The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: Part 1: 16 May, 1946 Summary & Analysis

Booker writes Juliet again. He explains that he'll welcome her when she arrives, but he can't talk about his experience of the war—he shakes when he does. Booker explains that while he was pretending to be Lord Tobias, Lisa Jenkins was dating German soldiers and specifically, Sergeant Willy Gurtz. In 1944, Lisa discovered a photo of the real Lord Tobias in a magazine. She passed the photo to Willy, who passed it to the Commandant. The Germans sent John to the camp at Neuengamme.

At the camp, Booker was sent into fields to clear unexploded bombs. He kept telling himself that he was still alive, but in truth, he and the other prisoners weren't: they were just surviving. Booker was there for a year before the Germans shipped him to Belsen. There, he dug pits in which to burn and bury the dead: the Germans' attempt to hide the carnage from the approaching Allies and the USSR. Fortunately, Booker was only there for a few days before the British arrived. Those soldiers wept at what they saw and later, burned Belsen to the ground.

Booker says that he learned that the site of Belsen is now a refugee camp. He can't quite stomach the land being used for a good purpose and feels it should be empty forever. With this, Booker concludes his account, but offers one more recollection of watching bomber planes headed for London with Elizabeth. The Germans told the islanders that London was gone, but one night, they overheard a German radio playing the London BBC station: London still stood.

Dawsey writes Juliet and lists how everyone on Guernsey is preparing for her arrival. He's been trying to keep Isola alive, as Isola has been up on the roof of Elizabeth's cottage looking for loose tiles.