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Natalie Luque
Professor Ditch
English 113B
8 May 2015
True Friendship is Love and True Friendship is Family
The novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and
Annie Barrows takes place during WWII and post war. Each member a part of the book club is
kind and selfless. Their relationships are a true representation of friendship. Throughout the
novel the friendships developed are more than just the average friendship. There are scary and
horrible situations happening around them that should have made them sad and depressed but
instead it made the book club members appreciative. The book club members did not allow each
other to mope around. Due to the circumstances the book club members were in all of the
friendships formed were extremely meaningful therefore each of the relationships formed have
allowed the members to be brave.
There was much love, happiness, and positive outcomes of the book club that they
wanted to do good things for each other. In a letter from Dawsey to Juliet, Dawsey writes She
had a pig, a hidden pig, and she invited me to join in the feast with her and her friends (Shaffer,
Barrows 28). Before the war Dawsey would grow vegetables for St. Peter Port market and keep
pigs in her cottage and farm. But as the war began the Germans took away the pigs and people
were only allowed to grow turnips and gristle. Since they were unable to eat anything and or
keep a pig Dawsey was truly surprised when he got the invite that said come quick, it said. And
bring a butcher knife(28). Dawsey did not know what to expect, but in the back of his mind he
definitely hoped there was pig. Mrs. Maugery did not even mind risking her life so she secretly

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kept a pig and decided to have dinner. The characters of the book make the best of everything
they have, and they do not brag about it.
The bond created by the book club member is very great, each of them inspire one
another to do the best they can. Juliet wrote a letter to Sydney saying Dear Izzy Bickerstaff is
and wasto me, I dont want to write anything else under that name. I dont want to be
considered a light-hearted journalist anymore.(4). Juliet was discouraged about her progress on
her new material so she did not want to continue and was going to give up. Sydney responded
with Dont fret about English Foibles; better that your enthusiasm died now than after six
months spent writing about bunniesanother subjectone youll like---will occur to you.(5).
Sydney was encouraging his friend that it was okay to be unsure about the writing topic. The
group members tend to encourage each other to continue doing well because they know each of
them are capable of doing it. In the article Sisterhood at the front: Friendship, Comradeship, and
the feminine appropriation of military heroism among World War I First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
(FANY) by Janet Lee talks about the several friendships that have been made between the
nurses and commoners on the Western Front during World War I. Lee writes about Grace
McDougall a commoner who was appreciative of the FANY in her memoir she writes a visit
to our mess was a glimpse of happy home life that warmed [all] heart(Lee 4). Because there
were horrible things going on around McDougall and many others did not think that they would
be able to be happy or even make it through the war. The members of FANY and Sydney were
similar because they all encouraged one another to have a positive mind set.

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The book club members consider each other family; and the bonds between each of them
have allowed them to do whatever they can to help each other. Barrows and Shaffer write I
know also that she cherished you as her family and she felt gratitude and peace that her daughter
Kit was in your care (178). When Elizabeth was sent to concentration camp she had to leave her
daughter Kit; she was extremely worried about who would take care of her and where she would
stay. Because Elizabeth developed a good and true friendship with the other members when she
was sent to a concentration camp everyone in the book club raised Kit as their own. Despite
being in a concentration camp Elizabeth was able to feel at ease and not so worried because she
knew her daughter was safe. The other members of the book club had a pretty good idea of what
Elizabeth was going through and because of that they wanted to do anything they could to help.
All of the members consider Elizabeth as one of them because they consider their friendship as
family they took her child in without any questions. The bond formed between them all is like no
other, they all have suffered and seen one another at their weakest but it does not change the way
they see each other. In the article The Old Guatemala Trotters: A Friendship Deepened Through
War by Janet Simon tells the story of two individuals who worked together in Maya
archaeology but later lost contact. Simon talks about the friendship between Dr. Mary Butler and
Dr. Franz Termer and how they did not know each other very well but they did truly care about
one another. Simon writes Termer wrote to Butler, expressing just how much her kindness
helped him and his family. Dr. Mary Butler has not known Dr. Franz Termer for long; she had
just talked to him a couple of times about direct mailing. Mary Butler knew that Termer would
always prepare his lectures on his typewriter but with the situation Mayans were in he would
have to request for typewriter ribbons. Butler did whatever she could to help Termer get what he
needed. Simon writes Termer wrote to Butler, expressing just how much her kindness helped

