WELP that was an absurdly long subject line, and I must say that I side with Juliet’s editor, played by the delightful Matthew Goode:
TRUER WORDS, Matthew Goode! Listeners should know that I asked Whiskey Jenny if she felt we could wrap up our thoughts on the Netflix movie of The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society in a cool 30 minutes of recording, and she said, “I don’t think that’s realistic.” We are not masters of terseness.
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Credits
Producer: Captain Hammer
Photo credit: The Illustrious Annalee
Theme song by: Jessie Barbour
Transcripts by: Sharon of Library Hungry
Transcript is available below the jump!
THEME SONG: You don’t judge a book by its cover. Page one’s not a much better view. And shortly you’re gonna discover the middle won’t mollify you. So whether whiskey’s your go-to or you’re like my gin-drinking friend, no matter what you are imbibing, you’ll be better off in the end reading the end.
GIN JENNY: Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Reading the End Bookcast with the demographically similar Jennys. I’m Gin Jenny.
WHISKEY JENNY: And I’m Whiskey Jenny.
GIN JENNY: And we are back to talk to you about books and literary happenings. Today we’re going to be talking about the new Netflix adaptation of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which you can watch on US Netflix. And I badgered Whiskey Jenny into watching it with me for this bonus episode, because I enjoyed it.
WHISKEY JENNY: Badgered? Please. I was so excited to see it. Badgered? I don’t appreciate that.
[LAUGHTER]GIN JENNY: Yeah, minimal badgering was required. [LAUGHTER] I’m sorry. You’re right. That was unkind and untrue.
WHISKEY JENNY: My name is being impugned.
GIN JENNY: I asked Whiskey Jenny and she said yes!
WHISKEY JENNY: There we go. Well, what did you think of it?
GIN JENNY: I loved it. What did you make of it?
WHISKEY JENNY: I also loved it. I loved the book. I think I still love the book more, but I had such a great time watching the movie.
GIN JENNY: Oh gosh, me too. Yeah, it was really fun, right?
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah, it was.
GIN JENNY: So the premise of this movie, and of the book it’s based on, is that there’s this writer, Juliet, who’s been writing humorous columns throughout World War II in London, and she’s now looking for her next project. And she gets a letter from a farmer on the island of Guernsey who has a copy of a book that used to belong to her, and he’s kind of writing to ask her about the book. So she starts corresponding with him and with other people on the island and becomes very caught up in their lives and how they lived while Guernsey was occupied by the Germans during the war. And it’s just—gosh, it’s just so dear.
My biggest reservation when I first watched it was about the actress who plays Juliet, which is Lily—
WHISKEY JENNY: James.
GIN JENNY: James. Whiskey Jenny, what did you think of her as the lead in this?
WHISKEY JENNY: I thought she was very charming. I thought she wasn’t—I thought that the type of charm that she has wasn’t quite enough to carry the pushy journalist aspects of the Juliet character. But overall I thought she did a great job. And you know, you’re rooting for her, and she’s very plucky. And she just needed more of a balance of, turn that charisma up a little bit more and turn down the nosy questions.
GIN JENNY: Sure. Yeah, I mean, I thought she was very charming. I just didn’t think that the kind of charm she possesses was exactly the kind of charm that Juliet in the book possesses, which I guess was my issue.
WHISKEY JENNY: Right.
GIN JENNY: She’s a little gaspy, and Juliet in the book was very downright and firm.
WHISKEY JENNY: Gaspy. Hm. That’s true. And she has to do a lot of waffling in her love life.
GIN JENNY: She does! Yes, she does, that’s true.
WHISKEY JENNY: So that’s a lot to forgive, as well. But I think overall I was happy to watch her.
GIN JENNY: Yeah. My favorite thing about this movie—so the thing that I would like to start with—is Matthew Goode is so terrific as Juliet’s editor and friend, Sidney Stark.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah, he’s so sweet in it.
GIN JENNY: Isn’t he so sweet? I love the relationship. All their scenes together, they have terrific chemistry. All their scenes together are perfect. I wanted the whole movie to just be them going around London exchanging snarky comments.
WHISKEY JENNY: That’d be a great movie. I also really love Matthew Goode in this. He was so sweet in the role.
GIN JENNY: He was!
WHISKEY JENNY: He’s such a lovely beleaguered editor who’s gently trying to get her to do her book tour, but isn’t trying super hard, because he knows she’s just going to do whatever she wants anyway.
GIN JENNY: Yes, and I also love that it’s clear that he really has her best interests at heart, and that’s the most important.
WHISKEY JENNY: He does.
GIN JENNY: Which is so sweet.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah. And you can tell the character really likes Juliet and enjoys spending time with her, and teases her about losing money for him and not doing what he says. But he’s not mad about it.
GIN JENNY: Yeah. There’s a part early on where—they’re looking at apartments, and she’s kind of flashing back to the war and losing her apartment. And in the present day, Sidney says, do you see the crystal, Juliet? Looking at a part of the apartment they’re currently in. It’s so obvious that he knows what’s going through her mind and is trying to pull her back to what’s going on now. And it was just like—oh, it was really lovely. I really want a sequel about them doing a book tour together.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah. He’s so kind.
GIN JENNY: He’s so kind!
WHISKEY JENNY: He’s really lovely.
