have you written her?” he asks, before she can launch into her daily gossip. “Juliet, I mean.”

“Juliet! I wrote all about the Brontë sisters, you know I love them so.” Dawsey smiles into his lap as Isola angles his head forward to trim the back of his neck. He has vivid memories of Isola’s florid monologues on their arcane genius. “Didn’t Amelia tell you? She’s written a biography of Anne Brontë. Her first work, before Izzy Bickerstaff Goes to War. I’m told it sold dreadfully, though I can’t see why.  A true illumination of the least known sister, and so thorough I feel as though I could invite her for tea and never run out of things to talk about.”

He hides his smile at that, doubting that Isola would have trouble running out of things to talk about with a stump. “You’ve read it?” he asks.

“Of course, I begged Amelia to lend it to me as soon as she finished.”

“I want it next,” Dawsey says.

Isola’s shears cease clipping, and Dawsey slowly lifts his head. He feels the heat beginning to rise there--was he too obvious? Too plain that he was desperate to read her own words, her thoughts she felt so strongly she published them for the world to see? Too desperate to touch the child of her mind?

But if Isola notices, she doesn’t say anything. “I’ve it around here somewhere,” she says finally, and tips Dawsey’s head forward with one hand to resume cutting. “I promised it to Eben next, but he’s an even slower reader than you are.”

He doesn’t reply to that, partly from embarrassment and partly because it’s true. Slow, but sincere. That was how he was, and had always been.

The minutes tick by and Dawsey clenches his hands into fists beneath the tablecloth. It takes ages, but Isola finally finishes trimming his hair, and he obediently removes the tablecloth for her to shake out on the stoop while he rinses his hair in the washbasin outside. After a thorough dunking, she hands him the tablecloth to towel off the most of the damp, and then he follows her back inside.

He waits in the drawing room while she putters about in her bedroom to look for the biography. It’s cluttered, as usual, with herbs, upended flower pots, and two dozen vials of tonic in various states of cleanliness. He spies a blotter and shifts two spice containers of lavender to the side to look closer. Miss Juliet Ashton, 23 Glebe Place, Chelsea, London S.W. 3.

A creak of the floorboards makes Dawsey look up to see Isola, book clutched tightly in two hands before her, like the deacon bearing the Holy Bible up the aisle to begin Mass. “Anne Brontë: A Biography,” she announces.

Heart pounding, Dawsey reaches out and hefts the book from Isola. “Thank you,” he says. “And you’ve done a good job?” He runs his hands through his still-moist hair, and Isola nods.

“More handsome than ever, Daws.”

He flushes again at that, and merely nods and brushes past Isola to reach her front door. “Thanks, Isola.”

“You will share me any more of her letters, won’t you?” she asks, following him to the door.

“I will,” he promises, although only through a stab of what feels suspiciously like selfishness. He tries to bury it, try to rationalize that it’s not because there’s some aspects of Juliet he wants to keep for himself.

“Good day.”

He sets off down the path, this time far less concerned with foot placement, in his haste to be out of Isola’s line of sight. He hurries along the main road, disregarding the limp in his leg, until he’s halfway to his home and nearly out of breath. Then he stops, looks behind him and in front of him, but he’s utterly alone. His heart is still fluttering, and it feels almost the same speed as the book pages he flips through with one thumb. A hundred pages, maybe more, from Juliet. He feels as though he is the richest man in the world.

Pages flipped through, the book remains open in Dawsey’s hand, with only the back pages visible. His heart stops fluttering, and in fact feels like it’s stopped altogether. On the back side of the dusk jacket, a picture stares up at him.

Juliet.

It’s just a small square, hardly enough quality to make out her facial features, but it’s enough to strike Dawsey to the bone. She’s smiling up at the camera, which is perhaps the same direction of the sun because her cheeks are pushed up into her eyes with a squint. Her hair falls about her shoulders in sleek ringlets.

He gently traces his thumb along the curve of her head to the well of her shoulder. She can’t be older than he is. He feels as if his circulatory system has been replaced with warm oil heating him through, filling his body with a numb, happy throb.

Juliet.

He snaps to when he hears the wheels of a cart approaching. He hastily tucks the book into the back of his trousers as the heads of a horse team appear in front of him. It’s Eben, with the post.

