Guernsey On Netflix: Books, Potatos and Love

HEY! BE CAREFUL! IF YOU WANT TO BE PART OF THIS SOCIETY YOU MUST EXPECT MAJOR SPOILERS BOTH ON THE NOVEL AND THE NETFLIX ADAPTATION AHEAD!

If you haven't read the book, at least you could see the adaptation. See it and enjoy it, then come back to read my review... Here I leave you the trailer. Let's go! Join the Guernsey Society! 😊

Poster of the adaptation

Last weekend I was just looking for something to see on Netflix when suddenly, a title appeared in front of me: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It sounded to me very much like something I knew, so I pressed the PLAY button to discover if I was right and INDEED I was! I read the novel some years ago, and I have to say that the adaptation that Netflix did of it was a really good one. This is, for me, one of those rare cases when you may recur to the adaptation to get more from the book: the existence of the novel does not foreshadow the film, so both exist in perfect harmony – though there are some differences that I intend to explain here through different sections. Let’s travel to London, let’s explore Guernsey, and in the end you, that maybe have only seen the film on Netflix, may want to read the best-seller.

Juliet writing The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie book

Talking about differences, the main and most obvious one comes right up to you in the very moment that you open the book, as it is constructed with letters and only letters. From Dawsey to Juliet, from Juliet to Isola, from Juliet to Sidney, from Markham to Juliet… and so on – I know that you get the idea. It is clear that a film cannot be done on letters, so the directors and screenwriters had to change it into a more cinematic version. Nevertheless, letters are present in the film, but they play more of a secondary role. The plot is majorly respected, and we, booklovers and sufferers of terrible plot adaptations know how valuable is to find one film that actually respects the written art. But well, I said majorly. Yes, it is a film, and as all the films, it has a lot to show in two hours, so our beloved film-makers have to rush sometimes, to cut other times or to change some tiny aspects from the book; and The Guernsey Literary would not be an exception.

RUSHED.

In the film, Juliet goes to Guernsey after having just had a few letter exchanges with

Juliet meeting for the first time the Society and its members

Dawsey – something that compared to the real world seems pretty rushed, as  I believe that going to know people that you in fact have not even written to may be awkward. This is completely different in the book, as Juliet’s conversations through letters happen not only between Dawsey and her, but between all the rest of the members of the society. I see this as the logical development of a real relationship between people that do not know each other. This is why Juliet’s arrival to Guernsey is more pleasant than in the film – only Dawsey knows her. This change inevitably changes Juliet’s portrayal, as she just shows up in the island without any warning. As I have said before, this feels awkward and out of place; but understandable from the screenwriters’ point of view, who wanted to give more time to other moments that were poorly portrayed in the book.

SOME CUTS...

As for the tiny cuts that were made to the plot, we find missing some characters, such as

Mathew Goode is Sidney on the adaptation.

Sophie – Sidney’s sister – that was crucial in the book to give an intimate view into Juliet’s past and who was unnecessary to the adaptation, as in the film it is clear that Juliet lost her parents in the war, without the need of getting to cast another character to deal with in a very short time. Isola – Sidney’s new secretary –  is not portrayed too, but in the film her appearance does not make any sense, as Sidney is just a secondary character to Juliet’s principal role. Some characters related to the society are also missing – such as Remy and some members – but one way or another, some aspects of those characters are present on the rest of the Potato Peel Pie fellowship.

LET'S ADD!

Juliet and Dawsey

Additions in adaptations tend 
to go always wrong, but this is not one of those cases. For instance, the screenwriters decided to develop more the main romantic relationship – Juliet and Dawsey – by introducing more time for them to spend together. I believe that the fans of the book can coincide in the fact that in the book this was rushed and with no previous explanation, whereas in the film, we see how those romantic emotions flow between them from the first letter, and how they grow to be the happy married couple that they end up being. 

Kit and her 'daddy', Dawsey

Another important and accurate addition is that of the relationship stablished between Kit and Dawsey: in the book, the Guernsey Society take terms to take care of her after Elizabeth’s imprisonment, while in the film it is Dawsey the one who takes the little child in and develops this beautiful father-daughter relationship with her. This is something that should have happened in the book – as Dawsey’s features are the adequate to carry out an action like this one instead of having the child going from one home to another as a spinning top.

CHARACTERS  and CASTING

Elizabeth McKenna and Christian Hellman - a nazi.

All that must be said related to the adaptation of the characters is that it is perfect, and even more accurate than what it is done in the book. I get this feeling because it is really easy to get lost through the letter structure of the book, because there are so many characters and so many letters that in the end you do not really get to perfectly know each character – not even the protagonist, Juliet. In the film, thanks to the disappearance of some secondary characters that in the end do not affect the plot, it is possible to know each character and to clearly recognise their features without getting lost in trying to understand it. I would like to remark also the amazing portrayal of Elizabeth and Christian's impossible love story, because they do not appear so much, but the feelings that they transmit are intense and beautiful. As for the casting, I believe that the selection was ideal, as I imagined the characters exactly as they were physically and psychologically portrayed later on the film.


Thus, as I have said in the beginning, this is a very rare case: you cannot choose between the film or the book. Both transmit Guernsey’s view of the World War II, and they both share the message of how books always have the power to unite people – two ideas which I consider to be the main ones. Besides, the adaptation manages to give the reader things that were lost through the number of letters that compose the book; so, my advice is, if you are going to recommend this story, recommend both the book and the film, as they are totally compatible: they cannot live the one without the other anymore.

'Books do have the power to bring people together' - Juliet Ashton

Thanks for getting to the end of my article! Now it is your turn! Write down your thoughts on the comments below.

The Bookworm.