GIN JENNY: And funny, and great. And he doesn’t like her stupid American boyfriend.
WHISKEY JENNY: No. No one does. Mark.
[LAUGHTER]GIN JENNY: Yeah, let’s talk about Mark. So Juliet at the beginning is dating this rich, flashy American called Mark.
WHISKEY JENNY: My notes say, “who is this non-Dawsey dude? Go away.” [LAUGHTER] Dawsey being, obviously, the main love interest, who I ride or die for.
GIN JENNY: Oh God, me too. And mark has also played by Glen Powell, who was in the Netflix rom com Set It Up. And I just am not sure we need to go all in on Glen Powell.
WHISKEY JENNY: Oh! [LAUGHTER] Way harsh.
GIN JENNY: No, I mean, that’s not that harsh. I don’t mean we should send him out to be made into horse meat. I just—
[LAUGHTER]WHISKEY JENNY: I should hope not! [LAUGHTER] Those are the only two options. Either the PR machine goes full tilt on you—
GIN JENNY: Or death.
WHISKEY JENNY: Or you get ground up.
[LAUGHTER]GIN JENNY: He’s just like the statistical average of all white rom com guy best friends. And that’s what Glen Powell is. Which is fine. It’s just not super interesting to me.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah. But I think he’s good for this role, though, because you’re supposed to be like, who is this bland, privileged white dude?
GIN JENNY: He is, yeah.
WHISKEY JENNY: Which he was great at.
[LAUGHTER]GIN JENNY: He is. And he has a good exit, which we’ll get to when the time comes.
WHISKEY JENNY: He does. Yeah, he does. But ultimately we just don’t like him because he is—
GIN JENNY: An obstacle.
WHISKEY JENNY: He’s not horrible to her.
GIN JENNY: No, no. Not at all.
WHISKEY JENNY: We just don’t like him because he’s not Dawsey. And I think in the end he gets a nice sendoff, I suppose, yeah.
GIN JENNY: Yeah, no, I agree. Dawsey is, by the way, the farmer who writes to Juliet in the first place.
WHISKEY JENNY: Dawsey! Like half of my notes are me just going, Dawsey! [LAUGHTER] I watched this with a friend, and I’m not exaggerating, I think every single time he came on this screen, we were both like, oh. [LAUGHTER] Like, that man can wear a sweater like nobody’s business.
GIN JENNY: That is true. That is very accurate information.
WHISKEY JENNY: He looked so good.
GIN JENNY: He looked real good.
WHISKEY JENNY: Not that that’s important, but it’s pretty important. He looked great.
[LAUGHTER]GIN JENNY: He looked real good, and he was also—I thought he was really good in the role. They kind of eliminated part of his character, which is that in the book he has more of an injury. Like, I think he has a visible limp, and in the movie he really doesn’t. Which is fine.
WHISKEY JENNY: Oh, I didn’t member that. But the part that I remembered as being really different and that I kind of missed is that he’s so awkward to begin with, with Juliet.
GIN JENNY: Yes.
WHISKEY JENNY: Barely can get two words out around her, and she’s like, what’s this Dawsey dude’s deal? [LAUGHTER] And it’s because he has a crush on her.
GIN JENNY: Yeah. Instead it’s kind of weird. So she gets these letters, she’s really into it. She goes to Guernsey. Mark proposes to her before she leaves and gives her a horrible ring that is so massive.
WHISKEY JENNY: It was so huge and not great. But she says yes.
GIN JENNY: Yes, she says yes. Which I don’t think happened to the book, if I’m remembering correctly.
WHISKEY JENNY: Does she say give me a second?
GIN JENNY: I think so, yeah. But anyway, so she goes to Guernsey, and instead of Dawsey being kind of awkward, they have a really weird first encounter where he’s doing construction and she almost gets hit by some construction materials. And she’s like, hey!
WHISKEY JENNY: Twice!
[LAUGHTER]GIN JENNY: Yeah, and she was like, hey, you almost hit me. And he’s like, meh! That’s how it goes!
WHISKEY JENNY: Oh well! [LAUGHTER] Welcome to Guernsey!
GIN JENNY: It’s weird. It’s a weird little introduction.
WHISKEY JENNY: It’s a weird look for him, too, because the rest of the character in the movie, too, he’s super protective and kind of into her, and trying to win her over. But at the beginning he was like, I don’t care if you get hit or not. Don’t worry about it.
GIN JENNY: Yeah. It’s very strange.
WHISKEY JENNY: But yeah, I missed a little bit of that sort of initial gruffness where she was not really sure about his feelings towards her. But I understand that you have to kind of speed things up for a movie.
GIN JENNY: Sure, yeah. And she goes to—and this, I thought, was good. She goes to a meeting of the book club, and it’s Dawsey, postmaster, and his grandson—or nephew?
WHISKEY JENNY: Grandson.
GIN JENNY: Grandson, yeah. An older woman, Mrs. Maugery, played by Penelope Wilton, who is so good, as always.
WHISKEY JENNY: So great in this role. Yeah.
GIN JENNY: God, she’s so good. She’s so good in everything. She’s so good in this movie. I love her. And also this woman called Isola, who’s a sort of flighty—like, she sells gin. She’s all about tarot cards and past lives. And she’s so delightful. I love the actress they got to play Isola.
