It is just after World War II, and England is recovering from the hostilities and the German bombing raids. Juliet Ashton is a writer who wrote humorous anecdotes during the war for the paper to keep up people’ spirits. These stories were so well received that they were made into a book and Juliet is on a book tour to promote Irma Bickerstaff Goes to War. This process tires Juliet, whose life has revolved around war. She lost her home to bombing and is living in temporary housing; now, Juliet longs to write serious pieces instead of fluff.
This opportunity comes with an offer to write a piece for the London Times. Juliet is uncertain what to write about for the feature. After receiving a letter from Dawsey Adams from Guernsey Island in the English Channel, she wants to write her article about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and how books and their friendships helped them to deal with the German occupation of their island. The German Army took over the island for five years and the people had to live under their strict rule.
Juliet converses with the literary society through letters. Each member tells of their experiences and how they were changed by the society. The society was formed by accident. The founding members had come together for a secret pig roast. Due to the occupation, there was not much food on the island. They were cut off from the supplies from England and Allied forces had cut off the German’s supplies from Europe. Amelia Maugery had secreted away a pig and invited some of her neighbors for a pig roast. She could only invite people she could trust because they could be arrested if their meal was discovered. Her guest list included Dawsey Adams, Eben Ramsey, John Booker, Isola Pribby, Will Thisbee and Elizabeth McKenna. There was a curfew on the island and several of the dinner guests were caught out after curfew by German soldiers. Elizabeth McKenna came up with the idea of the literary society as a way to explain their truancy and their society was born. These people had been neighbors and acquaintances, but the occupation made them friends. Each of the member’s personalities is shown through the books that they read.
Dawsey Adams is a pig farmer with a preference for Charles Lamb. He was a quiet man who spoke little due to a heavy stutter. The society and his introduction to Charles Lamb draws him out of his shell, and the other members see him as a person with great powers of persuasion. Amelia Maugery is the hostess of the pig roast. She does not know of her guests plight with the Germans until Elizabeth McKenna informs her and they go and buy as many books from the bookstore as they can to look like they are part of a literary society. Amelia chooses Pickwick Papers, which she finds amusing and it helps lighten her heart during the occupation. Eben Ramsey is against having to read, but the fear of punishment from the Germans spurs him to choose Selections from William Shakespeare. He finds the language difficult to understand, but forms an appreciation for the writer. John Booker uses reading to keep him from drinking. His drunken singing is the reason the group was caught out after curfew by the German soldiers. He chooses The Letters of Senecca: Translated from Latin. The Roman speaks to John Booker and he will not read another book, but stays loyal to Senecca. Isola Pribby chooses Wuthering Heights. Isola mixes potions with the herbs that she grows and some on the island consider her a witch. She is a spirited woman and enjoys the otherworldly features of the book. She comes to prefer the heroes of books to real men. Will Thisbee is responsible for the Potato Peel Pie part of the society’s name. He refuses to go to any meeting that does not have food. Since there is not much food available, Will concocts a potato peel pie. It consists of mashed potatoes for filling, strained beets for sweetness and potato peelings for crust.
Through the letters of the Guernsey society members, Juliet gets to know the people and the hardships that they faced during the German occupation. Elizabeth McKenna, one of the founding members of the group, fell in love with a German soldier and became pregnant. Before the birth of the child, the soldier is re-stationed and his boat is bombed by Allied forces. Elizabeth is later found guilty of harboring one of the escaped slaves that the German’s used to build their fortifications on the island and is sent to Europe to a labor camp. The Society members take care of her daughter, Kit while awaiting her return. Juliet is heartbroken by this news for she wants to hear from the woman who came up with the idea of the society.
Juliet’s publisher and friend, Sidney Stark, encourages her in her idea to write a book on Guernsey and the German occupation. Part of his encouragement has to do with getting Juliet out of London and away from Markham Reynolds, Jr. who Juliet has been seeing. Sidney does not approve of the man and thinks that he only wants to marry Juliet to show her off to his friends and acquaintances. He is worried as her friend and editor. He believes that Reynolds will discourage her writing. Juliet ignores Reynolds protests of her leaving and does not answer his proposal of marriage, but prefers to ponder on it, while she is in Guernsey.