“Dawsey!” he shouts when he recognizes him standing beside the road. “You weren’t home, and I wanted to give this to you myself.”

He’s beaming down from the driver’s seat, Eli riding shotgun, and holds out a crisp white envelope.

Dawsey feels a stab of guilt at the concealed book in his possession that’s supposed to be in Eben’s hands, but it’s overwhelmed immediately when he recognizes the neat scarlet ink on the front of the envelope.

“Jul--Miss Ashton?” he catches himself, and reaches out to take the letter from Eben’s callused hands.

“The very same. I’m off to Isola’s but do share what she’s written at the Society tomorrow,” he says.

Dawsey barely hears Eben but manages a brief nod of acquiesce, still staring, almost disbelieving, at the letter in his hands. He barely hears the mail cart driving away, barely feels his feet as he saunters homeward. A letter from Juliet, and her book, and her picture.

When he reaches the top of the hill and sees his farm, he can’t help but break into a run, and then a grin. He can see Kit kneeling in the garden, pulling up carrots, with Amelia on a chair watching over her. The book and letter feel light as a feather in his hand. The richest man in the world.

[bookishbitches]

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society : reaction post

Book Info - August 2018 BotM

Kelsey’s Reaction Post

Status: Complete 

Let me just start by saying that I unequivocally, absolutely adore this book and the characters and literally everything about it.

It’s a book about people and how the connections they form are the most profound, important things in the universe. It’s a romance, but more than that, it’s a book about love in all the forms it can take. It’s about war, but it’s also about how people hold up during it and how they go on in the aftermath. It doesn’t pull its punches. I laughed, I cried, I fell in love and made new friends. I lived this story with the characters and I could ask nothing more. A book that puts its characters front and center and lets them shine and be so beautifully, uniquely flawed and human is one that will always have a special place in my heart and on my bookshelf.

The epistolary format really, really worked for me. It made it really feel like I was there as this was unfolding in real time, making all these new friends through letters and keeping up with old ones. The format also let the relationships evolve so naturally. I could see them forming and shifting instead of feeling like I was being told about it. The fact that Juliet was doing research into the Occupation of the Channel Islands and telling Sidney what she learned let me learn so much as well, without making me feel like I should already know this and am only being caught up by the author so that I’m not Lacking as a reader.

On to the characters! (My favorite bit, always.)

Juliet is such a spitfire and I love her. She is the kind of person I desperately want to be friends and correspondents with. Honest and loving and passionate and so wonderfully real. She has anxiety about luncheons and writer’s block and is worried about meeting all these people she’s befriended in letters because what if they don’t like her in person? (That “what if I have fooled these people through writing into thinking I’m interesting and they find out it’s not true when we meet in person” is such a Mood). She is so friendly and open and interested in the hearts of people. She’s also a disaster at managing her own love life and I love her for it. (She jilted her affianced the day before the wedding because he boxed up her books and replaced them with trophies and I fell even more in love with her. That is a perfectly valid reason to call things off.) (If it wasn’t for Dawsey, I would propose to Juliet myself.)

Dawsey is so sweet and I love, love, loved watching him quietly fall in love with Juliet, first through his letters to her (and everyone and their mothers mentioning how he was excited that she was coming to Guernsey) and then through their actual interactions while she was on the island. He is the definition of steady and everyone is so at ease around him. He is a Protector and he is gentle until the situation calls for something else (i.e. beating the hell out of the guy who informed on Elizabeth and Peter). He just wants to take care of everyone and I’m so glad that the Literary Society helped him find his voice and the friends that he needed so badly. I just want to imagine him holding a baby animal or crouched down with Kit watching a blackbird hunt worms. (I also want to imagine him sitting with Juliet in front of the fire, Kit having dozed off in the middle of whatever she was doing, just holding Juliet’s hand and letting the comfortable silence settle around them like a favorite blanket.)

Isola is a delight. She is unapologetically herself and does what she wants and is loved for it and that is a beautiful thing to see. Like Juliet, I want to adopt her. Sometimes a family is a blogger, my new witch daughter, her goat and parrot, and a biscuit tin of letters from Oscar Wilde. Just go with it.

