Previous
Part 1: 25 Jan, 1946
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Literature and Connection
Family, Parenting, and Legitimacy
War, Hunger, and Humanity
Women, Marriage, and Work
Summary
Analysis
Juliet sends a telegram to Sidney, apologizing for embarrassing Stephens & Stark. Sidney replies with a letter, assuring Juliet that she should've done more damage with the teapot, and he's going to give a statement accusing Gilly of being a horrible journalist. He continues that he wants Juliet to come home instead of go to Scotland, as the Times wants her to write three articles for their literary supplement under Juliet's real name, not as Izzy Bickerstaff.
The possibility of the Times articles indicates that there are publications out there who are willing to take Juliet seriously and give her a chance to develop her real writing voice. Sidney's apparent lack of concern for what happened between Juliet and Gilly suggests that because he's male, he both has less to worry about and can protect Juliet.
Themes
Sidney continues that the Times doesn't want the article until late in the spring, so they'll have time to come up with a new topic for her book. Then, he says he does know who Markham V. Reynolds is. He's an American in the publishing business. Sidney says he's cheeky and has wooed many women, including Sidney's secretary—Sidney fired his secretary for giving Reynolds Juliet's contact information. Sidney believes that Reynolds wants to poach Juliet for his own publishing house.
The decision for Sidney to fire his secretary for giving out Juliet's information indicates that Sidney thinks of Juliet as an independent person, not as a commodity to be consumed by men like Mark. He shows that he believes Mark should have to talk to Juliet himself, rather than be sneaky about it in a way that only increases Mark's image as a powerful man.
Themes
