{{Short description|English writer and novelist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox person | name = Annabel Abbs | image = Annabel Abbs in 2024.jpg | alt = | caption = Annabel Abbs in 2024 | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name above --> | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1964|10|20}} | birth_place = Bristol, England | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|df=y|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = Writer | known_for = | notable_works = <!-- produces label "Notable work"; may be overridden by |credits=, which produces label "Notable credit(s)"; or by |works=, which produces label "Works"; or by |label_name=, which produces label "Label(s)" --> | spouse = <!-- Use article title or common name --> | partner = <!-- (unmarried long-term partner) --> | children = | mother = Barbara Abbs | father = Peter Abbs | website = {{URL|annabelabbs.com/}} }}
'''Annabel Abbs''' (born 20 October 1964){{citation needed|date=September 2025}} is an English writer and novelist.
==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.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.annabelabbs.com/|title=About Annabel Abbs|website=Annabel Abbs|accessdate=9 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zeitgeistagency.com/annabel-abbs|title=Annabel Abbs|website=Zeitgeist Agency}}</ref> She attended Lewes Priory school<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/arts-and-culture/original-lady-chatterley-sussex-novelist-sets-record-straight-167871|title=The original Lady Chatterley: Sussex novelist sets the record straight|website=www.sussexexpress.co.uk |date=24 December 2018 }}</ref> and has a BA in English Literature from the University of East Anglia, and an MA from Kingston University.<ref name="auto"/>
==Works== Her first novel, ''The Joyce Girl'', was published in 2016 and tells a fictionalised story of Lucia Joyce, daughter of James Joyce.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jun/12/the-joyce-girl-annabel-abbs-review|title=The Joyce Girl by Annabel Abbs review – a skilful dance between times |date=12 June 2016|last=Sethi|first=Anita|access-date=20 December 2017|type=book review|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/booksandarts/annabel-abbs-novel-the-joyce-girl/7815536|title=Annabel Abbs' novel, The Joyce Girl|date=28 September 2016|access-date=20 December 2017|work=Books and Arts program|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|type=audio interview with Annabel Abbs}}</ref><ref name="The Irish Times 2016">{{cite news | title=The Joyce Girl by Annabel Abbs | newspaper=The Irish Times | date=18 June 2016 | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-joyce-girl-by-annabel-abbs-1.2689301 | access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="Abbs 2013">{{cite news | last=Abbs | first=Annabel | title=Why was James Joyce's daughter Lucia written out of history? | newspaper=The Irish Times | date=21 March 2013 | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/why-was-james-joyce-s-daughter-lucia-written-out-of-history-1.2687082 | access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref> It won the Impress Prize for New Writers,<ref name="bathnovelaward 2016">{{cite web|url=https://bathnovelaward.co.uk/2016/05/18/why-debut-novelist-annabel-abbs-has-never-taken-a-writing-course/|title=Why debut novelist Annabel Abbs has never taken a writing course|author=bathnovelaward|date=18 May 2016|website=The Bath Novel Award|access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="Burnett 2017">{{cite web | last=Burnett | first=Alice | title=Interview with Annabel Abbs | website=Litro Magazine Stories Transport you | date=3 February 2017 | url=https://www.litro.co.uk/2017/02/interview-annabel-abbs/ | access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="impress-books.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.impress-books.co.uk/impress/the-joyce-girl/|title=The Joyce Girl by Annabel Abbs – Acclaimed literary fiction debut|date=11 January 2016|website=impress-books.co.uk|access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref> the Spotlight First Novel Award,<ref name="impress-books.co.uk"/> was longlisted for the Bath Novel Award,<ref name="bathnovelaward 2016"/> the Caledonia Novel Award and the Waverton Good Read Award.<ref name="Burnett 2017"/><ref name="impress-books.co.uk"/>
''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''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bookmark/berlin-2017-11-books-big-screen-potential-974838|title=Berlin: 11 Festival Books — And Their Big-Screen Potential|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=11 February 2017 }}</ref> ''The Joyce Girl'' was published in the UK, Ireland, Australia,<ref name="Radio National 2003">{{cite web | title=Annabel Abbs' novel, The Joyce Girl | website=Radio National | date=10 October 2003 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/booksandarts/annabel-abbs-novel-the-joyce-girl/7815536 | access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="Goldsworthy 2016">{{cite web | last=Goldsworthy | first=Kerryn | title=The Joyce Girl review: Annabel Abbs' plodding recreation of James Joyce's daughter, Lucia | website=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=6 October 2016 | url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/the-joyce-girl-review-annabel-abbs-plodding-recreation-of-joyces-daughter-20160929-grrgtu.html | access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref> New Zealand,<ref name="Stuff 2016">{{cite web | title=Review: The Joyce Girl | website=Stuff | date=12 October 2016 | url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/85275402/review-the-joyce-girl | access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref> Germany, Turkey,<ref name="Türk 2017">{{cite web | title=James Joyce'un kızı olmak | website=CNN Türk | date=21 February 2017 | url=https://www.cnnturk.com/kultur-sanat/kitap/james-joyceun-kizi-olmak | language=tr | access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref> Spain, South America, Bulgaria, Poland and Russia. The Historical Novel Society described ''The Joyce Girl'' as "the best 20th century fiction of the year."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/the-joyce-girl/|title=The Joyce Girl|accessdate=9 August 2023}}</ref>
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<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/review-historical-fiction-round-up-the-real-lady-chatterley-00gkw3nxf|title=Review: Historical fiction round-up — The real Lady Chatterley|last=Senior|first=Antonia|date=2018-11-10|work=The Times|access-date=2019-03-13|language=en|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> (historical fiction) and described in ''The Observer'' as ‘exuberant’ and ‘compelling’.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/18/frieda-original-lady-chatterley-review-annabel-abbs-dh-lawrence|title=Frieda: The Original Lady Chatterley by Annabel Abbs review – DH Lawrence's muse|last=Anderson|first=Hephzibah|date=2018-11-18|work=The Observer|access-date=2019-03-13|language=en-GB|issn=0029-7712}}</ref> In 2019 Abbs delivered the annual DH Lawrence Birthday lecture alongside Dr Annalise Grice<ref>{{cite web |title=About DH Lawrence Society |url=https://dhlawrencesociety.com/author/dahale/}}</ref>
In 2019 Abbs was described in ''The Observer'' "as one of the best historical novelists today" by literature critic, Alexander Larman.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/19/palaces-of-pleasure-a-stranger-city-linda-grant-frieda-reviews |title=In brief: Palaces of Pleasure; A Stranger City; Frieda – reviews |last=Larman |first=Alexander |work=The Guardian |date=19 May 2019 |quote=as one of the best historical novelists today}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/piatkus-acquires-guide-ageing-well-667876|title=Piatkus acquires guide to ageing well|website=The Bookseller|accessdate=9 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/may/26/happy-ever-after-25-ways-to-live-well-into-old-age |title=Happy ever after: 25 ways to live well into old age |last1=Streets |first1=Annabel |last2=Saunders |first2=Susan |work=The Guardian|date=26 May 2019 }}</ref>''
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 Boo''k, and one of ''Wanderlust's'' Top Ten Travel Books 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nalewicki |first=Jennifer |title=The Ten Best Books About Travel of 2021 |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-ten-best-books-about-travel-of-2021-180979103/ |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wanderlust |first=Team |date=2021-12-15 |title=The best travel books of 2021 |url=https://www.wanderlustmagazine.com/inspiration/best-travel-books-of-2021/ |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=Wanderlust |language=en-US}}</ref> It was shortlisted for The Biographer’s Club Best First Biography and for the 2022 Banff Mountain Book Award.<ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2022-11-30 |title=Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize presentation |url=https://thebiographersclub.com/slightly-foxed-best-first-biography-prize-presentation/ |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=The Biographer's Club |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Sam |date=2022-09-16 |title=Banff Mountain Book Festival Announces Finalists » Explorersweb |url=https://explorersweb.com/banff-mountain-book-festival-finalists/ |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=Explorersweb}}</ref>
Her 2021 novel ''The Language of Food'', about poet Eliza Acton, was optioned for a television adaptation by Stampede Ventures and CBS Studios.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/05/miss-elizas-english-kitchen-annabel-abbs-tv-adaptation-from-cbs-studios-stampede-ventures-1234762713/|title=Period Cookery Novel 'Miss Eliza's English Kitchen' By Annabel Abbs Getting TV Adaptation From CBS Studios & Stampede Ventures|work=Deadline|first=Peter|last=White|date=24 May 2021|accessdate=15 October 2024}}</ref> Published in 19 territories as ''Miss Eliza's Kitchen'', it was one of the ''New York Times Books''‘ ''Best Historical Fiction'' for Winter 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-12-03 |title=The Season’s Best New Historical Novels (Published 2021) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/03/books/review/new-historical-fiction.html |access-date=2025-09-03 |language=en}}</ref> The Historical Novel Society made it their ''Editor’s Choice'' for November 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Language of Food (UK) / Miss Eliza's English Kitchen (US) |url=https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/the-language-of-food-uk-miss-elizas-english-kitchen-us/ |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=Historical Novel Society}}</ref> In 2024, it won France’s Pocket Award for Best Foreign Fiction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Grand prix des lecteurs Pocket - 2024 {{!