I was so delighted when I read Juliet’s description of Amelia and found her to be exactly as I was already picturing. Amelia is so freaking strong and I admire her greatly. I would like her to adopt me, please and thank you. (Sometimes a family is...)

Sidney is fabulous. He is so supportive and enabling and a wonderful brother to both Juliet and Sophie. I loved the reveal of his sexual orientation and how it wasn’t played as a big deal nor was it just set in there as a checkbox of LGBT+ rep. It was just part of him that Isola now knew and it was cool.

Mark can pretty much fuck off, as far as I’m concerned. I’m with Sidney in that he always felt oily and entitled. From the beginning it was clear he wasn’t right for Juliet, even if she couldn’t see it clearly. With the flowers, she was unsure if she was feeling flattered or hunted and that theme seemed to continue. He never seemed to give Juliet’s opinion much credence and acted like he was above her at all times. Also, he did not deal with rejection well and that’s always a red flag.

Mark also made Juliet feel so unsure. She was always wavering on how she felt about him, if she loved him, if she should stay with him. He made her question her plans and if she should go to Guernsey, when it seems like being decisive was an inherent personality trait of Juliet’s. (Running away twice, cultivating her love of books, deciding on the Guernsey project, just so many little things...) (Her decisions weren’t always good but they were made without much dithering.)

From the very start of the book, Juliet bemoans her love life but she is unwilling to settle (hooray Juliet!!). The line “I can’t think of anything lonelier than spending the rest of my life with someone I can’t talk to, or worse, someone I can’t be silent with,” is what sets the tone for what she’s looking for, and eventually finds with Dawsey.

With Mark, she can never truly get a sense for who he is beyond his intellectual pursuits (showing off for her) and his entertainment preferences (again, showing off for her). He is always whisking her off to do something or another. They never seem to be silent together.

With Dawsey, she tells in one letter of the myriad of topics they discussed over dinner, and from the beginning when he was showing her around Guernsey, they could be silent together. (Cue that cozy fireplace image again.)

I just adore the growing relationship between Juliet and Dawsey. The way he always signed his letters “Yours” (or “Ever Yours”) and kept a picture of Juliet and Kit in his pocket (*swoons*). He kept the book that first brought them together in a treasure box, had one of her scented handkerchiefs and all of her letters tied up in a ribbon that she thought she’d lost. Can you get any higher quality pining than this???? I think not!! He even read Anne Bronte novels because Juliet wrote a biography of the woman. And Juliet! Slowly realizing her feelings and then doing some quality pining herself when she thinks he doesn’t feel the same. Also, the way that Dawsey started talking more and opening up like a flower in the sun when Juliet came to the island/was corresponding with him, and the way he shut back down post Mark visit. This is what I love. Mutual pining between two oblivious people meant for each other.

And Juliet proposing? Iconic. Showstopping. Perfect. Even if Dawsey did injure himself and take the Lord’s name in vain. I’m glad it was from Isola’s point of view so we knew all that. Neither Juliet or Dawsey would be able to coherently tell about it. I’m just so happy that they are getting married immediately and will have their little family on Guernsey with Kit and the rest of the Literary Society and it’s just so wonderful.

I want to read this all over again immediately, and I might. As soon as I watch the Netflix adaptation which is queued up for when I finish writing this. Before I do that though, I want to give a huge thanks to @skyler10fic whose wholehearted recommendation of this book led to us choosing to read it this month. I can’t thank you enough!! I think books really do have a homing instinct to find their perfect readers - though sometimes they are helped along by great friends. ♥

- Kelsey

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#1 I've gained quite a few pen-pals in the last couple of weeks. I'm absolutely fascinated by their stories about the war and how they managed to start a literary society in the midst of such turmoil. I feel as though I know everything about the islanders now without ever meeting them. Up until recently, I didn't know much about Guernsey. It’s one thing to know that the Germans occupied Guernsey and it’s another to hear stories about how they felt, what they saw, and how they managed to keep themselves entertained and joyful. Speaking of entertainment, let me tell you a little bit about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. During the German occupation, islanders were prohibited from eating their own livestock. When they figured out how to hide dead livestock from the officers, they held secret feasts that would go on past their curfews. When confronted by German officers, Elizabeth Mckenna reported that they were attending the Literary Society's first meeting. She cleverly crafted this cover on the spot and ever since then, the members have been meeting up twice a month to share new books they’ve read and the impact it has had on them. Isn’t it just charming? Lately, I’ve been lacking inspiration when it comes to writing my next novel but I think I’ve found something worthwhile. I’ll let you know how it goes.

