The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

This book was loved by some, a slow warm up for others and a not so hot for others. And that ladies is why we love book club. Fun, fun, fun!

Definitely we all learned a lot and some of that information is below. Personally I am ready for a trip to Guernsey Island but.....it might be kind of cold for a desert rat.

And where are the pictures from this month's gathering? Egad - holy cow - no pictures.  Oh well.

Informative Summary below:

January 1946

"London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. A native of the island of Guernsey came across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb. There by begins a correspondence with a man she has never met. This man and his friends on is a wonderfully eccentric world!  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society -- born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with a cast of memorable characters. She sets sail for the island and finds her life changed forever."

 

World War II

The islands were the only part of the British Commonwealth to be occupied by the German Army during World War II.

 Before German troops landed, between 30 June and 4 July 1940, evacuation took place (many young men had already left to join the Allied armed forces): 6,600 out of 50,000 left Jersey whilst 17,000 out of 42,000 left Guernsey.^[8] Thousands of children were evacuated with their schools to England and Scotland, and a number of Guernsey headteachers re-established their schools in Britain for the duration of the war. One such school was assisted financially by the 'Foster Parent Plan for Children Affected by War  where each child was sponsored by a wealthy American; one girl, Paulette, was sponsored by Eleanor Roosevelt herself.

Victor Hugo classic strikes goldCurrentlyLes Miserables is leading the way for the British film industry with eight Oscar nominations. The film is based on the book written by French writer Victor Hugo and published while he was living in Guernsey in the mid 19th Century.

The film, which opened recently, is the latest screen adaptation of the classic, which was published in 1862.

Victor Hugo was one of the most celebrated and best known literary figures of his day. He spent 15 years in exile in Guernsey from 1855 and the island provided the inspiration for many of his fine works, including Les Miserables and Toilers of the Sea. He also wrote The Hunchback of Nore-Dame.

He wrote while standing up in his purpose built 'Crystal Room' lookout tower, staring across the sea to his beloved homeland, France from which he was exciled. He was instantly captivated by the island and, during the 15 years he made Guernsey his home, he wrote some of his most famous works.

He described the Channel Islands as "fragments of France which fell into the sea and were gathered up by England".  It is this fusion of French and British culture that makes up the Guernsey heritage, scenery and spirit of the Island.

(The impressionist painter Renior visited Guernsey in  1883 and painted 15 canvases of the island terrain.) 

The German occupation of 1940–45 was harsh: over 2,000 Islanders were deported by the Germans,^[7] Jews sent to concentration camps; partisan resistance and retribution; accusations of collaboration; and slave labour (Many Spaniards initially from the Spanish civil war then Russians and eastern Europeans) brought to the islands to build fortifications,^[12] with 65,718 landmines laid in Jersey alone.^[13]According to the Ministry of Defence, a very high proportion of women "from all classes and families" had sexual relations with the enemy, and 800-900 children were born to German fathers.^[14]

The end of the occupation came after VE-Day on 8 May 1945, Jersey and Guernsey being liberated on 9 May. The German garrison in Alderney did not surrender until 16 May, and it was one of the last of the Nazi German remnants to surrender.^[15] The first evacuees returned on the first sailing from Great Britain on 23 June,^[7] but the people of Alderney were unable to start returning until December 1945. Many of the evacuees who returned home had difficulty reconnecting with their families after five years of separation.^[8]

Present  Day

Tourism and the floral industry are a huge part  the channel islands.