Juliet quickly becomes absorbed into the group and even takes her turn caring for Kit. News comes from France that Elizabeth McKenna has died in the labor camp. Her friend from the camp, Remy Giraud, sends a letter telling the society of her death. Elizabeth died protecting another woman from being beaten by the guards. She died as she lived helping the less fortunate. Juliet grieves for Elizabeth. She is renting Elizabeth’s cottage and feels Elizabeth is a kindred spirit and wishes that she had known her. The society sees it as their duty to Elizabeth to take care of Remy. She is recovering from her time in the labor camp and they want her to come to Guernsey as her and Elizabeth had planned when they dreamed of being free. Amelia and Dawsey travel to France to see her and make their proposal. Remy, at first, declines. The French government is offering her compensation, education and a place to stay in Paris. Dawsey will not give in and eventually Remy comes to Guernsey. She is haunted by what she experienced during the war and the society members dote on her.
Sidney comes to Guernsey to check on the progress of Juliet’s book. He can see that she has taken to Guernsey and that the people love her. The society believes that Sidney and Juliet are in love. Isola always the one to speak her mind asks him if he plans to marry Juliet. He informs her that he and Juliet are just friends. He is gay. Isola keeps this to herself feeling that it is not her place to tell the other members. She only smiles knowingly when they talk of Sidney and Juliet in romantic terms.
Dawsey becomes distant with Juliet and she feels it is because he is in love with Remy. This disappoints her and does not know why. Sidney informs her it is because she is in love with Dawsey. He sees how she is around him and it is obvious how she feels. Juliet is taken aback by this revelation, but admits that it is true. Juliet breaks off her relationship with Mark when he comes for a surprise visit. He does not care for Kit being around and treats Juliet as if she is stupid for allowing the islanders to dump the care of this orphaned child on her. Juliet yells at him to get out and to leave Guernsey. She loves Kit and wants to officially adopt her. She is worried about what the society will think of her proposal and if Mr. Dilwyn, the trustee of Kit’s estate, will find her a suitable guardian.
Sidney convinces Juliet that she needs to have Elizabeth McKenna as the center of her book on Guernsey. Elizabeth is the person that brought everyone together and when Juliet talks to the inhabitants, they always end up talking about Elizabeth. She was a spirited woman who fought for her beliefs and would help anyone no matter their nationality or circumstances. She saw the German’s as individuals. Some were nice to the inhabitants, while others made life unbearable. For her, a person’s actions made them good or bad. Juliet knows that her book must center around this extraordinary woman.
Juliet is distraught about her friendship with Dawsey. They used to talk so easily to one another and now he seems to avoid her or when they do meet is it awkward. She is sure that this is due to Remy. She is jealous of the young French girl. Juliet knows that the big announcement to be proclaimed at Eben’s beach party will be that Dawsey and Remy are getting married. At the beach party, it is announced that Remy is going to return to France to apprentice with the best pastry chef in Paris. Once she finishes her apprenticeship, she will return to Guernsey and live with Eben and his son, Eli. Juliet nearly passes out with relief.
Isola gets it in her head that Dawsey loves Remy, but is too scared to admit it to her. She devises a plot to find any mementos that he secretly keeps of Remy’s. She arranges to clean his house, while he is away at work. She searches for anything of Remy’s that she can find, but finds nothing. She finds pictures of Kit and Juliet and photos of just Juliet. She also finds all the letters that Juliet wrote to him when she first started her correspondence with the society. In a secret box under his bed, she finds one of Juliet’s handkerchiefs.
Isola feels defeated. She wants to help Dawsey be happy, but by not finding any proof of his love to give to Remy, she has failed. She will not be able to tell the girl how he feels. Isola goes to see Juliet to lift her spirits. She confesses to Juliet that she believes that Dawsey loves Remy and tells her what she found in his house. Juliet is overcome with emotion. She runs to find Dawsey and proposes to him.
Juliet knows that the objects in Dawsey’s house proves that he loves her and that he is too scared to admit it. She kept quiet about her feelings because she thought Dawsey was in love with Remy as Isola did. Finding out that he has keepsakes of hers makes her act on her impulse to propose. Dawsey readily accepts.
