Writing the Story of the Wartime Occupation of the Channel Islands

Abstract

The islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Sark and Alderney that lie in the English Channel — collectively known in Britain as the ‘Channel Islands’; ‘Les Îles de la Manche’ or ‘Les Îles Anglo-Normandes’ in France — don’t receive a great deal of attention, especially from the other side of the Earth, but every now and again something happens to bring them to the notice of the world at large. One such event was the success of the novel, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, conceived and largely written by the American writer Mary Ann Shaffer, but finished and prepared for publication by her niece, Annie Barrows. When it was published in 2008, it became an international best-seller and received much praise from critics — for example, it was the Washington Post’s ‘book of the year’. Coach-loads of tourists now make their way around the narrow streets and country lanes of Guernsey looking in vain for scenes and characters from the novel.