Pl. Catalunya, 39-41 08820 El Prat de Llobregat T 93.370.51.52 b.prat.am@diba.es Horari: dilluns de 15.30 a 21 Dimarts a divendres de 10 a 21 Dissabtes de 10 a 19
June 2013
ENGLISH READING CLUB
ENJOY READING! MARY ANN SHAFFER ANNIE BARROWS The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
MARY ANN SHAFFER (Virginia,USA,13 Dec 1938- California, 16 Feb 2008)
ANNIE BARROWS (San Diego, California, 1962)
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Mary Ann Shaffer was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, in 1934. Her career included libraries, bookstores (including the renowned Book Passage), and publishing, but her life-long dream was to "write a book that someone would like enough to publish." Though she did not live to see it, this dream has been realized in The Guernsey literary and potato peel pie society, which was her first and only novel. Annie Barrows grew up in Northern California and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in medieval history. Unable to find a job in the Middle Ages, she decided upon a career as a book editor. After earning an M.F.A. in creative writing, Barrows began her writing career. She is the author of the New York Times best-selling Ivy and Bean series (9 books published between 2003-2012), of The Magic Half (2009) and the co-author ofThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, after she finished the book for her aunt, Mary Ann Shaffer, who fell ill and died before the book was ready for publication.
--------GUERNSEY: GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey (French: Bailliage de Guernesey, Iis a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy. As a bailiwick, Guernsey embraces not only all ten parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Alderney and Sark – each with their own parliament – and the smaller islands of Herm, Jethou and Lihou. Although its defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom,[2] the Bailiwick is not part of the United Kingdom, but, as its description suggests, a possession of the British Crown (British monarchy). Consequently, though it lies within the Common Travel Area of the European Union, it is not part of the European Union. Together, the Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey form the geographical grouping known as the Channel Islands. Although the novel is fiction the island and the places are very real, so check this: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=49.46 0091,2.5811&spn=0.121171,0.296288&t=h&z=12&msid=100914396836643 406446.0004770085524a485bbdb In this map of Guernsey they highlight every mention of locations and places and, where possible, provide links to interesting facts about the island and its people.
---The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society (2008) January 1946: writer Juliet Ashston receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literaru and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name. Celebrating literature, love, and the power of the human spirit, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is the story of an English author living in the shadow of World War II—and embarking on a writing project that will dramatically change her life. Mary Ann Shaffer became interested in Guernsey while visiting London in 1976. On a whim, she decided to fly to Guernsey but became stranded there when a thick fog descended and all boats and planes were forbidden to leave the island. As she waited for the fog to lift, warming herself by the heat of the hand-dryer in the men's restroom, she read all the books in the Guernsey airport bookstore, including Jersey under the JackBoot. Thus began her fascination with the German Occupation of the Channel Islands.