Extra Credit For The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society
Driving. During the German occupation, Germans insisted that Guernsey change its road rules to comply with the rest of Europe and drive on the right side of the road, rather than the left. Guernsey Islanders reverted to driving on the left after the war ended.
The Real Society. While the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is entirely fictional, there were real secret societies on Guernsey during the occupation. The most notable of these was GUNS , which relied on hidden radios to distribute news of the war to locals. All of the GUNS members were eventually caught and imprisoned in mainland Europe.
What About Guernsey In The Present Day
Although a fictional story, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society sheds light on the very real events in Guernsey during WWII.
Today you can visit Guernsey and take The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Tour to find out more about the genuine locations and events that inspired the film.
There are also plenty of historical landmarks for anyone interested in that period of the islands history, including the German Occupation Museum, the Military Underground Hospital and the Naval Signals HQ.
Our beautiful island is a popular destination for visitors all year round, combining historic intrigue with stunning natural beauty and wonderful food and drink.
If youd like to learn more about the real setting of the best-selling novel and the inspiration behind the film, begin planning your visit to Guernsey today!
Where Did They Film The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society
Thats right, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was not actually shot in Guernsey it was mostly filmed in Bude, a picturesque seaside town in north Cornwall, England. We were very, very keen to go there, but Guernsey has changed a great deal, explained Newell.
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The Jane Austen Society By Natalie Jenner
This is set in Chawton in the 1940s. When Jane Austens home is threatened, a group of readers whose only commonality seems to be their love of her books come together to attempt to preserve it. As they work to form The Jane Austen Society, they discover that Austens plots may hit closer to home than they thought and that they may have more in common than it appears.
Guernsey Was Cut Off From The Outside World
In 1942, the Germans called in all the wireless sets of course, there were hidden ones, listened to in secret, but if you were caught listening, you could be sent to the camps. Thats why we dont understand so many things we can read about now.
All radios were banned, and the islands were cut off from Britain and the outside world. Any news that they did get was heavily distorted by German propaganda. They had no real clue how they were faring in the war.
After D Day, supplies to the island also dried up and both locals and Germans were at risk of Starvation.
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The True Facts And Events Of The Occupation
The Germans attacked St. Peter Port on the 28th June 1940. As referred to in the film, tomato trucks were mistaken for military vehicles in a bombing raid that tragically killed 33 civilians.
There was in fact no British military presence on the island whatsoever when the Germans attacked. Despite reluctance from Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the British government had already decided that the Channel Islands served no strategic importance to Britain and would therefore not be defended.
Once the Germans realised that the island was undefended they arrived with no further force, and Guernsey offered its surrender on June 30th. What followed was an uncomfortable co-habitation of frightened islanders with their new German overseers.
The States of Guernsey handed overall control to the German authorities while the day-to-day running of the island became the responsibility of a Controlling Committee, required to enforce new German directive.
Life in Guernsey changed significantly during the Occupation. The island was immediately shifted to Central European time, and a curfew was imposed. Islanders were cut off from any information and communication with the mainland. All radios on the island were confiscated, meaning that people had very little knowledge of the welfare of their families or how the war was progressing.
Shortly after, on May 9th 1945, the war came to its close and the island was officially liberated.
Are The Locations In The Film Based On Real Places
Similarly, many locations in the film are based on real places on the Island. The Crown Hotel is based on the Ship & Crown, a long-standing public house overlooking the St Peter Port seafront. What is now a popular and iconic pub was actually the harbour office for the German authorities during the occupation.
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Book Club Questions For The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society
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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a love letter to books. The following book club questions will have spoilers so if you havent read the novel yet, read my preview and review first.
Sometimes you read a book that just makes you smile. And thats completely the case with The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Its just a lovely story about how books can serve as a bond and can bring comfort in the darkest of times. The story is about a London writer bonding with the colorful residents of Guernsey as she learns about the book club they formed during the WWII German occupation.
Major Pettigrews Last Stand By Helen Simonson
After his brothers death, Major Pettigrew strikes up a friendship with Jasmina Ali. Bonding over the loss of their spouses and a shared love of literature, the Major and Jasmina soon fall in love. However, will their tiny village accept a relationship between somebody they consider the quintessential English gentleman and a Pakistani shopkeeper?
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Guernsey Was Not At All Defended By Britain
Would you like to know about my first sight of the Germans? I will use adjectives to make it more lively. I dont usually I prefer stark facts.Guernsey seemed quiet that Tuesday but we knew they were there! Planes and ships carrying soldiers had come in the day before. Huge Junkers thumped down, and after unloading all their men, they flew off again. Being lighter now, and more frolicsome, they hedge-hopped, swooping up and swooping down all over Guernsey, scaring the cows in the fields.
The Channel Islands were occupied by the Germans from the 30 June 1940 until the end of World War II. Winston Churchill decided that the islands were of little strategic importance so the islands were left undefended when the Germans came.
No official announcement had been made informing the Germans that the Channel Islands were in fact demilitarised, so they began their invasion. The planes mistook tomato trucks lined up at the harbour for military vehicles and thirty-three civilians lost their lives in the raid.
Almost Half Of Guernseys Population Was Evacuated
Of all the sights I saw the day they left, there is one picture I cant get out of my mind. Two little girls, all dressed up i pink dresses, stiff petticoats, shiny shoes as if they were off to a party. How cold they must have been crossing the Channel.
