15th January, 1946
Dear Mr. Adams,
I no longer live in Oakley Street, but I’m so glad that your letter found me and that my book found you. It was a sad wrench to part with the Selected Essays of Elia. I had two copies and a dire need of shelf-room, but I felt like a traitor selling it. You have soothed my conscience.
I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers. How delightful if that were true…
– Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society