WHISKEY JENNY: Me too. She’s the lady from The IT Crowd, if anyone watches that.
GIN JENNY: Oh, I didn’t know that. God, well, she is delightful.
WHISKEY JENNY: She really is, yeah.
GIN JENNY: So Juliet goes to the book club. And at first it’s so awkward. She can’t say anything right. Penelope Wilton is really unfriendly to her.
WHISKEY JENNY: Well, and understandably, I think, Penelope Wilton is a little unfriendly, because Juliet just assumes that they want her to write a newspaper article about them. And they’re like, uh, no. What? No. No, no. You were just visiting. What? You didn’t ask us that. What’s happening?
GIN JENNY: But she’s unfriendly when Juliet first gets there.
WHISKEY JENNY: Well, that’s true.
GIN JENNY: And then the ice thaws, and then Juliet’s like, oh yeah, I’m going to write an article about you. And then they all are like, no. Thank you, no.
Also, this was a thing. And this comes up a couple of times in the movie and kind of goes to your point about her general demeanor not meshing well with being the plucky girl reporter. She kind of will not leave it alone. They’re like, no, we don’t want you to write about our trauma. And she’s like, well, why though?
WHISKEY JENNY: But I still want to, and I’m still going to keep asking questions about it, even though you won’t tell me.
GIN JENNY: Yeah.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah, I really had issues with that in this version of it.
GIN JENNY: I did too, for sure. Like, they visibly don’t want to—so they were founded by this really great woman, Elizabeth McKenna, who is played by Lady—uh—
WHISKEY JENNY: Sybil.
GIN JENNY: Sybil, from Downton Abbey.
WHISKEY JENNY: Downton Abbey reunion with Penelope Wilton.
GIN JENNY: Oh yeah! And when she gets to the island, Elizabeth is not there, and Penelope Wilton says, oh, she’s off island at present. And it eventually becomes clear that something happened to Elizabeth during the war. And everyone visibly doesn’t want to talk about it, but Juliet is still like, no, tell me more. I’m so curious, tell me more. What happened, what happened, what happened, what happened, what happened, what happened, what happened?
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah. It turns out there are pretty valid reasons for people being concerned and protective of this story, and it’s not definitely not Juliet’s to tell.
GIN JENNY: Yeah. It’s not her business. It’s not her beeswax.
WHISKEY JENNY: It’s really not. Also she goes snooping—this is later on, but just I’m building my case against her, I guess. [LAUGHTER] She goes snooping in Dawsey’s room later when he’s like, oh, can you drop Kit off? Who is—
GIN JENNY: Elizabeth’s little daughter.
WHISKEY JENNY: Right. So he just asks Juliet to take her home, and then Juliet takes that opportunity to go snooping around his room and digging through all his papers and stuff. And he’s not even mad. They just like share a glance and he’s like, well, eh.
GIN JENNY: Yeah. I had notes.
WHISKEY JENNY: I was mad at her for it.
GIN JENNY: I was mad, too. If I came home and someone was in my bedroom looking at my stuff, even if they were just looking at my books, I’d be like, what are you doing?
WHISKEY JENNY: You are not allowed to go into my bedroom without permission.
GIN JENNY: Yeah, if someone were prowling through my bed, which is a nest of blankets and books, and they were like, oh, I was just looking at your books, I’d be like, no. Inappropriate.
WHISKEY JENNY: Not allowed. Get out. However, during that scene, though, when he’s not mad at her for reasons unknown, they do have a great glance of yearning.
GIN JENNY: Well, let’s come back to it. Because you know, we’re building to it.
WHISKEY JENNY: Oh, OK. All right. [LAUGHTER] So yeah, the town is super charming.
GIN JENNY: The town is super charming, but interspersed with really traumatic and upsetting flashbacks during the war.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah, I noted down when I first started crying, and it was when the party invitations start to go out. So Elizabeth gathers this hodgepodge group that becomes the book club for their first meeting, which turned out to be kind of an illicit party with confiscated meat and alcohol. And they talked about how it sort of reminded everyone about community and being kind to each other. And it’s just such a lovely story about how they’re so different and yet they form this community. And they have to keep meeting, because their excuse when they get caught for this party is that it’s a book club.
GIN JENNY: Yeah. I cried for the first time, there’s a flashback where they’re evacuating the kids from Guernsey.
WHISKEY JENNY: Oh, God, yeah.
GIN JENNY: Before the occupation. And to the postmaster’s grandson is upset and scared. And Elizabeth gives him a medal that her father won for bravery in the first war.
WHISKEY JENNY: Mm-hm.
GIN JENNY: Ah, I’m already kind of choking up. And she says, you know, he won this for bravery. Anyone who has this medal can’t help but be brave. And I, gosh, I got really choked up about that. It comes back later in a very poignant way.
WHISKEY JENNY: Oh, lordy, does it.
GIN JENNY: And then there’s another flashback where Elizabeth’s best friend dies in childbirth, and then there’s like a big German parade the next day. And Elizabeth is yelling at them, like, shame, shame, shame, which made me cry really hard. Oof. That was—that was a time.