There was a lot of confusion as to whether the Channel Islands would be evacuated so it was a panicked affair. On 19 June 1940, parents were told to register their children to be evacuated and some were sent away the very next morning.
In the end, four-fifths of the children and almost half of Guernseys population were evacuated before the occupation. In actual fact, evacuation boats were still leaving the island when the German Air Force began their invasion!
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Book Review: The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society By Mary Ann Shaffer And Annie Barrows
Title:The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Genre: Literary Fiction, Historical, Second World War
Publisher: Dial Press / BloomsburyPublication Date: First published in 2008Hardcover/Paperback: 274 pages
As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friendsand what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Societyborn as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their islandboasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.
Stand alone or series: Stand alone novel
How did I get this book: Borrowed from a friend
Why did I read this book: A friend of mine, knowing I love epistolary novels and stories in a Second World War setting, put this book in my hands after she read it and loved it. It was sitting on my nightstand when Elizabeth Wein, author of the fabulous Code Name Verity mentioned it as one of her influences and that was what made me finally read it.
Review:
As I was thinking about how to review the book, I thought about this recent video by Ron Charlesin which he makes fun of stereotypical, formulaic words and phrases reviewers use in their reviews. But do you knowsometimes, these things ARE true and they WORK. So here it goes:
Notable Quotes/Parts:
Rating: 9 Damn Near Perfect
Buy the Book:
The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society Novel Beat Sheet
Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie BarrowsPublisher: Random House, Inc., 2008 my edition: 2009 Dial Press Trade Paperback Total pages: 274
STC! Genre: Buddy Love
Make no mistake, while this #1 New York Times bestselling novel was certainly branded as upmarket historical fiction, at its essence this is a book for booklovers. Told in epistolary form, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and her niece Annie Barrows is a collective love letter to the transformative power of books and to the avid readers who fall under their spell.
From the back cover: January 1946: Writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation, and a society as extraordinary as its name.
A friend gave me a paperback copy of this novel the year after its release, and for longer than Im willing to admit, I put off reading it. It had been getting so much buzz. Too much, in my opinion. Yet another heavily WWII-ish book, I thought. Havent they published enough of those? Even if the premise sounded intriguing, I figured it would probably be more depressing than uplifting.
If youre a booklover and havent yet read this story, please consider giving it a try. And for all who enjoy Blake Snyders beat sheet breakdowns, here are the beats as I see them for this masterfully written novel:
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The Storied Life Of Aj Fikry By Gabrielle Zevin
A.J. Fikry is what some would call a curmudgeon. In the aftermath of his wifes death, A.J. pushed everyone away. Now, his bookstore is struggling and he has lost his prized collection of poems. But when a mysterious package arrives at the store, A.J. might just discover that happiness can be found again.
Charing Cross Road By Helene Hanff
I read this book recently, and I was stunned by how much it felt like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The writing styles are so similar that I wouldnt have been surprised to hear that they were all written by one person.
Unlike TGLAPPS, however, this isnt a novel: its the collection of real letters between an American writer and an English bookseller.
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Prisoners Of War Were Used To Build This
Most of these slave workers came to the Islands in 1942. They were kept in open sheds, dug-out tunnels, some of them in houses. They were marched all over the island to their work sites: thin to the bone, dressed in ragged trousers with bare skin showing through, often no coats to protect them from the cold. No shoes or boots, their feet tied up in bloody rags. Young lads, fifteen and sixteen, were so weary and starved they could hardly put one foot in front of another. Guernsey Islanders would stand by their gates to offer them what little food or warm clothing they could spare.
Thousands of manual labourers were brought over from Europe to help build this fortress. Whilst skilled labourers were provided with a small wage, a large number were prisoners of war and treated like slaves without food or decent shelter. They were forced to work long hours on fortifying Guernsey, which, ultimately, was a fruitless exercise.
The Downstairs Girl By Stacey Lee
This historical YA is centered around Jo Kuan, a 17-year-old girl who moonlights as an advice columnist when shes not working as a ladys maid. Jo doesnt hold back from pointing out societys ills in her columns, leading to a clamor from many, many outraged bigots who want to uncover her identity.
Add in a mysterious letter, a cruel employer, and a notorious criminal, and youve got more complications than anyone should have to handle.
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Other Books Related To The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society
Wuthering HeightsThe Book ThiefLooking for AlaskaDraculaThe Screwtape LettersThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
- Full Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
- When Written: 2000-2008
- Genre: Historical Fiction Epistolary Novel
- Setting: London and Guernsey, 1946
- Climax: Kit shares her box of treasures with Juliet
- Antagonist: World War Two and the Nazis hunger Gilly Gilbert and Billee Bee Jones Miss Adelaide Addison
- Point of View: First person limited, told in a series of letters between various characters
Dear Mrs Bird By Aj Pearce
Emmy wants to be a war journalist, so she jumps at the chance to work at one of the most important newspapers in the country. Exceptshell actually be working above the newspaper, for a womans magazine whose editor and advice columnist has no patience or sympathy for what she deems Unpleasantness.
Upset by her bosss refusal to answer letters from anyone with actual problems, Emmy secretly replies to one. And then another. And one more. Soon, shes in too deep to stop. Will her actions jeopardize her job?
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