}} Lisez.com |url=https://www.lisez.com/lp/grand-prix-des-lecteurs-pocket-2024 |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=www.lisez.com |language=fr}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Big Tasty Read Booklist |url=https://readingagency.org.uk/get-reading/find-a-read/the-big-tasty-read-booklist/ |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=The Reading Agency |language=en-US}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O’Dea |first=Brigid |title=Sleepless by Annabel Abbs: Eye-opening exploration of nocturnal female self |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/review/2024/02/03/sleepless-by-annabel-abbs-eye-opening-exploration-of-nocturnal-female-self/ |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The mysterious world of sleep science |url=https://www.the-tls.com/politics-society/social-cultural-studies/sleepless-annabel-abbs-mapping-the-darkness-kenneth-miller-book-review-joe-moran |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=TLS |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Power |first=Marianne |date=2024-01-05 |title=Sleepless by Annabel Abbs review — the surprising benefits of insomnia |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/sleepless-by-annabel-abbs-review-zcrswmz5t |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=www.thetimes.com |language=en}}</ref>
In 2025 Abbs' eighth book, ''The Walking Cure'' (2025), was published, investigating the effects of landscape on how we think and feel.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chaudhuri |first=Anita |date=2025-04-13 |title='Cities trigger our imagination': why a walk in town can be just as good for you as a stroll in the countryside |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/apr/13/go-to-town-the-surprise-feelgood-effects-of-walking-in-the-city |access-date=2025-09-03 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
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''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 January 2020 |title=The Age-Well Project: Preparing for a longer, healthier and happier life {{!}} The Guardian Members |url=https://membership.theguardian.com/event/the-agewell-project-preparing-for-a-longer-healthier-and-happier-life-63973775284 |access-date=2020-01-21 |website=membership.theguardian.com |language=en-gb}}</ref>
Abbs was a judge of the Impress Prize for New Writers in 2017 and 2019.<ref>{{cite web |date=8 June 2018 |title=Creative writing award: The Impress Prize |url=https://www.writers-online.co.uk/news/creative-writing-award-the-impress-prize |publisher=Writers Online}}</ref> and supports a post-graduate student of creative writing at the University of East Anglia each year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Creative Writing - UEA |url=https://www.uea.ac.uk/literature/creative-writing |website=www.uea.ac.uk}}</ref>
==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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/lucia-joyce-flawed-fictions-don-t-write-her-back-into-history-but-hide-her-truth-1.2774355|title=Book review: The Joyce Girl|date=2016-08-31|website=www.irishtimes.com|access-date=2019-10-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsfilmtv/book-reviewthe-joyce-girl-426984.html|title=Book review: The Joyce Girl|date=2016-10-22|website=www.irishexaminer.com|access-date=2019-03-13}}</ref> 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,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pordenonelegge.it/festival/edizione-2012/autori/1259-John-McCourt|title=John McCourt | Autori|website=pordenonelegge.it}}</ref><ref>[https://documenti.comune.trieste.it/trasparenza/curriculum%20John%20Francis%20Mc%20Court.pdf John Francis Mc Court. CV] comune.trieste.it</ref> 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."<ref>A Companion to Literary Biography, ed. Richard Bradford, Wiley Blackwell, 2019, pp. 538-9</ref>
== Published works == * Abbs, Annabel (2016), ''The Joyce Girl'', Impress, UK, 2016 {{ISBN|978-1-907605-87-1}} * Abbs, Annabel (2018), ''Frieda'', Two Roads, UK, 2018 {{ISBN|978-1-529-30018-5}} * Streets, Annabel (2019), ''The Age-Well Project,'' Piatkus, UK, 2019 {{ISBN|978-0349419701}} * Abbs, Annabel (2021), ''Windswept - Why Women Walk'', Two Roads, UK, 2021 {{ISBN|978-1-529-32473-0}} * Abbs, Annabel (2021), ''The Language of Food'', Simon & Schuster, UK, 2021 {{ISBN|978-1-3985-0225-3}} * Streets, Annabel (2022), ''52 Ways to Walk'', Bloomsbury, UK, 2022 {{ISBN|978-1-5266-5644-5}} * Abbs, Annabel (2024), ''Sleepless'', John Murray, UK, 2024 {{ISBN|978-1-529-36647-1}} * Streets, Annabel (2025), ''The Walking Cure'', Bloomsbury, UK, 2025 {{ISBN|978-1-5266-7632-0}}
== References == {{Reflist|20em}}
== External links == * {{official website|https://www.annabelabbs.com}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbs, Annabel}} Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century English novelists Category:Alumni of the University of East Anglia Category:Alumni of Kingston University Category:Writers from Bristol Category:21st-century English women novelists