WHISKEY JENNY: It’s a lot. And Penelope Wilton is sort of the adoptive mother figure for Elizabeth. She’s the best friend’s mother and is in this horrible position where she agrees with Elizabeth, but is trying to get her to stop so that they don’t arrest Elizabeth as well.
GIN JENNY: Yeah. Oh, she’s so good. She’s so good.
WHISKEY JENNY: She’s so good in that role. And, gosh, yeah. How did you think about—so the original model is epistolary. How did you think they did with adapting the format, I suppose?
GIN JENNY: I think they did really well. I think the—so the original novel had a lot more people participating in the letters. And I think they did a good job of paring it down for the movie. And I think they kept enough of the oddness and uniqueness of the people on Guernsey without making it so many people that it would be confusing. Yeah, I was pretty into it.
I mean, there’s not really—adapting an epistolary story isn’t really doable, because extreme typewritering scenes are not that compelling. So I thought it was good. What about you? Did you think it was OK?
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah, I thought it was well done. They were able to actually keep some of the letters in, because that’s how Dawsey and, as you mentioned, Juliet start talking. So we still get sort of a little flavor of it when they do some voiceover of those letters. But then they’re just telling the story as soon as she actually goes to the island. And I thought it was a good way to not have it weigh it down.
GIN JENNY: Yeah, definitely.
WHISKEY JENNY: The opening scene, I just want to mention, is a bajillion stars in the sky. And I did not know that that’s what stars looked like in 1950. Or ’48, or whatever we are.
GIN JENNY: Yeah. I mean, yeah. When I’m in places, even just places nowadays that have less light pollution than where I live, I’m still like, how are there this many stars?
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah. I mean, I know I live in New York, but I have also been to places that don’t have this much light pollution. And even then I was like, whoa, is that the night sky?
GIN JENNY: But how?
[LAUGHTER]WHISKEY JENNY: It was alarming.
GIN JENNY: I don’t disagree.
WHISKEY JENNY: I will say, I kind of missed the presence of Elizabeth throughout.
GIN JENNY: Me too. There was less Elizabeth. Yeah.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah, I wanted her to be more at the forefront, and more of this haunting ghostlike figure.
GIN JENNY: Yeah, I agree. And I think they also—and again, I understand why. There’s the time issue. But I thought Kit, the daughter, was a much more interesting kid in the book. She was just a spikier and more standoffish and interesting character in the book. And in this, she’s really just moppet who is nearby.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yep. Just a cute kid.
GIN JENNY: And she’s real cute. I mean, no shots. She’s real cute. But yeah, for sure.
WHISKEY JENNY: OK, can we talk about the yearning now? Is it time?
GIN JENNY: Well, OK, we can. But I have a major complaint, so maybe we can get that over with and then move to the yearning?
WHISKEY JENNY: OK, what’s your major complaint?
GIN JENNY: OK, so my major complaint is, there’s this part where—so Juliet has a mean landlady who’s always tsk tsking around. And one time Juliet comes home and her landlady is like, oh, by the way, Elizabeth was banging a German and that’s who Kit’s father is. And so Juliet goes and talks to the book club, and she’s like so he was a Nazi. And Dawsey’s like, no. I mean, he was, but he also helped me deliver a calf one time, so it’s very different.
WHISKEY JENNY: That’s fine. He’s not that kind of a Nazi.
GIN JENNY: And like, I’m not here to tell people what you should do when you’re living under occupation. But I’m really not here for this, like, him not really being a Nazi because he helped deliver a cow. Like, if he didn’t want to be called a Nazi, he shouldn’t be working in a job that’s advancing a European ethnostate, you know?
WHISKEY JENNY: Sure.
GIN JENNY: And I feel like the movie’s position is, it’s unreasonable to think people shouldn’t bang Nazis. And I don’t think that’s unreasonable. It’s reasonable to be mad at people for banging Nazis. It’s reasonable not to want Nazis in your book club. That’s fine. That’s fine. Like, for a regular human like me, let alone someone whose home is being occupied by Nazis right now. And I feel like the movie doesn’t really acknowledge that. Like Penelope Wilton is like, oh, if there’s any shame it’s mine, because I failed Elisabeth by not supporting her. Like no, you didn’t fail her.
WHISKEY JENNY: Nope. She just didn’t want an occupier in her house.
GIN JENNY: It bums me out. The movie was filmed between March and May, 2017. I looked it up. So they know what political environment we’re living in. And it was just a weird message for the movie to hit so hard. [SIGH]
Anyway so, because the landlady says this stuff and some other mean stuff and is slut shamey and a jerk, Juliet goes to stay with Isola, which is a much better situation, because Isola is the best.
WHISKEY JENNY: So fun.
GIN JENNY: And then there’s a bunch of yearning. Let’s get to the yearning. Let’s really dig into the yearning with her and Dawsey, shall we?
WHISKEY JENNY: So much yearning.
GIN JENNY: Gosh, he looks extremely sexy, too.
WHISKEY JENNY: Every time he’s on there. I’m telling you.
GIN JENNY: Yes, I totally agree. And he has a very good sort of yearny face.
WHISKEY JENNY: He has great scruff. He wears those sweaters, and he wears those farm boy button downs unbuttoned.
GIN JENNY: Sure does! She helps him feed pigs. They do, you know, farm stuff together.
WHISKEY JENNY: With the cute moppet.