#2 I went to a bookstore nearby to do some more research about Guernsey. The only information I could locate was in my encyclopedia. Thankfully, my mailbox was flooded with letters from my Guernsey friends. I had an abundance of stories about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I learned about the kinds of books they shared, the food, and the familial bond formed between all of the members. Amelia Maugery finally responded to my proposal regarding a novel about Guernsey. As long as I don’t attempt to add any humor to the writing, I have her permission. She was concerned about the possibility of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society becoming a laughing stock. I immediately wrote her a letter to assure her that I would protect the literary society with my very being. I opened a few more letters after that. My good friend Mr. Dawsey Adams relayed stories of the German soldiers to me. Apparently, not all of them were despicable human beings. Since, for the most part, the German soldiers had more food than the islanders, many children would follow them, hoping to catch the scraps of food that fell from their plates. Some soldiers would see this, turn their heads in the other direction, and toss food to the children. Dawsey, like my other pen-pals, concluded his letter by inviting me to Guernsey. Now that I have received Isola’s blessing, I can start writing my book about Guernsey and its amazing literary society. I haven’t had time to wonder “Should I go?” I think with this many invitations, it would be a crime not to.

#3 Yesterday I had the honor of attending the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’s first meeting of the month. Dawsey presented his book A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig by Charles Lamb. I noticed that when it comes to Charles Lamb, Dawsey cannot hide his excitement; he went on and on about Lamb’s life before he even mentioned the book. Isola interrupted Dawsey's lecture to announce she had made her famous potato peel pie. Ever since I had learned of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, I fantasized about a potato peel pie's taste. As I sat in anticipation, my mouth became a dam, preventing the saliva in my mouth from escaping. When she swung open the oven door, the earthy aroma immediately filled the air. Isola and Kit distributed the pie and the feast continued. The pie wasn't fantastic. It almost made me gag. I never expected it to taste so bland with the way the islanders rhapsodize about it. If anyone ever offers you a slice of potato peel pie, I strongly recommend that you decline. The meeting went on until about 10 o’clock before we called it a night. I left the meeting feeling elated but with each passing hour, I felt more and more heartbroken; I had fallen in love with Guernsey and its people and I sincerely wish I could stay. If Sidney heard me right now, he would surely have my head. I understand he’s my publisher and my livelihood depends on him, but that doesn’t mean he has much authority, right? He’s like a big brother to me and I’m sure you know how they can be, bossy as ever.

#4 Sidney came to visit me about a week ago. I showed him everything on the island. We looked at St. Peter's port, which had been bombed by the Germans a few years ago. It was there that I told Sidney about Guernsey's predicament during the war. I took him into the town to see the little shops on Main Street. He noted how strange the shops were, as they only had a couple items for sale. After we went to the shops, I showed him around Elizabeth McKenna's cabin and we both went through her trinkets. Like me, he was amazed by almost everything. By the end of his visit, Sidney understood why I wanted to live there so much. He finally agreed to let me stay but only if I agreed to visit London once in a while. It's a shame he already left because something amazing happened today. Isola Pribby was snooping around Dawsey's house as she was cleaning it. While I don't condone that kind of behavior, it ended up working in my favor. You see, while she was "cleaning" she found pictures of me on Dawsey's nightstand. When Isola reported this information to me, I was speechless. She doesn’t know how to interpret it but I do. I feel compelled to propose to him, though it may be unorthodox. Wish me luck!

[readingraebow]

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Section Two

Part Two

1. How did Henry Toussant use whistling to unman the enemy during the Occupation? So he would go and wait outside the brothel for German officers to leave and as they'd walk home, he'd follow them in the shadows. They would start whistling and he would start whistling the same tune. Then they'd stop but he would keep going. Then they'd think that maybe they weren't hearing an echo after all but another man. So they'd look around but Henry would be hiding in a doorway, in the shadows and they wouldn't see him. So then they'd start walking again and he would start following and whistling again, his boots thumping behind them. So then they'd run off toward home, scared, and he'd go back to the brothel to wait for another officer. He said he'd believes he'd unnerved many a man this way and caused them to call in sick for their duty the next day.

