Why a Booktrail?
1946: To give them hope she must tell their story
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
What you need to know before your trail
It’s 1946. The war is over, and Juliet Ashton has writer’s block. But when she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams of Guernsey – a total stranger living halfway across the Channel, who has come across her name written in a second hand book – she enters into a correspondence with him, and in time with all the members of the extraordinary Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
Through their letters, the society tell Juliet about life on the island, their love of books – and the long shadow cast by their time living under German occupation. Drawn into their irresistible world, Juliet sets sail for the island, changing her life forever.
Locations
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Guernsey
In June 1940, as the Third Reich advanced through France, the people of Guernsey were afraid that their island would be targeted. The British Government had decided that the islands of Jersey, Guernsey and the other channel islands didn’t have a strategic importance so they would not be defended.
Understandably, that created even more panic on the island and people didn’t know whether to remain or flee. The authorities on each island seemed to have their own opinion on the matter.
In the end however, four fifths of the children and just under half of Guernsey’s population managed to evacuate and head to England.
The Germans launched an attack on St Peter Port on the 28th June 1940. When they realised the island was undefended, the Germans accepted Guernsey’s surrender. The Islanders offered no resistance but also no collaboration.
Hitler soon issued orders to convert the Channel Islands into an impregnable fortress. By 1944 Guernsey’s coastline was covered in concrete fortifications ( many of which can still be seen today)
War changed many things – such as a shift to Central European time.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Destination : Guernsey Author/Guide: Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer Departure Time: 1940s
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