GIN JENNY: With the cute moppet. And there’s a part where—so returning to her poking around his room. He comes home and he’s like, oh, that’s fine. And they just yearn at each other real close up in the doorway of the room.
WHISKEY JENNY: So close up. And then she kind of scoots to try and get by, and he turns, and then it’s a different position of yearning.
GIN JENNY: Yup. Yup. Yup. So true.
WHISKEY JENNY: [SIGHT] So much yearning.
GIN JENNY: Gosh, it’s great. Who’s the—hang on, let me look up the actor, because he was just terrific. Michiel Huisman. I don’t know how to pronounce that.
WHISKEY JENNY: Hweesman?
GIN JENNY: Wheesman?
WHISKEY JENNY: [LAUGHTER] Let’s see. Is he French? Dutch. He’s Dutch.
GIN JENNY: He’s Dutch. Well, that makes sense why I can’t pronounce it. Well, he’s very good looking. So they yearn at each other in the bedroom, and then they also yearn at each other in the farmhouse.
WHISKEY JENNY: When did they do the farmhouse yearning?
GIN JENNY: Right before Mark Reynolds shows back up.
WHISKEY JENNY: Oh, they’re outside. Aren’t they outside?
GIN JENNY: They’re outside, yeah. They’re outside but under a structure.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yes, I remember the outside. Yes. Yeah, and then not-Dawsey shows up.
GIN JENNY: Yeah. They’re gazing at each other, they’re kind of almost holding hands a little bit.
WHISKEY JENNY: They definitely want to kiss.
GIN JENNY: Definitely for sure are both thinking kissing would be fun right now. And then forking Mark Reynolds shows up.
WHISKEY JENNY: Comes out of nowhere, because he flew his stupid plane there.
GIN JENNY: I do have to say, [LAUGHTER] the reason he came—
WHISKEY JENNY: No, that’s fair.
GIN JENNY: —is Juliet gave him the assignment to find out what happened to Elizabeth.
WHISKEY JENNY: Which he did. Which is very nice of him.
GIN JENNY: Which he did. But! He shows up. He has this letter that contains very sad news, which I believe he knows. And even though he has this really bleak and awful news to share about something Juliet obviously really cares about, he puts a pin in it and is like, hey, where’s my engagement ring? Why aren’t you wearing it? What’s going on with your engagement ring? Are we engaged still? What’s going on?
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah.
GIN JENNY: Like, buddy. And also, Juliet’s explanation is extremely reasonable. She says, being here wearing this incredibly fancy engagement ring in this town of people who have all suffered so much and still don’t have much of anything makes me feel like a jerk. And if I were him I’d be like, that’s a great point, babe. Way to be sensitive.
WHISKEY JENNY: Instead he’s like, I don’t believe you. I don’t think you want to marry me. The problem here is that he’s not wrong. [LAUGHTER] She in fact does not want to marry him.
GIN JENNY: Yeah, separately, she in fact does not want to marry him. [LAUGHTER] And then he gives her the file, which I think should have been the first move.
WHISKEY JENNY: Then he shares the bad news. Yeah, I reversed those, too. And then, hoo, boy. That scene.
GIN JENNY: Oh my God. I’m definitely going to choke while I”m talking about this. This is actually worse in the book. It was much sadder in the book. It was pretty sad here, but it was sadder in the book.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah.
GIN JENNY: But Juliet tells the book club that Elizabeth was killed in a camp. And as Dawsey’s walking out to tell Kit this new, little baby Eli gives him the medal for bravery that Elizabeth gave him when he evacuated [CHOKING UP] to give to Kit. It’s really sad.
WHISKEY JENNY: It’s very sweet.
GIN JENNY: It’s very sweet. It’s really sweet. It’s really sad. [SNIFF] But I was fine. I survived it.
WHISKEY JENNY: I was not fine. [LAUGHTER] And as you said, it’s way sadder even in the book. Elizabeth is just such a—God, she’s just amazing.
GIN JENNY: Yes, she’s a great character. I mean, gosh, she’s a really good character.
WHISKEY JENNY: I think it’s—I mean, I guess this is a product of the time. But I feel like everyone feels so bad and Dawsey gets so much credit for being a single father. And they’re all like, well she shouldn’t have left that kid with you. Look at Penelope Wilton over here. Why not her? I’m like, why, like, why is that a better option?
GIN JENNY: Yeah.
WHISKEY JENNY: But it’s a product of the time. I know.
GIN JENNY: Well, and also the scene where Elizabeth does leave Kit with him is very, very, very sad also.
WHISKEY JENNY: Also yes.
GIN JENNY: She says she’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail, which is an expression I say all the time, my parents say all the time. I know everyone says it all the time! It’s not unique to me. But nevertheless I felt an emotion about it. [LAUGHTER] But no, I totally agree. Yeah. Also in the book I think there’s more of a sense that the group is looking after her more collectively.
WHISKEY JENNY: Collectively, yeah. Yeah, totally.
GIN JENNY: It’s more of a plot point that Juliet wants to adopt Kit—like, she specifically wants to be Kit’s person. And that’s not really present so much in the movie. Which is fine, but it is a difference.
WHISKEY JENNY: Sure, yeah. But I do think we still get that kind of hodgepodge found family vibes around the book club.
