Book Versus Movie: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

** WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS! **

I recently mentioned on the blog that The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows is one of my favorite love stories. City girl Juliet meets country boy Dawsey set to gorgeous scenery and fascinating post-World War II history? Not to mention the charming members of the Society itself, including a hopelessly romantic potion-seller and a Shakespeare-loving fisherman. I was sold from the get go.

Despite my affection for this novel, I hadn’t made it around to watching Netflix’s 2018 adaptation until this Valentine’s Day. I enjoyed the movie for the most part, but my fiancé and the friend with whom we were watching were both subjected to my periodic yelling at the television at various points in the film I found disappointing.

A Visually Beautiful Film with Excellent Casting

Visually, the movie was exactly what I imagined while reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society but even better. While not filmed on the island of Guernsey, the filmmakers were able to capture a similar coastal magic by filming in North Devon, England. Everything from the rocky beaches to the narrow streets to Juliet’s impeccable costuming was exactly how I imagined it’d be. (As a side note, if you’re at all interested in fashion history, this movie is absolutely worth watching just for the costumes.)

The film was near perfectly cast, as well. As a die-hard Downton Abbey (and Sybil) fan, I loved seeing Jessica Brown Findlay as the tenacious Elizabeth McKenna. Michiel Huisman is a perfectly shy yet strapping Dawsey. The actor playing Markham Reynolds -- Glen Powell -- looks so much like Chris Evans of the Captain America movies it was almost distracting, but I’m not going to complain! Poised yet passionate, Lily Collins was an excellent Juliet, though she was a meeker than the Juliet I personally felt was portrayed in the book. (That said, I think my impression is mostly due to some poor adaptive choices I’ll discuss below). 

Transferring the Epistolary Form to the Screen

I was concerned about how the captivating series of letters that comprise The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society would transfer to the screen, and unfortunately I was right to be worried. The book is written in the epistolary form, which brings the characters’ thoughtful ruminations and nuanced feelings to take center stage throughout the novel. While I think the actors did what they could to give viewers a similar insight into what was going on in their characters’ heads, I wish that there was more of a nod to the novel’s structure, perhaps via some on screen letter-writing or even voiceover to give viewers more of the epistolary feel.

Some Poor Choices in the Adaptation

I know filmmakers have to change some things when they adapt text to screen, but I was extremely disappointed by some of the adaptive choices the Guernsey team made.

The fact that Juliet said yes to Mark’s proposal so early in the film and returns with him to London instead of breaking it off with him in Guernsey was baffling to me. While reading the novel, I loved watching Juliet transform into a self-assured young woman ready to make her own choices. The pre-Guernsey Juliet was a dissatisfied writer, strung along by what others wanted her to do. Getting rid of Mark on Guernsey and, quite frankly, having no patience for his showing up there in the first place, served as the ultimate illustration of the new Juliet in the novel. Her return to London felt weak and out of line with her narrative arc. Generally, I wish more of Juliet’s resistance to Mark was present earlier in the film as it was in the text, but that may have been due to the difficulty of transferring the epistolary form to the screen.

I also spent half the film thinking, “where’s Remy?!” Remy is completely omitted from the film. This choice I can get on board with more than the filmmakers’ decision to change Juliet’s response to Mark. It takes time to introduce and develop a new character well. That said, Remy’s relationship with Dawsey in the novel complicates Juliet. Juliet knows she shouldn’t feel negatively towards a woman who has experienced so much pain, yet she’s jealous of the connection she and Dawsey seem to share. In my view, protagonists shouldn’t be too perfect. Juliet’s frustration towards Remy in the novel brings depth to her otherwise idyllic personality.

The filmmakers also downplayed the relationship between Juliet and Kit, the daughter Elizabeth left in the Society’s care upon her departure to the continent. In the novel, a tender bond between Juliet and Kit develops. In the film, Kit seemed like a mere accessory that further endeared Juliet to Dawsey; the connection between Juliet and Kit was nowhere near as strong.

That said, I think one significant plot change from the book to the film was quite effective. Amelia’s resistance to Juliet writing about the Society was fascinating, and completely different from the Society’s members’ enthusiasm in the novel about Juliet featuring them. I don’t want to speak too much to the “why” behind Amelia’s concern here, in case someone has ignored my spoiler warning above, but in the post-war moment, it seems more realistic that an outsider writing about an occupied territory’s experience would be met with some trepidation.

Standing alone, the film is beautiful. If I had watched it without reading the book, I think I would have enjoyed it more than I did, as is often the case with literary adaptations. It’s a feel-good romance with a captivating historical background -- a good movie, but not a great adaptation.

Rating: ★★★