In the aftermath of World War II a writer Juliet Ashton forms an unexpected bond with some residents from Guernsey Island whose story of a fake book club saved their lives during the German take over of the island.

Juliet Ashton is struggling to come to terms with the losses of World War II and when she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams everything is about to change as she feels she must go and meet the people who formed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society because she finds it inspiring that in the worst of times books helped a group of people and brought them closer together, as they had to live as prisoners with the Nazi’s taking over the island during the war.

Juliet pretty much cancels everything she had planned work wise and with Sidney Stark her manager to pursue the Guernsey story, leaving very quickly after a few letters and talking about books. It was a book that brought them all together after all as her address was inside a book they had. As she first meets them it isn’t as fantastic as she first thought it would be and they seem to be hiding something. Which is very true, I thought that was good spin really as I wasn’t expecting it to have some hidden story in all honesty. The build up to find out everything was pretty slow but I felt that it was needed to aid the character development and set everything up.

Very nice to see how a trip can really help you focus and change everything about your life. Juliet is very much at a crossroads and unsure how to move forward and cope with the loss, agreeing to marry American Mark before leaving on the trip but it is clear that she is very unsure about that due to not wanting to wear the ring. I did enjoy the film from start to finish and thought it was another nice addition to the World War II stories we already have. Something which I always enjoy and this was no different, I am truly fascinated about that time and always have been.

Lily James was brilliant in the leading role and I thought her character development was very good, with the odd flashback to the bombing in London and having to cope with her current life. The rest of the cast were very good in support and I have to admit that I really have enjoyed Wilton in recent years and the older bitter woman she has ended up playing in different films, but she is very good at it!

I am sure many will find this as too much of a slow burner in all honesty but I certainly enjoyed it and if you want a nice British film with good acting and a decent story this would certainly be one for you. I do find it rather sad though that they didn’t actually film any of it in Guernsey!