“A
young writer living in war-torn
London in 1946 is intrigued to discover
that, during the wartime German
occupation of the Channel Islands when
unauthorised meetings were forbidden,
a group of friends caught by occupying
soldiers invented a book club named
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel
Pie Society...” SHORTLY AFTER WORLD WAR II in 1946, with London peppered with bombed-out
buildings, young writer Juliet Ashton (Lily James) becomes engaged to wealthy
American Mark Reynolds (Glen Powell: Everybody Wants Some; Hidden Figures).
Juliet is a successful writer who is great friends with her supportive agent,
Sidney Stark (Matthew Goode: The Imitation Game; Downton Abbey) and her
happiness seems complete as she looks forward to her forthcoming marriage.
“The
Guernsey
Literary & Potato Peel Pie
Society
is
Utterly fabulous! Delightful
and poignant...”
She
is intrigued to receive a letter from a man in the Channel Islands called Dawsey
Adams (Michiel Huisman), who belongs to the oddly-named The Guernsey Literary
& Potato Peel Society, who wants her to help him find a copy of Tales of
Shakespeare by Charles Lamb. He found her name and address in a book she
once owned.
Sensing a story behind the book club's name, she heads off to Guernsey alone
to meet the members of the book club. It is a decision that will change her
life in ways she had never thought possible.
She meets the enigmatic Dawsey and his enchanting adopted daughter Kit (Florence
Keen); but Elizabeth McKenna (Jessica Brown Findlay: Victor Frankenstein;
Downton Abbey), Kit's mother and the founder of the book club, is mysteriously
"off-island" as nobody wants to talk of her tragedy.
It was Elizabeth who, faced with a spur-of-the-moment decision during the occupation
when German soldiers discovered an apparently forbidden meeting taking place,
came up with the idea of inventing a book club and was the inspiration for The
Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society.
Juliet discovers the secrets surrounding Elizabeth when she is befriended by
the eccentric Isola Pribby (Katherine Parkinson: The IT Crowd; The Boat That
Rocked).
The Channel Islands had such a hard time during the war with the Germans requisitioning
food and livestock and dealing out unjust punishments that it became impossible
for the starving and oppressed islanders to forgive anyone they saw as collaborators.
There was also a lingering suspicion of mainland Britain, whom they felt had
forgotten them. The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society covers these
subjects sensitively and this utterly fabulous period romance is delightful
and poignant.
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society also features: Tom Courtenay
(45 Years; Dr Zhivago) as Eben Ramsey; Penelope Wilton (The BFG; The Best
Exotic Marigold Hotel) as Amelia Maugery; Marek Oravec as German Officer;
Jack Morris as German Soldier; Matthew Goode as Sidney Stark; Stephanie Schonfield
as Audience Member; Clive Merison as Mr Gilbert; Bernice Stegers as Mrs Burns;
Madeleine Domries as Elegant Wife; Alexa Povah as Sidney's Secretary; Kit Connor
as Eli Ramsey; Bronagh Gallagher as Charlotte Stimple; Florence Keen as Kit;
Gregory Mann as Young Eli; Tom Owens as Frank The Dairy Farmer; Nathaniel Chilton
as Slave Worker Boy; and Amii Freeman as Jane Maugery.
Music is by Alexandra Harwood; Cinematography by Zac Nicholson; Costumes Designed
by Charlotte Walter; Screenplay by Don Roos, Kevin Hood and Thomas Bezucha;
Based on the Novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows; Producers are: Graham
Broadbent, Peter Czernin, Mitchell Kaplan and Paula Mazur; Directed by Mike
Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire).
Based on the best-selling novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, STUDIOCANAL
is pleased to announce the beautifully moving The Guernsey Literary & Potato
Peel Pie Society will be available on Digital Download from 20 August, 2018,
and on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK from 27 August 2018. Certificate: 12 | Running
Time: 123 Minutes Approximately | Extras — The History Behind The Film:
The Occupation of Guernsey Story | Book to Screen | Cast & Crew Interviews with
Lily James, Michiel Huisman, Glen Powell, Jessica Brown Findlay, director Mike
Newell and writer Annie Barrows.
"Utterly fabulous! Delightful and poignant" ****
— Maggie Woods, MotorBar
"Gorgeous… An irresistible romantic mystery" ****
— The Telegraph
"Witty… Classy and relentlessly charming" ****
— Sunday Express
“A
young writer living in war-torn