The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by

Ann Shaffer

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: Part 1: 1 Mar, 1946 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Miss Adelaide Addison writes to Juliet. She says that she laughed when she heard that Juliet wants to write about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for the Times, as Elizabeth isn't even an Islander: she's a "jumped-up servant" of Sir Ambrose Ivers, a London portrait painter. Sir Ambrose let Elizabeth play in his studio and sent her to the Slade School of Fine Art. His encouragement led Elizabeth to develop a shocking lack of humility. Sir Ambrose, along with Elizabeth and Elizabeth's mother, used to summer on Guernsey and Elizabeth has been a disgraceful terror since then. At the start of the war, Sir Ambrose sent Elizabeth to close up the house on Guernsey and she decided to stay. Miss Adelaide insists that Elizabeth isn't a selfless heroine, and the Society is a scandal and a sham. 
Miss Adelaide's concerns betray that she believes in rules, order, and legitimacy: Elizabeth is a bad person and subject for the article because she doesn't have blood ties to the island, and she's even more disgraceful because a man who wasn't her father cared for her like he was. Miss Adelaide's concerns aside, notice that Elizabeth still has strong ties to the island: she spent her summers there as a child, which means she likely had a number of friends by the time she chose to stay at the start of the war.
Themes
Family, Parenting, and Legitimacy Theme Icon
Women, Marriage, and Work Theme Icon