The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Dawsey is one of Juliet’s love interests. A farmer by trade, Dawsey picks up many odd jobs during and after the war to address the needs of Guernsey’s community. Juliet describes Dawsey as being “dark and wiry, and his face has a quiet, watchful look about it—until he smiles. […] He has the sweetest smile I’ve ever seen, and I remembered Amelia writing that he has a rare gift for persuasion—I can believe it” (170). As a member of the Society, Dawsey comes to love Charles Lamb’s writings. Demonstrating The Lasting and Unifying Power of the Written Word, he forms two life-changing relationships as a result of his appreciation for Lamb: his friendship with Christian Hellman, Elizabeth’s lover, and his eventual relationship with Juliet. Reserved but thoughtful, Dawsey exhibits a protectiveness both toward Kit, whom he helps raise with the other Society members, and Remy, whom he thought he could help to recover from her ordeal in the concentration camp by bringing her to Guernsey. Despite being persuasive with others, Dawsey is at his most awkward in expressing his love for Juliet, and were it not for Isola’s meddling and Juliet’s determination, he would never have known his feelings for Juliet were reciprocated.

Elizabeth McKenna, an Islander who was captured and sent to a concentration camp during the war, eventually becomes the central study figure of Juliet’s new book. She is the mother of Kit and the lover of the deceased German soldier and doctor Captain Christian Hellman. As a child, Elizabeth’s mother worked for an eccentric painter, Sir Ambrose, and during the summers, they would all spend their time together in Guernsey. When her mother died, Sir Ambrose took charge of Elizabeth and eventually left her his estate. She is described as having “fine airs” and a fierceness about her that often led her to compromising situations during the German Occupation. Through the stories Juliet collects about her, Elizabeth is shown to have been a tender-hearted individual, one who cared deeply about her loved ones and had a sense of moral justice. Her strong sense of right and wrong, however, results in her death. First, she tries to hide a Todt worker from the cruelties of the fortification work and is discovered. Then, when she is sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, she not only takes the fall for another girl who steals a potato but also defends a teenage girl when she is beaten for menstruating. Though she hoped to survive the camps with Remy, her moral calling to help was such that “she just saw one cruelty too many” (192), and could not keep herself from lending a helping hand. In the end, she was executed for defending the teenage girl.

Because of her relationship with a German soldier, however, Elizabeth is maligned as a collaborator. Adelaide Addison writes to Juliet to dissuade her from writing about Elizabeth because she considers anyone who had friendly relations with German soldiers a traitor. Women who had sexual relationships with Germans—for any reason—are particularly stigmatized by people like Adelaide. The fact that Adelaide tries to destroy Elizabeth even after she is gone demonstrates one aspect of The Persisting Effects of War. The choices people made during the war continue to shape their relationships and reputations after, for better and for worse.

Christina, or “Kit,” is the orphaned daughter of Elizabeth and Christian Hellman. She also embodies The Persisting Effect of War: the loss of family and loved ones, which will continue to shape the lives of survivors. With both her parents dead, all the members of the Society take charge of looking after her, including Juliet once she comes to Guernsey. Wily and fierce like her mother, Kit is a happy child and has an intuitive sense about people, which helps her determine when someone is scheming or malignant, like Billee Bee and Mark Reynolds. By the end of the narrative, Juliet intends to adopt her.

Sidney is Sophie’s older brother and is often mistaken for Juliet’s love interest, despite being one of two gay characters within the story. Ten years older than both women, Sidney works as the co-owner of the Stephens & Stark publishing house and as Juliet’s publisher and editor. Though not related by blood, Sidney takes on a brotherly role to Juliet in her personal matters while also taking an avid interest in her professional career. Seemingly, however, he has rotten luck with hiring competent and well-intended secretaries and has a strong dislike for Mark Reynolds. Sidney’s advice helps guide Juliet to visit Guernsey, focus her book on Elizabeth, and recognize her love for Dawsey. Sidney’s sister, Sophie, also acts as a confidante to Juliet. Her letters to the Stark sisters reveal Juliet’s private emotions and motivations.

Amelia Maugery, Isola Pribby, Eben Ramsey, John Booker, and Will Thisbee are the original members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, along with Dawsey and Elizabeth. As a group, the Society members embody The Lasting and Unifying Power of the Written Word. A diverse group, they were not all close friends until they began reading and talking about books with one another. Through reading and writing, they forge a bond that helps them survive the war and navigate the post-war recovery.

Amelia is the unofficial spokesperson for the Society. She initiates the roast pig scheme that leads to the Society’s inception. Kind-hearted, she, like the other members of the Society, takes care of Kit, though she once advised Elizabeth against her relationship with Kit’s father. She had a son, Ian, who died at El Alamein along with Eben’s son-in-law, John.

Isola is described as wearing “a mad hat and a purple shawl pinned with a glittering brooch” (170). Blunt in her speech, Isola takes an avid interest in Juliet and befriends both her and Sidney. She is known to be a bit of a witch figure in the community, as she is routinely found selling elixirs at the local market. At Sidney’s prompting, she takes on more eclectic interests, such as phrenology and detective work, and proves herself adept at both. She is the key character who eventually pushes Juliet to confess her feelings to Dawsey.

Eben is the father of Jane, Elizabeth’s closest friend, and the grandfather of Eli, Jane’s son. Astute and objective, Eben is also highly compassionate—even to German occupiers when they, too, were forced to starve because of the war. His greatest sorrow is having had to evacuate his grandson to England, only to lose his daughter to childbirth eight days later. Before the Society, he was Dawsey’s only friend.

John was the valet to Lord Tobias Penn-Piers, and when the latter fled Guernsey, John impersonated him with Elizabeth’s help, reaping some special privileges from German soldiers for his alleged pedigree. The inception of the Society can be traced to him, as his drunkenness attracted the attention of German soldiers and forced Elizabeth to explain why she, Dawsey, and John were still on the road after curfew. He was eventually caught for his impersonation and sent to Neuengamme, where he was tasked with unearthing unexploded mines and digging mass graves for a year.

Will Thisbee is the last of the original members of the Society and the creator of the Potato Peel Pie, which would gain a place in the Society’s name.

Remy Giraud is a French woman who was captured and sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp for possession of forged ration cards. There, she meets and befriends Elizabeth. After being rescued from the concentration camp, Remy is incredibly ill, and the memory of her experiences at the camp often plagues her, manifesting in unexpected moments such as when she encounters a large dog. Despite the hardships, Remy proves herself resilient and willing to move on to the next chapter of her life, as she takes steps to become a baker even as she is in hospice. She is the only witness to Elizabeth’s remaining days and is the person who reveals the latter’s untimely demise. Remy’s physical ailments and psychological trauma embody The Persisting Effects of War. Though she has escaped the concentration camp, she will bear the scars of her experiences for the rest of her life.