Annabel Abbs

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Annabel Abbs
Born
Bristol, England
OccupationWriter
Parents
Website annabelabbs.com

Annabel Abbs (born 20 October 1964)[ citation needed ] is an English writer and novelist.

Contents

Early life

The daughter of poet and academic, Professor Peter Abbs and gardening writer, Barbara Abbs, Annabel Abbs lives in London and East Sussex. She is the eldest of three children and was born in Bristol. She grew up in Bristol, Dorset, Wales, and Lewes in East Sussex. [1] [2] She attended Lewes Priory school [3] and has a BA in English Literature from the University of East Anglia, and an MA from Kingston University. [1]

Career

Her first novel, The Joyce Girl, was published in 2016 and tells a fictionalised story of Lucia Joyce, daughter of James Joyce. [4] [5] [6] [7] It won the Impress Prize for New Writers, [8] [9] [10] the Spotlight First Novel Award, [10] was longlisted for the Bath Novel Award, [8] the Caledonia Novel Award and the Waverton Good Read Award. [9] [10] The Joyce Girl was a Reader Pick in The Guardian 2016 and was one of ten books selected for presentation at the 2017 Berlin Film Festival, where it was given Five Stars by the Hollywood Reporter. [11] The Joyce Girl was published in the UK, Ireland, Australia, [12] [13] New Zealand, [14] Germany, Turkey, [15] Spain, South America, Bulgaria, Poland and Russia. The Historical Novel Society described The Joyce Girl as "the best 20th century fiction of the year." [16]

Abbs’ second novel, Frieda, tells the fictionalised story of the elopement of Frieda Weekley, wife of Ernest Weekley, with writer D.H. Lawrence in 1912. Previously Frieda von Richthofen, sister of Else von Richthofen, Frieda was a German aristocrat who later became the inspiration for many of Lawrence's female characters including Ursula in Women in Love and Connie in Lady Chatterley’s Lover . Abbs’ novel was published in 2018 in Australia/New Zealand by Hachette and in the UK by Two Roads, part of John Murray Press.

Frieda was a 2018 Times Book of the year [17] (historical fiction) and described in The Observer as ‘exuberant’ and ‘compelling’. [18] In 2019 Abbs delivered the annual DH Lawrence Birthday lecture alongside Dr Annalise Grice [19]

In 2019 Abbs was described in The Observer "as one of the best historical novelists today" by literature critic, Alexander Larman. [20]

Abbs’ first non-fiction book, The Age-Well Project, co-written with, Susan Saunders, was published by Piatkus in May 2019 and serialised in The Daily Mail and The Guardian. [21] [22]

Abbs 2021 book, Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women (US) / Why Women Walk (UK), is a memoir and history of women who walked. Windswept was a 2021 Smithsonian Top Ten Travel Book, and one of Wanderlust's Top Ten Travel Books 2021. [23] [24] It was shortlisted for The Biographer’s Club Best First Biography and for the 2022 Banff Mountain Book Award. [25] [26]

Her 2021 novel The Language of Food, about poet Eliza Acton, was optioned for a television adaptation by Stampede Ventures and CBS Studios. [27] Published in 19 territories as Miss Eliza's Kitchen, it was one of the New York Times BooksBest Historical Fiction for Winter 2021. [28] The Historical Novel Society made it their Editor’s Choice for November 2021. [29] In 2024, it won France’s Pocket Award for Best Foreign Fiction. [30] In 2025, it was one of 15 books selected for The Reading Agency and BBC Arts for their Big Tasty Read, an initiative to encourage reading. [31]

Abbs' seventh book, Sleepless: Discovering the Power of the Night Self (2024), describes a period of prolonged insomnia and examines the insomnia-induced art and activity of multiple women, many of whom only found time for themselves as everyone else slept. Translated into seven languages, it was praised by critics, including The Irish Times, The Times Literary Supplement, where Joe Moran described it as ‘Beautifully observed' and 'lyrically persuasive’ and in The Times, where it was Book of the Week. [32] [33] [34]

In 2025 Abbs' eighth book, The Walking Cure (2025), was published, investigating the effects of landscape on how we think and feel. [35]

Abbs has written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Financial Times, The Telegraph, The Observer, The Paris Review, Good Housekeeping, The Irish Times, Tatler, The Author, Sydney Morning Herald, The Weekend Australian Review, Psychologies and Elle Magazine. Abbs has spoken at literary festivals and given Masterclasses for The Guardian. [36]

Abbs was a judge of the Impress Prize for New Writers in 2017 and 2019. [37] and supports a post-graduate student of creative writing at the University of East Anglia each year. [38]

