Book Details
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If your whole life is a lie, who can you trust?
Raised in a quiet rural community, Anna has always been taught that her Mamma's rules are the only path to follow. But, on her eighteenth birthday, she defies her Mamma for the first time in her life, and goes to Astroland. She’s never been allowed to visit Florida’s biggest theme park, so why, when she arrives, does everything about it seem so familiar? And is there a connection to the mysterious letter she receives that same day—a letter addressing her by a different name?
Rosie has grown up in the shadow of the missing sister she barely remembers, her family fractured by years of searching without leads. Now, on the fifteenth anniversary of her sister’s disappearance, the media circus resumes as the funds dedicated to the search dry up, and Rosie vows to uncover the truth herself. But can she find the answer before it tears her family apart?
Winner of the Daily Mail First Novel Competition, A Girl Named Anna is a psychologically riveting read that introduces Lizzy Barber as an outstanding new voice in suspense fiction.
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Hello!
I am a London-based author, living in Islington with my husband, George. I read English at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University, and My Name Is Anna is my first novel.
Having previously dabbled in acting and film development, I have spent the last eight years working in the restaurant business with my brother, Jamie, heading up our brand and marketing department. We have a small group of restaurants, mainly in London, including Hush in Mayfair, the all-day burger brand, Hache, and the Latin American barbecue group, Cabana.
Working with the restaurants has been creative and dynamic…and has involved a certain about of writing (including a lot of press releases!), but writing has always been a creative itch I have scratched on the side.
I have always written in fits and starts, but about five years ago I started writing my first serious novel – a very long and drawn out literary fiction piece based on my grandmother’s life in Mandate Palestine, pre-Suez Cairo and post-war London.
I started taking regular classes with Maggie Hamand at the Complete Creative Writing Course, which made me completely rethink my approach to writing, and was invaluable in shaping the way I wrote.
However, in April 2017 I found myself at a complete dead end with my first novel, and, almost as a form of release, starting dabbling with a thriller that had been niggling away at me. I mentioned I was writing it to my mother, and, about a week later, she told me that she had spied a first novel competition that I *had* to enter.
I hammered away at my laptop, completing just enough of the book to be able to enter, and literally handed my entry in on the closing day of the competition (I couriered my entry, so worried was I it wouldn’t make the deadline!).
And then I forgot all about it…
About two months later, preparing for my morning operations meeting, I received a phone call out of the blue, which completely changed my life.
The phone call was from Luigi Bonomi of LBA Books telling me I had WON the Daily Mail and Random House First Novel Prize 2017
Thus began an extraordinary chain of events that I am still waiting to wake up from on a daily basis. The little thriller I had dabbled away at is now My Name Is Anna, and was published by Century, an imprint of Penguin Random House, in January 2019. It will be published in North America by MIRA, an imprint of Harper Collins, on 3rd September 2019.
I have had the privilege of working with a marvelous team of people on My Name Is Anna / A Girl Named Anna, and am now hard (hard!) work on my second book. Stay tuned…
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My Review
A Girl Named Anna by Lizzy Barber is a suspenseful story of two teen girls, Anna who lives a very sheltered religious life with just her mother and Rosie who's family is enmeshed in the disappearance of her elder sister Emily.
Anna has always wondered why her mother never lets her go to Astroland. She flat out refuses to let Anna go to many places. She is all about cleanliness and godliness. Anna has a boyfriend William, and he convinces her that yes she can go, she is 18 after all. Once there Anna experiences a weird thing, it is almost a Deja Vu feeling that she has been there before.
Rosie and her family have suffered the disappearance of Emily at Astroland, it has pulled at the fabric of her parent's marriage, their daily lives. Every year they are interviewed by the media, the same questions every year. The family has no clue as to what happened to three-year-old Emily, only that it is been 15 years and still no clue. Rosie is determined though to find out the truth. The funds that are for the search for Emily have virtually dried up and hope is running out.
This book was a story of two families tied together with the disappearance of one little girl. The character of Anna's mom was pretty strange. The reader comes to find out later in the book that she was involved in a religious cult. Anna, on the other hand, is a meek girl, living with her mother's fear.
The concept of Emily's abduction was kind of scary but a very real thing, but who did it, why and what happened to Emily. Alternating chapters tell the story of the two girls and how they are entwined. Can Rosie find out what happened to her sister before her family is further torn apart? The story started out a bit slow but as I read, it became more exciting and I could not put it down. I read it in two sittings!
I recommend it with 4 stars!
I received a copy of the book for review!
My Review
A Girl Named Anna by Lizzy Barber is a suspenseful story of two teen girls, Anna who lives a very sheltered religious life with just her mother and Rosie who's family is enmeshed in the disappearance of her elder sister Emily.
Anna has always wondered why her mother never lets her go to Astroland. She flat out refuses to let Anna go to many places. She is all about cleanliness and godliness. Anna has a boyfriend William, and he convinces her that yes she can go, she is 18 after all. Once there Anna experiences a weird thing, it is almost a Deja Vu feeling that she has been there before.
Rosie and her family have suffered the disappearance of Emily at Astroland, it has pulled at the fabric of her parent's marriage, their daily lives. Every year they are interviewed by the media, the same questions every year. The family has no clue as to what happened to three-year-old Emily, only that it is been 15 years and still no clue. Rosie is determined though to find out the truth. The funds that are for the search for Emily have virtually dried up and hope is running out.
This book was a story of two families tied together with the disappearance of one little girl. The character of Anna's mom was pretty strange. The reader comes to find out later in the book that she was involved in a religious cult. Anna, on the other hand, is a meek girl, living with her mother's fear.
The concept of Emily's abduction was kind of scary but a very real thing, but who did it, why and what happened to Emily. Alternating chapters tell the story of the two girls and how they are entwined. Can Rosie find out what happened to her sister before her family is further torn apart? The story started out a bit slow but as I read, it became more exciting and I could not put it down. I read it in two sittings!
I recommend it with 4 stars!
I received a copy of the book for review!
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