FICTION

The fine old British tradition of a novel told in letters lives on, complete with tea, pigs, eccentrics, wit and whimsy.

But wait. These authors are Californians.

Never mind their origins, for Mary Ann Shaffer and niece Annie Barrows have created a charming and engaging little story that will simultaneously amuse and move you.

The story begins in January 1946 in dreary, post-World War II London, where 32-year-old writer Juliet Ashton is casting about for the subject of her next book. Serendipity steps in when she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams, a pig farmer on the island of Guernsey in the English Channel.

Dawsey has acquired a copy of Charles Lamb's "Selected Essays of Elia" that once belonged to Juliet and writes to seek her help in finding more of Lamb's works. Lamb, he says, made him laugh during the German occupation of Guernsey, and the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society came into being because some islanders needed to keep a pig hidden from the Nazis.

Intrigued, Juliet writes back and is soon corresponding with a number of islanders, drawn into their world by their descriptions of their lives, the books they read and the cruelty of the occupation. Mesmerized by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, where the direction of her life changes.

Shaffer and Barrows excel at characterization -- Julia is particularly memorable -- and their ability to capture varying British voices is spot on, particularly in Part One of the novel, in which the islanders write to Julia. The plotting isn't difficult to foresee, but even the expected arrives with unexpected power.

Shaffer became ill when this novel was well under way and called on her niece to help complete it; the transition is seamless. Sadly, Shaffer died this year, but this book is a worthy legacy.

A cornucopia of gentle humor, an account of wartime heroism and wartime horror -- and a love story -- this is a refreshing little novel that will evoke smiles, possibly tears and great satisfaction.
Contact Jay Strafford at (804) 649-6698 or jstrafford@timesdispatch.com.