2. What happened to Elizabeth? She was executed in the Ravensbrück concentration camp in March of 1945. Women in concentration camps would sometimes stop having their periods but some would still have them and the camp provided no sanitary means for those who still had their periods. They would just have to let the blood run down their legs, which would give overseers an excuse to scream. So this woman named Binta was an overseer and she began to scream at a bleeding girl and then she started beating her with a rod. Well, Elizabeth broke out of line, grabbed the rob from Binta and started beating Binta instead. That's when the guards came and threw Elizabeth into a truck and took her to the punishment bunker. The next morning, the solders took Elizabeth from her cell to a grove of popular trees outside the camp. Elizabeth knelt in the trees and they shot her in the back of the head.

3. What does Amelia propose to Remy about her future? What is her response to this? Remy doesn't have any family to go back to and when she was in the concentration camp, Elizabeth used to talk about the two of them going back to Guernsey and living in Elizabeth's cottage with Kit after they got out. And that vision helped Remy a lot. So Amelia asks Remy to come back to Guernsey with them and stay with her. But Remy ends up declining. She says that the French government has offered a stipend to all of those who were kept in concentration camps during the war. They offered extra to any who want to go back and complete their education. And they will also pay for her lodging. So she has decided she wants to stay there all allow the French government to take care of her. Amelia accepts this but Dawsey isn't so sure. They believe that helping Remy is the last thing they can do for Elizabeth and they won't truly be ~honoring her memory unless Remy comes back to Guernsey.

4. What does Sidney suggest to Juliet should be the focus of her book? Sidney says that, as it stands, Juliet's book feels like a random collection of facts, not really a story. He suggests that she needs a heart or a focus for her book. He says that it might also be closer than she thinks though. He suggests that she make Elizabeth the center of her story since every interview seems to come back around to her. He says he's sending back all of Juliet's notes, pages and letters and suggests she look through them to see how often Elizabeth is mentioned. He also points out a lot of interesting facts about Elizabeth's life and says that having a story about her mother would be good for Kit as well. Then he asks her to at least think about it. Juliet writes back and says she doesn't need time to think about it. Elizabeth would be a great focus for her book!

5. What happens between Mark and Juliet when he comes to visit? So he just appears out of nowhere, and right when Juliet thinks something is about to happen with Dawsey, and goes back to the cottage with her. She insists he goes to the hotel, which he does, but only to return at seven the next morning. Well, Juliet went about her life as usual and made Kit her breakfast. She says that Mark was all in a rage about Kit's presence. Apparently he was used to nannies whisking children away before they could annoy the parents. And when Juliet continued to take care of Kit, it just annoyed him more. So as soon as Kit went out to play, Mark said that in only two months, they'd already managed to saddle Juliet with their responsibilities. He tells her she needs to refused to take care of Kit, before Kit thinks she's going to live with Juliet forever. Juliet is so upset by this, she can barely speak (and almost throws oatmeal at him). So she tells him to get out and she never wants to see him again. She tells him that she will never marry anyone who doesn't love Kit or Guernsey or Charles Lamb. So that started a fight. And two hours later Mark was on his way to the airfield, (hopefully) never to return. So he's FINALLY gotten the message that Juliet will not marry him. And Juliet, unheartbroken, was eating raspberry pie at Amelia's and planning to spend the day at the beach with Kit, not missing Mark at all. Woot!