GIN JENNY: Oh, yeah. So anyway, Juliet breaks this news, and then she goes back to London with Mark, immediately breaks up with him.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah. Here’s the sendoff we were talking about.
GIN JENNY: It’s actually pretty good. She breaks up with him and she—
WHISKEY JENNY: No, I like it.
GIN JENNY: Yeah, and she’s like, well you know, it’s because you deserve better than me. And he’s like, cool. Don’t tell me what I want, because you’re not in charge of what I want. That’s pretty good. Good for you, Mark. You’re right.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah and he says—I love this line. He says, I deserve better than I got, which I thought was also true. Like, yeah, he gets kind of a raw deal. I mean, I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s a rich, bland American. [LAUGHTER] With apologies to whatshisface.
GIN JENNY: Rich, bland American Glen Powell.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah, Glen Powell. And then, I thought this is really sweet. He kind of storms off in anger after she’s done this. Reasonably so—he’s just had his engagement broken off. Of course he’s upset. He doesn’t say anything ugly. He just says I deserved better than I got, which he did. He didn’t deserve to get strung along by a girl. He’s fine. He’s not mean. But it’s sort of acrimonious. And she quietly says to herself, goodbye, Mark. And then almost offscreen, from behind—you don’t even see him very well—he says goodbye, kisses her on the forehead from behind, and grabs a bottle of champagne and walks off.
GIN JENNY: Grabs a bottle of champagne.
WHISKEY JENNY: All right, Mark! [LAUGHTER]
GIN JENNY: Power move from Mark.
WHISKEY JENNY: Seriously! But he comes back and says goodbye, and you know.
GIN JENNY: Yeah, and is kind to her. It’s nice.
WHISKEY JENNY: They did have a nice time together. He’s not like, screw you forever. [LAUGHTER] I thought that was nice, that it didn’t turn him into a villain.
GIN JENNY: Yeah. Oh, definitely.
WHISKEY JENNY: And then what!
GIN JENNY: And then so much extreme typewritering!
WHISKEY JENNY: I love her landlady in London. There was a moment when she gets back when she’s not typing at all. And previously she has given Juliet a curfew for typewritering. She can’t do it too late at night. And now she’s not typewritering at all. And she’s like, well this is even worse than when you were typewritering, because she’s worried about her. And it’s really sweet.
GIN JENNY: Yeah, she’s like, I miss it. It’s so sweet.
WHISKEY JENNY: So then extreme typewritering to write down the story that she is not supposed to tell anyone. Ahem.
[LAUGHTER]GIN JENNY: Yeah, it’s nice. And then she takes it to Sidney and she’s like, here’s a book. You can’t publish it.
[LAUGHTER]WHISKEY JENNY: And he’s like, cool. Thanks.
[LAUGHTER]GIN JENNY: But they have—gosh, they just have such a lovely—I love them together so much. They have such a lovely—
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah, it’s really sweet. He’s actually really sweet about it. Yeah.
GIN JENNY: They just have this scene of pure affection. It’s so—[DEEP BREATH] gosh. I haven’t really totally understood the point of Matthew Goode up until now.
WHISKEY JENNY: I do beg your pardon.
[LAUGHTER]GIN JENNY: People were really high on him, and I was always like, yeah, I guess. Like, I guess.
WHISKEY JENNY: Did you see Leap Year? What are you talking about?
GIN JENNY: No, I did not.
WHISKEY JENNY: Oh, well that’s your problem.
GIN JENNY: That’s my problem. Now I’ve discovered it.
WHISKEY JENNY: That’s your problem right there. I’m glad we got to the bottom of that. Did you see Chasing Liberty?
GIN JENNY: No.
WHISKEY JENNY: Well, I don’t know what you’re doing, then.
[LAUGHTER]GIN JENNY: I’m really sorry.
[LAUGHTER]WHISKEY JENNY: I don’t know how you’re qualified to make these kinds of statements about Matthew Goode, then.
[LAUGHTER]GIN JENNY: I think that I saw him on The Good Wife, where he was a love interest for Julianna Margulies, and I wanted something different for her. So I think that might have been the problem. But gosh, he’s great in this. I would love another whole movie just about him and his adventures as an editor.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah! Sidney spinoff.
GIN JENNY: Yes! Sidney spinoff. I would watch it.
WHISKEY JENNY: Totally. Me too.
GIN JENNY: Anyway, so they have a lovely scene together. And then what happens, Whiskey Jenny?
WHISKEY JENNY: Well, then Juliet mails the manuscript to the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and says this is yours to do with what you will. So I forgive her for writing it down.
GIN JENNY: Also, though, I have to say, in her letter she’s like, number one, please forgive me for writing this book. Number two, I’m not going to publish it. Like, that should be number one, missy.
WHISKEY JENNY: That should have been number one. Yeah, absolutely, switch them.
GIN JENNY: Right, but anyway, she sends the book to the book club.
WHISKEY JENNY: Dawsey realizes that she hasn’t married Mark and flies off to London to go get her. Meanwhile, she’s flying off to Guernsey to go see him.
GIN JENNY: So he’s arriving at the pier just as she’s about to leave!
WHISKEY JENNY: She’s on a ship and she has to call to him and run off the boat and keep calling in the crowd. Dawsey! Dawsey!
