Mary Ann Shaffer

Mary Ann Shaffer was born in 1934 in Martinsburg, West Virginia. 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-Book, 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, and wrote The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel society, first published in August 2008.

Mary Ann died in February 2008, knowing that her novel was to be published in English and in translation in many languages throughout the world. Her niece Annie Barrows, who helped Mary Ann in the final stages of the book, is the author of the Ivy and Bean series for children, as well as The Magic Half.