6. What were in the letters written by Isola’s grandmother and why is Juliet so excited to tell Sidney about them? So Isola is in possession of eight letters written to her Granny Pheen (short for Josephine). When Granny Pheen was a child, her father drowned her cat Muffin (GREAT PARENTING WOW) and Granny Pheen was sitting in the road, crying about it when she was almost hit by a carriage. The passenger in the carriage got down and talked to her and she told him what happened. Well, he said that he had a special gift and sometimes cats liked to talk to him. He said that cats have eight lives and he knows that Muffin was only on her third. So he says that he can feel her being reborn in a castle in France. This time, she's been named Solange. The man said he would call on Solange every once in a while to see how she's doing and asked Granny Pheen if he could write to her with updates. So he took down her address in a little notebook and then went on his way. And he did end up writing her eight long letters, over a year, about Solange, who was something of a feline Musketeer. Okay so Isola read these letters at a meeting of the Society and, at the end, Juliet asked if she could see them. Isola lets her and Juliet notices the signature: O.F.O'F.W.W. And Juliet wonders. Could these letters have been written by Oscar Wilde? (Full name, hilariously: Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde. Well, Sidney sends out a graphologist with some borrowed letters of Oscar Wilde to compare and he confirms that the letters to Granny Pheen were, indeed, written by Oscar Wilde!!!! I SHRIEKED!!! HOW COOL.

7. What mistake did Isola make in her book of Facts? She observed Dawsey and realized he's lonely. And she believes that he's always been lonely but hasn't been aware of it until now. So she wonders what could've made him aware. Then, she observes him with Remy and, after learning that Remy is to go back to France, thinks that he's in love with Remy and he's sad that she's leaving. So she decides to clean his house so she can look around, like Miss Marple, and discover any evidence of his love for Remy before convincing him to propose to Remy so she won't leave Guernsey. Okay so she finds his box of keepsakes and doesn't find anything pertaining to Remy in it. So she goes to see Juliet all in a flutter and ends up telling her that everything in his box of keepsakes was Juliet's! He had all of letters, tied up in a blue ribbon she thought she'd lost, photos of her and of her and Kit and even one of her handkerchiefs. So Juliet goes off to see him at the Big House and asks if he'd like to marry her since she's in love with him. And, well, he jumps on that, haha. <333

8. What did you think of this book? I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! It was so beautiful and fun and had such an amazing voice!! I absolutely loved the story it told, both about the life of Juliet and about Guernsey itself. I had never heard of Guernsey before picking up this book but now I feel so much for the people who lived there during the occupation. What a horrifying time! I learned so much from this book but I also laughed a lot. And I definitely cried a ton!! WHAT A GOOD READ THIS WAS. Ahhhh. Why did it have to end????

  Section Two Reading Journal

Okay. So I absolutely ADORED this book!! This was such an absolutely amazing read!!! I love that it was filled with so much history but also with so many amazing and lovely characters who brought that history to life and made it real! I absolutely did not want this book to end (but literally flew through it anyway, oops).

I really, really loved the letter format. It can be hard for a narrative to get everything secondhand but it seemed to actually enhance this book??? And it also made this a really quick and easy read. I flew through it because of the format and because the story is so fascinating.

I also absolutely loved the ending!! It is definitely up there with one of the most iconic romance endings ever!! I will also be watching the movie because I can’t wait to see how all of this plays out on screen but also how it’s adapted from the letters format. I’ll definitely write a comparison post whenever I watch the movie!

Oh and I read the afterword at the end and if you need me, I’ll be over here sobbing forever that Mary Ann Shaffer isn’t alive to write more wonderful books and how her niece, Annie Barrows, helped finish this book so the world could have this wonderful story. I think the story of how this book came to be is as fascinating as the book itself.

So overall, this was a FANTASTIC read!!! (Thanks, Lizzy, for picking it!!!) And I can’t wait to be on to our last read of the year!! But I’ll probably also be having a book hangover from how much I loved this one. Ugh. Why wasn’t this longer??? I wanted more!!!

[ourtreasurechest]