GIN JENNY: And you think that he’s walked away and hasn’t heard her. But then the crowds part there he is!
WHISKEY JENNY: And they run into each other’s arms and kiss.
GIN JENNY: And it’s the best. The end, it’s the best.
WHISKEY JENNY: And also she proposes.
GIN JENNY: Oh, yeah! And she proposes to him and he says yes.
WHISKEY JENNY: I think he says—like, he’s so overwhelmed with happiness that he says, my God, yes, or something. It’s really cute. He’s really into it. It’s not like, I was going to ask.
GIN JENNY: Yeah, it’s great. It’s great. No, he’s cool about it.
WHISKEY JENNY: He would never. Dawsey would never.
GIN JENNY: [DREAMY SIGH] It’s great. And then there’s a post—a little epilogue.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah, I loved the epilogue!
GIN JENNY: I loved the epilogue. They’re sitting together very tenderly with Kit, reading to her from Charles Lamb, the book that brought them together. Yeah, it’s very sweet. It’s very lovely.
WHISKEY JENNY: Actually, I meant that I loved the—I guess the epilogue epilogue.
GIN JENNY: Oh, the post post epilogue. Yes, say on.
WHISKEY JENNY: Post post epilogue. So during the credits, I think, there’s just narration of the book club. And it turns out the format of the book club is that you have a certain amount of time to make your case about the book.
GIN JENNY: Yeah.
WHISKEY JENNY: And then a timer dings. So it’s a bunch of different people having delightful arguments about books throughout history, and then the timer going off. And Sidney gets to come to the book club, and so you hear his argument. And you hear the little kids recite some poetry. And it’s really sweet.
GIN JENNY: It’s so sweet. It’s the best.
WHISKEY JENNY: Gosh, so great.
GIN JENNY: Ah, so great. My overall verdict, less Nazi banging, maybe. Otherwise amazing. Also this has brought me all the way in on Matthew Goode. I was already in on Dawsey because that actor is in Orphan Black and he plays a similarly reliable hot guy.
WHISKEY JENNY: Dawseeeeeey! [LAUGHTER] Man, reliable hot guy is like catnip. My goodness.
[LAUGHTER]GIN JENNY: Yeah.
WHISKEY JENNY: Reliable hot guy.
GIN JENNY: You know what, maybe we should go all in on this guy instead of Glen Powell, rom coms-wise.
WHISKEY JENNY: We’re not going all in on Glen Powell. That’s not happening. [LAUGHTER] I won’t allow it.
GIN JENNY: So yeah, just overall a really, really fun and sweet adaptation, I think.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah, mostly successful.
GIN JENNY: Mostly successful. And I am not always on board with movie adaptations. Of books. Movie adaptations of books, yeah.
WHISKEY JENNY: Sure. I think I’m generally hopeful, but often they disappoint.
GIN JENNY: That’s actually a great point. I feel like I enjoy them more often than you, but you are more excited about them to begin with.
WHISKEY JENNY: Real expectations you got there, huh?
GIN JENNY: Yup.
WHISKEY JENNY: But no, this one was fun. And I was excited about it beforehand, so it lived up.
GIN JENNY: Yay!
WHISKEY JENNY: I think we should do a Matthew Goode Chasing Liberty—listeners, I know he has been in other stuff, but those are just the things that I really like him in. So I think we should watch the full oeuvre of Matthew Goode, which is Chasing Liberty and Leap Year, and do a bonus about that.
[LAUGHTER]GIN JENNY: All right. I’m into it. I’m ready to go.
WHISKEY JENNY: Maybe two bonuses, I don’t know. They might each deserve their own. Amy Adams is in Leap Year, and Mandy Moore is in Chasing Liberty. And Amy Adams, I think, gets credit for being super charming, but she really is in this movie. And Mandy Moore also I feel like is real charming.
GIN JENNY: Yeah, no, I like Mandy Moore.
WHISKEY JENNY: She can carry a screen.
GIN JENNY: Yeah, for sure. I read a Jane Eyre adaptation comic—like modern Jane Eyre adaptation comic by Aline Brosh McKenna. And I told my friend Alice about it and she was like, I hate Aline Brosh McKenna.
WHISKEY JENNY: Oh!
GIN JENNY: I know, and I was really astonished. Yeah. And she was like, because 27 Dresses was no good. And I was like, what?
WHISKEY JENNY: It’s not my favorite, but I liked it.
GIN JENNY: You liked it?
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah, I liked it.
GIN JENNY: Yeah. She said she watched that, Devil Wears Prada, and Morning Glory, and she didn’t like any of them. And now she’s Aline Brosh McKenna’s enemy.
WHISKEY JENNY: Wow. Well, I think I liked—I definitely liked 27 Dresses the most.
GIN JENNY: I haven’t seen Morning Glory.
WHISKEY JENNY: Morning Glory I don’t really remember.
GIN JENNY: It had Rachel McAdams in it.
WHISKEY JENNY: And what was the other one?
GIN JENNY: That’s it. Devil Wears Prada, Morning Glory.
WHISKEY JENNY: Oh, Devil Wears Prada is not—I find that one too hard to watch.
GIN JENNY: Yeah. And I think people were really unfair to Anne Hathaway.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah, also true. But man, I did really enjoy 27 Dresses.