Controversy

Abbs' first book was criticised in reviews in the Irish Times and Irish Examiner for the author's 'unsubstantiated speculations' on matters including incest between Lucia Joyce and her brother, and the causes of her mental illness. [39] [40] In A Companion to Literary Biography (ed. Robert Bradford, Wiley Blackwell, 2019), Joyce scholar Professor John McCourt, a trustee of the International James Joyce Foundation, [41] [42] wrote that "With Abbs, the perverse cycle of interest in Lucia comes full circle. We are back in the territory of fiction fraudulently posing as biography", and concluded it to be "a prime contender for the worst Joyce-inspired 'biography' ever." [43]

Published works

References

  1. 1 2 "About Annabel Abbs". Annabel Abbs. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  2. "Annabel Abbs". Zeitgeist Agency.
  3. "The original Lady Chatterley: Sussex novelist sets the record straight". www.sussexexpress.co.uk. 24 December 2018.
  4. Sethi, Anita (12 June 2016). "The Joyce Girl by Annabel Abbs review – a skilful dance between times". The Guardian (book review). Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  5. "Annabel Abbs' novel, The Joyce Girl". Books and Arts program (audio interview with Annabel Abbs). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  6. "The Joyce Girl by Annabel Abbs". The Irish Times. 18 June 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  7. Abbs, Annabel (21 March 2013). "Why was James Joyce's daughter Lucia written out of history?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  8. 1 2 bathnovelaward (18 May 2016). "Why debut novelist Annabel Abbs has never taken a writing course". The Bath Novel Award. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  9. 1 2 Burnett, Alice (3 February 2017). "Interview with Annabel Abbs". Litro Magazine Stories Transport you. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 "The Joyce Girl by Annabel Abbs – Acclaimed literary fiction debut". impress-books.co.uk. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  11. "Berlin: 11 Festival Books — And Their Big-Screen Potential". The Hollywood Reporter. 11 February 2017.
  12. "Annabel Abbs' novel, The Joyce Girl". Radio National. 10 October 2003. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  13. Goldsworthy, Kerryn (6 October 2016). "The Joyce Girl review: Annabel Abbs' plodding recreation of James Joyce's daughter, Lucia". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  14. "Review: The Joyce Girl". Stuff. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  15. "James Joyce'un kızı olmak". CNN Türk (in Turkish). 21 February 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  16. "The Joyce Girl" . Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  17. Senior, Antonia (10 November 2018). "Review: Historical fiction round-up — The real Lady Chatterley". The Times. ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  18. Anderson, Hephzibah (18 November 2018). "Frieda: The Original Lady Chatterley by Annabel Abbs review – DH Lawrence's muse". The Observer. ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  19. "About DH Lawrence Society".
  20. Larman, Alexander (19 May 2019). "In brief: Palaces of Pleasure; A Stranger City; Frieda – reviews". The Guardian. as one of the best historical novelists today
  21. "Piatkus acquires guide to ageing well". The Bookseller. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  22. Streets, Annabel; Saunders, Susan (26 May 2019). "Happy ever after: 25 ways to live well into old age". The Guardian.
  23. Nalewicki, Jennifer. "The Ten Best Books About Travel of 2021". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  24. Wanderlust, Team (15 December 2021). "The best travel books of 2021". Wanderlust. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  25. admin (30 November 2022). "Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize presentation". The Biographer's Club. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  26. Anderson, Sam (16 September 2022). "Banff Mountain Book Festival Announces Finalists » Explorersweb". Explorersweb. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  27. White, Peter (24 May 2021). "Period Cookery Novel 'Miss Eliza's English Kitchen' By Annabel Abbs Getting TV Adaptation From CBS Studios & Stampede Ventures". Deadline. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  28. "The Season's Best New Historical Novels (Published 2021)". 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  29. "The Language of Food (UK) / Miss Eliza's English Kitchen (US)". Historical Novel Society. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  30. "Grand prix des lecteurs Pocket - 2024 | Lisez.com". www.lisez.com (in French). Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  31. "The Big Tasty Read Booklist". The Reading Agency. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  32. O’Dea, Brigid. "Sleepless by Annabel Abbs: Eye-opening exploration of nocturnal female self". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  33. "The mysterious world of sleep science". TLS. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  34. Power, Marianne (5 January 2024). "Sleepless by Annabel Abbs review — the surprising benefits of insomnia". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  35. Chaudhuri, Anita (13 April 2025). "'Cities trigger our imagination': why a walk in town can be just as good for you as a stroll in the countryside". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  36. "The Age-Well Project: Preparing for a longer, healthier and happier life | The Guardian Members". membership.theguardian.com. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  37. "Creative writing award: The Impress Prize". Writers Online. 8 June 2018.
  38. "Creative Writing - UEA". www.uea.ac.uk.
  39. "Book review: The Joyce Girl". www.irishtimes.com. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  40. "Book review: The Joyce Girl". www.irishexaminer.com. 22 October 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  41. "John McCourt | Autori". pordenonelegge.it.
  42. John Francis Mc Court. CV comune.trieste.it
  43. A Companion to Literary Biography, ed. Richard Bradford, Wiley Blackwell, 2019, pp. 538-9