From Sabi to fellow readers ❤️ 20th July, 2019 . . Dear fellow readers, I'm writing this letter to pursue you all into reading this amazing book. Read further to know why. . . 1. If you aren't intrigued by the title of the book(Book club) already, this book captures the readers feeling perfectly and the characters relate around books and literatures and the people in the book recommend & gift books to each other. (Bookstagram friends!!) . . 2. This historical fiction written in epistolary format will steal your heart from the very first page. Eventhough it's told in letters, the character development is amazingly done. . . 3. The characters are the best part of the story. You get to meet some quirky, warm-hearted, kind and caring souls. -Elizabeth is like the needle point of a compass, the story revolves around her. She is brave, caring, extra caring and super caring. - Our own Juliet Ashton who is so determined and fascinating and is also fun to be around. -There are many amazing characters, nice Dawsey Adams(I wanted more of him.. He came throughout the movie but not in the book), lively and high spirited Isola, sweetie pie Kit, cute Sidney, wonderful Amelia and many more. Each of them is unique in their own way. You don't have any other options other than falling in love with them all except 2 people who you'll know why when you read the book(Read, read, read!!!) . . 4. This book will make you laugh and cry. It's the personal touch and you get to meet bits and pieces of people who survived through WW2. You will feel the pain but it's not a depressing book. You'll know how brave the people were and how compassionate they were even in their low points. . . 5. You will also find it educational like me as you get to know about pieces of history, Nazis and Channel islands. . . Warning: It'll make you want to write letters, to plan for a trip to Guernsey and also to read Charles lamb. . . Yours ever, Sabi . . . I want to thank @pbanny and @bookstersisters for the amazing recommendation. #bnbreadathon prompt 2 https://www.instagram.com/p/B0JLWMrgPNk/?igshid=139wjyg8pnuo9

[allthingsjaneausten]

Have you wondered about what happened to actress Jessica Brown Findlay (our dear Lady Sybil Crawley from Downton Abbey)? Maybe you’ve been following her career on the big screen. One of her latest endeavors is the movie above and it is on Netflix!

It all begins when a young authoress, Juliet Ashton, starts a correspondence with Dawsey Adams, a member of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – all because of a book he found with her name on it. As the correspondence goes on he shares his and the other members’ experiences of a Nazi-Occupied Guernsey. Juliet is moved by the stories and decides to visit the island and write about them.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a historical novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows that was published in 2008. The novel is set in 1946 and is an epistolary novel just like Lady Susan by our dear Jane Austen. I just cannot resist this kind of novel. It has something magical about it.

So you tag along Juliet and fall in love with each of the Islanders; Dawsey, Amelia, Isola, Eben, Kit, and Elizabeth.  The war is over but they still meet to discuss books and share their lives that are so intertwined with love and loss, it becomes all one big and beautiful story. Trouble is… they don’t want a book about them. If you want to know why you just have to watch it. I promise you won’t regret it.

The one that started it all is Elizabeth McKenna – played by the adorable Jessica Brown Findlay. Another Downton Abbey star graces this movie – Penelope Wilton – our famous (or infamous?) Mrs. Crawley. If you think Eben looks familiar you might have seen him in Dickens’s Little Dorrit (in a BBC adaptation) as the protagonist’s father. Isola, I mean, Katherine Parkinson, is the super funny (and clueless) boss lady in the hilarious “The IT Crowd”. Do you need another reason to watch? Say the name Dawsey out loud. Does it remind you of a beloved Jane Austen character? Yep. It sounds like Darcy.

Juliet Ashton is played by Lily James who is known to us – fans of period drama – for Downton Abbey as Lady Rose MacClare and also as Elizabeth Bennet in the movie Pride, Prejudice & Zombies.

There is more! Matthew Goode – always a good reason to watch a movie. He plays Juliet’s editor and mentor. Awww… so adorable as a nerd. Most Janeites should remember him from “Death Comes to Pemberley” where he played the most handsome George Wickham.

Part Two Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 9-10:30pm on PBS A suspect goes on trial for his life, while Elizabeth pursues the real truth behind a mysterious death. The future of Darcy’s sister Georgiana also hangs in the balance. Shown: Matthew Goode as Wickham (C) Robert Viglasky/Origin Pictures 2013 for MASTERPIECE This image may be used only in the direct promotion of MASTERPIECE. No other rights are granted. All rights are reserved. Editorial use only.

Do you need any more reasons to watch this beautiful movie? Convinced yet? If you have already seen this movie please leave a comment and let me know if you found more Jane Austen related trivia. Call me silly but I love to find any tidbits that form this wonderful world of Jane.

Let me know if this post was the first time you heard about this movie. If so, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Love,

Rita L. Watts

  ATJA recommends: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Have you wondered about what happened to actress Jessica Brown Findlay (our dear Lady Sybil Crawley from Downton Abbey)?