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A story of war, great books
and quirky characters
By Judi Ketteler
MARY ANN SHAFFER was one of those
people guests would flock to at parties, desperate for another dose of her wit. “She was
an entertainer and a wonderful storyteller,”
says her niece Annie Barrows. “Books were
the center of her life, but it was always
hard for her to find the time to sit down
and write.”
Shaffer’s friends were always pleading with her to write a book, and
though she would start, she just never
quite finished anything, Barrows says,
until The Guernsey Literary and Potato
Peel Pie Society—Shaffer’s first novel,
co-authored with Barrows, and this
month’s Book Buyer’s Pick.
An epistolary novel that details
the German occupation of Guernsey
(one of the islands in the English
Channel) during World War II, The
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel
Pie Society is populated with eccentric and delightful characters, whom the
reader gets to know through their correspondence with each other. At the center of the
book is Juliet Ashton, a young British journalist who is searching for her next book project
after the war. She is wry, witty and immediately likable. By a strange twist of events, she
winds up corresponding with Dawsey Adams,
a man from Guernsey, about a book group
he’s involved with that came about because of
the German occupation. From there, Juliet
becomes drawn into the world of Guernsey,
finding not only the topic for her next book,
but also a whole new group of dear friends.
Shaffer got the idea for the book while
visiting Guernsey in 1976; she was fogged in
at the airport and passed the time by reading
the books in the Guernsey airport—all were
Annie Barrows
(left) and Mary
Ann Shaffer
JOAN BOOTE
COSTCO HAS 50 copies of Mary Ann
Shaffer and Annie Barrows’ The
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel
Society, signed by Annie Barrows, to
give away. To enter, print your name,
membership number, address
and daytime phone number on
a postcard or letter and send it
to: Annie Barrows, The Costco
Connection, P.O. Box 34088,
Seattle, WA 98124-1088. Or send
an e-mail to giveaway@costco.
com, with “Annie Barrows”
in the subject line.
No purchase is necessary. Open to legal
residents of the U. S. (except Puerto Rico)
who are age 18 or older at the time of entry
and who are current Costco members. One
entry per household. Entries must be received or
postmarked by December 1, 2008. Winners will be
randomly selected and notified by mail on or before
January 2, 2009. The value of the prize is $22. Void
where prohibited. Winners are responsible for all
applicable federal, state and local taxes. Odds of
winning depend on the number of eligible entries
received. Employees of Costco or Random House
and their families are not eligible.
Send your feedback on this month’s book
to: discussionquestions@costco.com.
about the German occupation. She had always
been interested in World War II and became
fascinated with the small island’s history.
It took another 30 years—and much prodding by her friends and writing group—but
eventually Shaffer completed the book she
had always wanted to write. Sadly, during
the editing process, she became too ill to keep
working on it, so she asked Barrows—an accomplished writer in her own right—to step
in and handle the changes.
Taking over the book seemed a daunting
task, says Barrows, who lives in northern California. “I wondered at first how in the world I’d
do it.” But her panic soon faded as she dug into
the manuscript. “I’d grown up with my aunt,
hearing her stories. I realized this was a voice I
really knew well,” she says. Barrows immedi-
FRANCE FREEMAN
Pennie Clark
Ianniciello
Costco Book Buyer
Pennie’s pick
SOMETIMES I decide to niece Annie Barrows
read a book because the was able to step up and see
author intrigues me or the the book to completion.
back story behind the novel But the book is more than
is completely fascinating. its history. It stands on its
I chose this month’s pick, own as an impressive novel.
The Guernsey Literary and I was sad to reach the final
Potato Peel Pie Society, pages as I was not ready to
because the story behind say goodbye to the characters
the book is both tragic and I’d come to know and love.
beautiful. I’m saddened that The Guernsey Literary and
Mary Ann Shaffer never got Potato Peel Pie Society is
to see her novel published, available at most Costco ware-but I’m also thrilled that her houses and on costco.com.
ately went into research mode. She didn’t
need to make plot changes; she just needed to
add a little more to the story. “I read it now
and really can’t tell who wrote what. It was
sort of like a relay race,” she says.
Shaffer once said that she chose to make
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society an epistolary novel because that seemed
the easiest way to tell the story. “It was so
much fun to write in the letter form. There is
so much charge from each voice—it’s never
boring,” Barrows says.
Shaffer passed away in February 2008, so,
unfortunately, she never got to see its final
publication. But her lively spirit is all over the
book, and Barrows is thrilled that she got to
be a part of it. Already the author of a successful series of children’s books, Barrows has
signed on with the publisher of The Guernsey
Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society to write
two more adult novels. In fact, her work on
this book renewed her interest in writing for
adults. “I had forgotten how much I enjoyed
nuance and implication,” she says. “As much
as I like 7-year-olds, adult characters are more
complicated and shadowy, which, from a writing perspective, is all to the good.” C
Cincinnati-based freelance writer Judi Ketteler
covers a wide variety of lifestyle topics.
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