GIN JENNY: I still haven’t watched it. I need to.
WHISKEY JENNY: Even though the sister does not have to apologize for a bunch of bull.
GIN JENNY: I’m going to watch 27 Dresses. The time is now.
WHISKEY JENNY: But not before you watch Chasing Liberty and/or Leap Year, right?
GIN JENNY: I don’t know. How would you prioritize those?
WHISKEY JENNY: Leap Year, Chasing Liberty, 27 Dresses.
GIN JENNY: Oh, surprising. OK, all right.
WHISKEY JENNY: No, that’s wrong. That’s wrong. [LAUGHTER] Where do you stand on James Marsden?
GIN JENNY: I love James Marsden.
WHISKEY JENNY: Well then we’ll put that one last, because you already love him.
GIN JENNY: Oh. Dammit. [LAUGHTER] I really shot myself in the foot on that one.
WHISKEY JENNY: Fine. Leap Year and then 27 Dresses and then Chasing Liberty.
GIN JENNY: OK. All right.
WHISKEY JENNY: I might just have a weird personal attachment to Chasing Liberty, but.
[LAUGHTER]GIN JENNY: I see that.
WHISKEY JENNY: I really like it as well as Leap Year.
GIN JENNY: It’s one of those movies that—that thing where there’s two identical movies that come out at the same time and it’s real weird.
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah.
GIN JENNY: So I get it mixed up with the Katie Holmes one.
WHISKEY JENNY: First Daughter.
GIN JENNY: Yeah.
WHISKEY JENNY: Not as good.
GIN JENNY: Good to know.
WHISKEY JENNY: I don’t even know who the dude is in that.
GIN JENNY: I also do not.
WHISKEY JENNY: That’s how unmemorable he was. He was a real—he was a real what’s his face?
[LAUGHTER]JENNYS: Glen Powell.
WHISKEY JENNY: He’s a real Glen Powell.
[LAUGHTER]GIN JENNY: Oh, sorry. I’m sorry, I totally distracted from outro.
WHISKEY JENNY: Oh, is it time for that?
GIN JENNY: After this comparative ranking of lesser romantic comedies, yeah.
WHISKEY JENNY: Lesser?
GIN JENNY: Yeah. Right?
WHISKEY JENNY: [POINTED THROAT CLEARING]
GIN JENNY: No?
WHISKEY JENNY: Lesser?
GIN JENNY: Well, right?
WHISKEY JENNY: What do you mean lesser? Lesser known?
GIN JENNY: No, just lesser, in quality.
WHISKEY JENNY: Well, I—all right.
GIN JENNY: No, I’m asking. Because I haven’t seen them, so I don’t know.
WHISKEY JENNY: I mean, yeah. I guess.
GIN JENNY: OK, that’s what I thought. You’re just not heartless enough to say it.
[LAUGHTER]WHISKEY JENNY: But they’re still [SMALL VOICE] really fun.
GIN JENNY: No, I totally—no, I understand. I don’t mean I don’t like them. I just mean they’re not to the French Kiss, While You Were Sleeping standard.
WHISKEY JENNY: Well, you know I don’t—
GIN JENNY: Wait, which of those don’t you like?
WHISKEY JENNY: While You Were Sleeping.
GIN JENNY: That is—really.
WHISKEY JENNY: But we’ve talked about this.
GIN JENNY: Then I forgot. I immediately blotted out obviously. [LAUGHTER]
WHISKEY JENNY: I tried to rewatch it pretty recently.
GIN JENNY: Oh, too much lying, huh?
WHISKEY JENNY: And it was too much lying. I had to quit.
GIN JENNY: Yeah. All right. Fair enough.
WHISKEY JENNY: But French Kiss I think we’re going to watch together soon.
GIN JENNY: Yes! Oh my gosh, I hope so. I really, really want to rewatch it, but I’ve been saving it for when we’re together.
WHISKEY JENNY: Well thanks so much, everyone, for joining us for this bonus episode with Guernsey. Thank you so much to our Patreons for making it happen. And until next time, cheers!
[GLASSES CLINK]THEME SONG: You don’t judge a book by its cover. Page one’s not a much better view. And shortly you’re gonna discover the middle won’t mollify you. So whether whiskey’s your go-to or you’re like my gin-drinking friend, no matter what you are imbibing, you’ll be better off in the end reading the end.
[BEEP]GIN JENNY: I’m Gin Jenny.
[LONG PAUSE]WHISKEY JENNY: Sorry, and I’m Whiskey Jenny. [LAUGHTER]
GIN JENNY: You OK over there?
WHISKEY JENNY: Yeah, sorry. I got lost in my notes. [LAUGHTER] I’m so sorry.
GIN JENNY: It’s OK. I’ll do it again.
[BEEP]GIN JENNY: —the book The Guernsey and—shit. The Guernsey—motherfuck.
WHISKEY JENNY: You can do it. You can do it!
GIN JENNY: [LAUGHTER] I’m so sorry. Where do I have it written down? Ahem. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I have to start over, because I don’t remember how I started that sentence.
WHISKEY JENNY: Nailed it!
[BEEP]GIN JENNY: I’ve had two glasses of wine and I don’t care about anything!
WHISKEY JENNY: That’s right!