Charm offensive unearths island’s secrets
THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY
Starring: Lily James, Michiel Huisman, Matthew Goode, Penelope Wilton, Jessica Brown Findlay. Books, spuds and best buds BASED on the best-selling book by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shafer, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a perfectly pleasant ball of period-era fluff.
The year is 1946, and the dainty little Channel Island of Guernsey is back under British rule after German occupation during World War II. The locals are still getting over the trauma.
Meanwhile, over in London, an author of dainty little books wishes to write something of substance.
With a hit kids’ book in stores and royalties flooding in, Juliet Ashton (Lily James) is poised to become the J.K. Rowling of her day.
That is until, against the advice of her publisher (Matthew Goode), she suddenly makes tracks for Guernsey to research a story near, dear and painfully tender to a small community there.
In an act of gentle defiance against the Nazis, a tiny book group met in secret throughout wartime with no agenda other than a shared love of fine writing and good company.
Several members paid a hefty price for their allegiance to the clandestine club, and are understandably reluctant to relive what they went through.
Juliet, however, has powers of persuasion that nobody can resist after a while — especially Dawsey (Michiel Huisman from Game of Thrones), the strapping young pig farmer who penned the intriguing letter that first brought Juliet to Guernsey.
The tale is predictable, but Lily James is an appealing presence on screen, and she makes for a fine anchor as Juliet’s softly-softly investigation strikes a hard patch.
What also saves The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society from a total blanding-out is a series of fascinating flashbacks to a German occupation so close to Britain itself.