Bloomsbury to Publish The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society rejacketed by Annie Barrows & Mary Ann Shaffer

The beloved, life-affirming international bestseller which has sold over 5 million copies worldwide – now a major film starring Lily James, Matthew Goode, Jessica Brown Findlay, Tom Courtenay and Penelope Wilton

To give them hope she must tell their story

It’s 1946. The war is over, and Juliet Ashton has writer’s block. But when she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams of Guernsey – a total stranger living halfway across the Channel, who has come across her name written in a second hand book – she enters into a correspondence with him, and in time with all the members of the extraordinary Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Through their letters, the society tell Juliet about life on the island, their love of books – and the long shadow cast by their time living under German occupation. Drawn into their irresistible world, Juliet sets sail for the island, changing her life forever.

  • A beloved international bestseller, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society spent 11 weeks on the New York Times Top Ten and has sold over half a million copies in the UK alone
  • A charming, moving and tender read which will delight readers of Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See and Louisa Young’s My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You

Reviews
“Delightfully spirited … You’d have to be pretty hardhearted not to fall under its spell” Daily Mail
“Utterly delightful” – Helen Mirren

Author Biography
MARY ANN SHAFFER was born in 1934 in Martinsburg, West Virginia. She worked as an editor, a librarian and in bookshops. She became interested in Guernsey while visiting London in 1976. On a whim, she decided to fly to Guernsey but became stranded there as a heavy fog descended and no boats or planes were permitted to leave the island. As she waited for the fog to clear, she came across a book called Jersey Under the Jack- Boot, and so her fascination with the Channel Isles began. Many years later, when goaded by her own literary club to write a book, Mary Ann naturally thought of Guernsey.

Mary Ann died in February 2008. She knew that this, her only novel, was to be published in thirteen countries. Before she died she wrote, ‘I must tender special thanks to my niece, Annie, who stepped in to finish this book after unexpected health issues interrupted my ability to work shortly after the manuscript was sold. Without blinking an eye, she put down the book she was writing, pushed up her sleeves, and set to work on my manuscript. It was my great good luck to have a writer like her in the family, and this book could not have been done without her.’

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