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him and his family.(Simon,3). Like Elizabeth Termer could not support her child once she was
sent to a concentration camp. Without any hesitation the members of the Potato Peel Pie Society
took Kit in and raised her as their own. Elizabeth was then able to feel at ease and her time in the
concentration camp was not the best but it was definitely easier to deal with because she knew
her daughter was safe.
Living in the same society the book club members are able to understand each others
fears and troubles more. Mrs. Maugery and Elizabeth knew that the Germans were searching for
all Jewish people, so they did their best to warn all the Jews they knew. Mrs.Maugery and
Elizabeth warned their Jewish friend John Booker about the German bombing and created an
escape plan. Elizabeth knew my mother was Jewish; I had mentioned it once. They had come to
tell me that I must not, under any circumstances, go to the Grange Lodge Hotel.(91). the
relationship that John Booker and Elizabeth had was very mutual. Elizabeth had painted a picture
of Booker as a sixteenth-century Penn Piers but they really only talked a couple of times. Even
though they did not have the closest relationship Elizabeth and Mrs. Maugery did whatever they
could to help protect him, even if it did mean they were risking their lives. They knew that they
were doing a nice thing by protecting someones life, so they did not think twice about it. A lot of
people in our society today would never do anything that would allow them or their family in
danger, and we are not even close to the circumstances theyve been in. The article Self-Identity
and Culture by Ronal L. Jackson II, Cerise L. Glenn, and Kesha Morant Williams, the Authors
state Understanding self-identity is important to inter/cultural communication because as you
learn who you are, you learn how to communicate effectively with others (Jackson II, Glenn,
Williams, 1). The authors of the article are right because no one truly understands what one is
feeling until they have been through it themselves. Unlike John Booker, Mrs.Maugery and

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Elizabeth are not Jewish; but they can definitely relate to the emotions cause by what is going on
around them. Elizabeth and Mrs. Maugery and Elizabeth knew what Booker could be feeling
because they also fear being taken from their home and getting sent to a concentration camp, or
of losing those they care about. By living in the same society Mrs. Maugery, Elizabeth and others
living around will understand John Booker more than someone who lives across the country.
Many people may disagree and say that the members of the Potato Peel Pie Society were
brave all along and none of the friendships made influenced their decisions. The night when
Elizabeth stood up to the guards she knew why and who she was protecting. Since Elizabeth
knew lying to the guards would save her and her friends from being sent to concentration camps
she did not mind doing it. When the book club members are placed in dangerous situations they
are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in because they know that it will be for all of
them.
The novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer takes
place during WWII and post war. In the book club the members develop friendships that are
unlike any other. With each hard ship that a Potato Peel Pie Society member has been through
has been easier to overcome because they have the support of one another. Because the
friendships were not mutual and they considered each other to be family so they did whatever
they could to support one another. With the support and comfort each member provided for one
another it allowed them to feel as if they could do the unimaginable, therefore each member did
not hesitate when it came to perform acts of kindness.

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Works Cited
Lee, Janet. Sisterhood at the Front: Friendship, Comradeship, and the Feminine Appropriation
of Military Heroism Among World War I First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY).
Womens Studies International Forum [H.W. Wilson- SSA], 31.1 (2008): 16.
My Hips My Caderas, Alisa Valdes-Rodrigeuez
Self-Identity and culture, Ronald I. Jackso, Cerise Glenn, and Kesha Williams
Simon, Janet. "The Old Guatemala Trotters: A Friendship Deepened Through War." Expedition,
56.2 (2014): 42.